hi, i am working on a custom fascia for my MK.2. the new faceplate is made of aluminum but i want to paint it that it fits the dash in the car, a golf III by the way. also i have to redo the paint on the handlebar. i am very curious to see whats underneath the original paint. may be i like what i see and do not need to paint it all, may be. the attachment is a first "prototype" it is not the final result. i need this to figure out what i did wrong espacially with my measurements. and i do not have the knops yet. so tell me what you think, please.

i am very curious to see whats underneath the original paint. may be i like what i see and do not need to paint it all, may be.

It has been said that you can remove the handle and sandblast it to expose the metal underneath. It would probably match your aluminum fascia in terms of color, but its shape has those curved features that are meant to match the original fascia, so it might or might not be what you like.

What about making your own aluminum handle to go with your fascia?

What about making your own aluminum handle to go with your fascia? it is a little problem because the handle is hard to make by cnc-machine, it is to slim. about the curved features, i can say that i am doing the same on my fascia. the one in the attachment is the first "thing" just to give you an idea about the design. by the way, what do you think about the design?

I would prefer to just have a hole for the IR sensor instead of the large cutout and then try to make the left and right sides the same (or closer anyway)

i thaugt about that but it does not look good just with holes. the hole has to be very close to the srew right top. so my point of view was to make it a little asymmetric. and i also think that the ir does not go thru with just a hole because the fascia is 6,7 mm thick. anyway if you want to have a different design send or post a scribble and talk about it, may be you get yours.

maybe you could keep the square VFD opening, but engrave the oval shape of the origional facia on to it. It would be pretty sweet to have an platinum annodized facia (big balla style!) - lol.

thats more or less how it looks like with holes.

platinum, yes of course. how mutch would you like to spend. lol "engrave the oval shape of the origional facia" can you scibble that, i do not think i get you.

I started a thread regarding custom facias maybe a week or 2 ago. Asking if people was interested and so on. And since you already have a somewhat finished design I will back off. And put my own project at ease. But i recommend you to read my thread to get inspired. People there have posted what they are interested in (design, prise)

hi, iIDuce i do not want to "kill" your thread. may be i can help you if you like to have some data about the fascia.

I tnink it was chemically blackened on the cast piece direct.

Thank you 303 for your concern. But dont think, doing a double facia project at the same time is a good idea. Economicly that is. I dont think there are enough customers to be able to pay of both projects. And since you already have a finished design its not more than fair that I am the one backing off. I appreciate your project very much. And maybe you are not running it to make a profit. Thats up to you, but I think if I were to spend this amount of time with something i would want to get paid for it.

i would like to know more people like you! it is like you say, i started this project for fun, but soon i figured out it is a lot of work and if somebody else would like to have a custom face i need some money. so thank you for appreciate my project and let me know if you need some help in the future.

hi Rob, it looks like we have a new face for the next meet! and now i´m sorry to say that but my english is not good enough to understand your line. could you please explain it to me the stupid germ. thx!

The cast piece was treated in a chemical bath to blacken it - probably similar to anodizing (Normal anodizing tends to not look very good at cast aluminium pieces. It's meant more for parts machined out of solid aluminium)

Below is what babelfish thinks is the german version of the above. I don't trust my german on technical matters :-)

Das Formstück wurde in einem chemischen Bad behandelt, um es zu schwärzen - vermutlich ähnlich dem Anodisieren (das normale Anodisieren neigt, nicht Gußaluminiumstücken sehr gut zu betrachten. Es wird mehr für die Teile bedeutet, die aus festem Aluminium heraus bearbeitet werden)

/Michael

wow thx a lot!!! by the way my aluface is made of solid aluminum.

got ya!!!

you can remove the coating on the handle bar with a little bit o steel wool, I had an extra one... the underneath pretty much just looks like aluminum.. ya know silverish

isn´t it too scrachie with steel wood?!

If you want to strip a handle back to bare aluminium then the best way we have found is to sand blast it.

Rob

I've read that oven cleaner strips annodizing. Perhaps it would work on this finish as well.

Stu

In reply to:

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i started this project for fun, but soon i figured out it is a lot of work and if somebody else would like to have a custom face i need some money.

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Ok, I'd definitely buy a metal fascia. I, too, am thinking of a $100 price, but I'd really like one, I may pay even more for one.
So, good luck on your project 303.

just two new pics from the prototype. what do you think?

Looks good to me... Do you have a pic with one on an empeg yet?

Matthew

not yet, but soon. with a better prototype!

You're going to get a lot of interest in this fascia if you can produce a number of them at an attractive price. I suggest once you get closer to your final product that you ask to see how many people want to order one. Then try and set a price that will make you comfortable (pay your expenses and make you a bit of money) while still keeping it in range for the largest number of people. If the price is right, I'd buy two. My handle is already silver (sanded the black off - and it's very smooth, just use very fine wet automotive sandpaper).

Bruno

hey hybrid8, you wrote you sanded the black off. i would like to know how long since you sanded the black off because i think the aluminum get black by corrosion. and know comes the tricky part, the pricing. let me think of it and may be give me a little help. what do you think its an o.k. pricing range? to be honest i did no estimate, yet.

I have a friend who would be able to powdercoat the aluminum fascia and handle for $25 in a variety of colors.

sounds good. where are you based?

if i start to sell it i think it is the best way to offer it two ways. first bare aluminum and second anodized that it fits the original handle color. so tell me what do you think, please.