Dash Bezel fix

[matthon]

So I stripped the paint off and there are a few scratches and minor chunks missing.
Since Bondo will not adhere to the plastic, what is the best product to fill the marks, that is sandable/paintable?
Also, the top is a little wavy, it looks like where the screws aren't the plastic bent down, (from years of heat/cold I guess). Is there anyway to straighten this?

Not looking to ship it out and spend huge $$, fixing/painting myself.
Before, and before pics:

 

[homecloned]

I used some lightweight body filler to patch a couple areas on mine. It is made of plastic and will adhere. As far as the warpage, you could try and heat it with a hair dryer or heat gun if carefull. Try to clamp it between two pieces of wood. Good luck mathon.

 

[homecloned]

Can you post a pick of the top edge attaching screws? Mine were mia.

 

[matthon]

What was the brand of filler you used?
And the epoxy?

I'll try the hair dryer/pieces of wood trick.

I'm not sure what screws you mean.
The first pic is of the type of screw that held the bezel on, I am missing a few and hoping to locate them eventually.
The 2nd and 3rd pics are of the screw type that held the top metal piece, partially in the pics, that attaches all the way across the top of the bezel. Screws go on top, fastener on the plastic side.

 

[homecloned]

This is the filler I used.
The epoxy was just some 5 min stuff from wal-mart.

Which ones attach here.

 

[matthon]

The screw in the first pic.

 

[matthon]

Does anyone know how to straighten this bezel?

The top is warped, I stripped the paint, heated it with a hair dryer and clamped 2 pieces of wood on it- no luck.
Then I heated it again and clamped it to a metal workbench- no luck.

This is the only thing wrong with it.

 

[valiantsurf]

I have not worked with a dash piece yet, but I have worked with many plastics from atv's before and found that a hair dryer would not get hot enough to "set" the plastic. I bought a heat gun from Harbor Freight that did the trick.

 

[RedFish]

I would place weight on the areas that need to move and apply heat underneath with a heat gun. The trick will be removing the weight as soon as the material moves to the desired position. I like formica scraps to protect surfaces, i.e. between the weight and the show side of the bezel.
The chrome filister head screws are available at www.mrgusa.com I've got some here. pm me if you want.

 

[Fishthatkills]

I used JB Weld to fix the broken corner on mine. It's sandable and will adhere to plastic. I used some plastic epoxy the first time and it did not hold. So I tries the JB weld and man it's as good as new. It filled the crack and now you cant see that it was ever broken. I painted my dash. First with silver and then hand painted the black. I have some photos of before and after. The after pic is the first time I fixed this thing so you will see where it's cracked. I will take a pic of the dash so you can see hoe the JB weld did a much better job on the repair. I also for got to paint the head light switch hole the first time around.

John D. Beckerley
Austin Texas

 

[matthon]

I do not have a heat gun, and so far none of my loser friends do either.
So I'll either find one, rent one if possible, or continue without fixing the bends, (not really what I want to do).

Next item: the dash bulbs.
I took the blue plastic bulb things off to clean and paint the pot metal.
So, it was originally white, should I paint it white again or would a 'chrome' paint reflect the light better, and light the gauges better?
If I leave the blue things off, will that light the gauges better?

 

[Valiant422]

*sigh* I so want a rallye cluster for my Valiant