EK CF-look Instrument Bezel

**jpestrada115** · 01-02-2009 10:40 PM

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Aim: carbon fiber look EK gauge/instrumentation bezel

Required:

(1) Self adhesive carbon fiber look vinyl
(2) Scissors
(3) Sharp cutter
(4) Hair blower (not shown on photo)
(5) MF towel
(6) Tweezers
(7) Ruler & pen
(8) Lots of patience

CF-look vinyl:

Steps:

This DIY started when I was cleaning my gauge as the instrument lights are already dim. After cleaning everything and I was about to put everything back together, I thought of giving it a new look.

(1) First step up removing the instrument cluster and taking out the bezel.

(2) Next is prepping the bezel. I washed it with dishwashing detergent and thoroughly rinsed it. Wiped dry with MF towel and air-dried.

(3) Trace the bezel on the backing of the CF-look vinyl. Trace line should be around half an inch from the edge of the actual outline of the bezel. Then cut along the trace line.

(4) Remove the vinyl backing of the CF-look vinyl then stick onto the bezel. Try to get rid of air bubbles. Then wrap the excess half-inch around the edges of the bezel. Use the hair blower to heat up the edge of the vinyl so that it will be more flexible. This will make it easier to pull the vinyl around the bezel edges. Fix the sticker onto the back of the bezel. Next would be cuting the 3 big holes (speedo, fuel/temp & tach). Remember to leave around half an inch so that you can wrap it arond the edge of the bezel. More important that you do this on these holes. I cut the 'excess' radially then wrapped the smaller flaps around the edges of the gauge holes. Heat up the vinyl flaps before pulling then and fixing on to the back.

(5) Next would be the small oval holes for the instrument/indicator lights. I did this by slitting a "*" on each hole using the cutter blade. Then repeat the heat-up-by-hair-blower and wrap-around-the-flaps process. Note that the flaps would be really small. You will need the tweezers here to pull the flap, wrap around the edge and fix onto the back of the bezel. Using the tweezers will also prevent dirt from sticking onto the adhesive part if you use your fingers.

(6) Reinforce the flaps at the back of the bezel (around the 3 big gauge holes and small oval holes). This will minimize the likelihood of the flaps from debonding and pulling back out to the face of the bezel. I used bits of vinyl stickers to do this. Cloth tape will also do. Looks ugly! Ghetto patchwwork.

(7) The finished bezel! Can’t wait to install it!

(8) Assemble the instrumentation cluster. Photo of the bezel installed on the gauge:

(9) Fit the instrumentation cluster back into the car. Photo:

(10) Lights on!

Enjoy!

Share the love and give a PQ point please...

**J_Phongsavan** · 01-02-2009 10:51 PM

very impressive... had an idea using that vinyl but didnt know how to do it proffessionally but now i see... me and cousin will get on to it soon...

**preludacris** · 02-02-2009 02:56 AM

looks good

i'd be worried about how long it will stay stuck down tho.

**kriZy** · 02-02-2009 08:32 AM

WAH!

very nice man.

**Zdster** · 02-02-2009 08:47 AM

Looks like a good outcome, but for the amount of time/effort/cash spent you might as well pick up an ek9 cluster bezzle and be done with it. Thumbsup for effort though.

**turtle187** · 02-02-2009 10:16 AM

WOW AWESOME DUDE, and i dont reakon u wasted ur money man, with extra cf material you can do your door trims or other small areas within the car too.
mind me asking where can this material be bought ???

**jpestrada115** · 02-02-2009 01:31 PM

@ turtle187: that's right - one whole CF-look vinyl roll (shown in the materials) would probably be enough for 3-4 bezels so yes, you'll still have a lot for other parts that you want to wrap with them.

i've seen some of these CF-look vinyl in autobarn but not sure how much they cost.

the one that i used was bought in the philippines - less than $10 for the roll.

**panda[cRx]** · 02-02-2009 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by Zdster

Looks like a good outcome, but for the amount of time/effort/cash spent you might as well pick up an ek9 cluster bezzle and be done with it. Thumbsup for effort though.

he same result with enough for a slab left over

but yeh i do see your point as the bezels are cheaper than expected, $55 from jdm concept http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63372

**jpestrada115** · 03-02-2009 09:13 AM

^ thanks guys.

yeah, i really like the EK9 real CF bezel. too pricey for that bit for me though as i'm el-cheapo so i went for this DIY (less than $10 all up!).

i enjoyed doing it and the final product made me feel that the effort was all worth it.

@ preludacris: yeah, that may be a worry. that's the reason why i did the "patchwork" at the back of the bezel to reinforce the flaps - to lessen the chances of the vinyl peeling off. it will definitely start from those flaps as those would be the weakest points.

**MikeyG** · 03-02-2009 09:40 AM

very nice dude and if u made the lights on the cluster abit darker aswell would set it off

nice job tho

**jpestrada115** · 03-02-2009 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by MikeyG

very nice dude and if u made the lights on the cluster abit darker aswell would set it off

nice job tho

thanks mate. actually the lights became brighter because i cleaned the internals of the gauges/instrument cluster. cleaned the bulbs and replaced the busted and dim ones as well.