We have worked with so much carbon fiber pieces on the car, I have come to realize, you need to be creative and a pretty good at making things work that are not an OEM fitting piece. Some pieces take more work than others, but the carbon fiber radio bezel takes it to a new level.
First off, TruCarbon NEVER has or sends any instructions or go by's. The radio bezel is an awesome looking addition if you have the carbon fiber console. In fact, it is almost a "must". When we opened the piece, it looked as it would be pretty simple, but with their design, if you want it to look factory, it wont work. The exterior fit is perfect. The problem is what they do to set the controls in the bezel. They simply put 3M double side tape and I am guessing they want you to un-screw the radio/climate controls and simply stick it to the bezel with the tape. Problem with this is, the buttons stick out over 1/4" and the contour of the bezel does not even work to adhere the controls to the bezel.
You could simply make shims and shim the controls to the plate and stick it with 3M tape, which I think is half-assing it. I took a better route that wasnt too hard. I sacrificed the OEM bezel and using my table saw cut the four strips of the OEM bezel that had the screws for the controls. I ground off face of the bezel thickness to where the control buttons fit to the factory dept. Once I had the pieces the right thickness, I epoxy glued them to the back side of the carbon fiber bezel with 5m epoxy. Once set, the control screws on the carbon fiber bezel just as the OEM bezel. The rest of the bezel fits beautifully and I have to say, the radio bezel along with the console and Boss dash panels is an awesome look. It looks like a factory option, not some stick on or tape on aftermarket junk. Don't really know what they were thinking at TruCarbon when they brought that piece to retail being so far from working well. I can' imagine someone with not much skill trying to install something like that. It would end up looking like crap and not be good promoting the product.
If anyone is interested in the radio bezel install, I can make a detailed instructions for you to have it look factory.
Here are a few pics of the finished product.
First off, TruCarbon NEVER has or sends any instructions or go by's. The radio bezel is an awesome looking addition if you have the carbon fiber console. In fact, it is almost a "must". When we opened the piece, it looked as it would be pretty simple, but with their design, if you want it to look factory, it wont work. The exterior fit is perfect. The problem is what they do to set the controls in the bezel. They simply put 3M double side tape and I am guessing they want you to un-screw the radio/climate controls and simply stick it to the bezel with the tape. Problem with this is, the buttons stick out over 1/4" and the contour of the bezel does not even work to adhere the controls to the bezel.
You could simply make shims and shim the controls to the plate and stick it with 3M tape, which I think is half-assing it. I took a better route that wasnt too hard. I sacrificed the OEM bezel and using my table saw cut the four strips of the OEM bezel that had the screws for the controls. I ground off face of the bezel thickness to where the control buttons fit to the factory dept. Once I had the pieces the right thickness, I epoxy glued them to the back side of the carbon fiber bezel with 5m epoxy. Once set, the control screws on the carbon fiber bezel just as the OEM bezel. The rest of the bezel fits beautifully and I have to say, the radio bezel along with the console and Boss dash panels is an awesome look. It looks like a factory option, not some stick on or tape on aftermarket junk. Don't really know what they were thinking at TruCarbon when they brought that piece to retail being so far from working well. I can' imagine someone with not much skill trying to install something like that. It would end up looking like crap and not be good promoting the product.
If anyone is interested in the radio bezel install, I can make a detailed instructions for you to have it look factory.
Here are a few pics of the finished product.
