Just installed Double D mods double din conversion carbon bezel and console

[labtec]

Just received my double din bezel conversion and installed today. I must say it is an outstanding product and exceeded my expectations. It is difficult to see in the pictures but the double din opening has multiple beveled areas to give it a factory appearance. They achieve this result by over-cutting the double din opening and then inserting a pre-molded double din housing. It is then seamlessly bonded to the dash bezel. The fit and finish quality is also evident on the back side of the bezel. It can either be re-finished for a factory look, painted or covered using a hydrocarbon process and the clear coated. As you can see in the pictures I went with the carbon .....too often companies talk smack about "perfection: and "the best quality", etc.....Double D mods delivered what they promised.... perfection. btw I added the picture of my window switch modification which was required due to the new 2010 console. I trimmed the switches as descibed in another thread on this forum and then used small plastic spacers under the screws. By using spacers no modification of the console is needed. This switch modification only took about 20 minutes to complete.

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[Steve M]

How much cutting did you have to do behind the bezel to get the Double DIN to fit? Any pics of that?

 

[2easy]

Looks great

 

[labtec]

I don't have pictures of the cutting because it was done some time ago. Yesterday I was just replacing a poorly modified bezel (local shop) with the Double D unit. There is a metal brace and some plastic that needs to be cut out. I used a bare hacksaw blade and took my time while temporarily trying to forget how much the car I was cutting on cost. You will use the original mounting holes for the audio system so ensure you do not remove too much material. You also need to make a bracket for each side of the audio unit to extend and line up with the original mounting holes. This process will probably take 3-4 hours so just take your time, measure three times and cut once and you should be fine. It was a lot of work but worth it for the end result.

 

[1bad540]

awesome, I had 2 double d bezels made for my vette.

 

[AbsolutHank]

Looks great! I loved Double D products from CorvetteForum

 

[Timnineside]

That looks great! I have been thinking about getting rid of that sick oval radio on my 08 for sometime now! If you don't mind asking how much was the bezel? Did you send in your factory one, or just buy a new one?????

Thanks!

-Tim

 

[labtec]

Ordered from them for $899.00 for both bezel and console. Once received send your units back for $200 credit. It's a little better deal if you send your parts in but I didn't want to have down time waiting for the units.

 

[04MambaNYC]

any links where you can order this?

 

[PeterMJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cah8as0Gldo

 

[Timnineside]

Ordered from them for $899.00 for both bezel and console. Once received send your units back for $200 credit. It's a little better deal if you send your parts in but I didn't want to have down time waiting for the units.

Awesome! I did find the website. I like my factory finish so I may just send mine in!

 

[anton28]

Ordered from them for $899.00 for both bezel and console. Once received send your units back for $200 credit. It's a little better deal if you send your parts in but I didn't want to have down time waiting for the units.

They want $900 to cut a bigger opening so you can fit a double d stereo? Any good stereo shop will do that work for free. What am i missing here?

 

[anton28]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cah8as0Gldo

this is a pizza commercial LOL

 

[PeterMJ]

this is a pizza commercial LOL

Insurance commercial actually. That's a lot dough, get it?

 

[PeterMJ]

They want $900 to cut a bigger opening so you can fit a double d stereo? Any good stereo shop will do that work for free. What am i missing here?

hydrocarbon film over the re-cut piece. I think Vipair was selling real carbon fiber overlay for less? You could just cut the hole yourself and then let him cover the piece for less?

 

[Steve M]

They want $900 to cut a bigger opening so you can fit a double d stereo? Any good stereo shop will do that work for free. What am i missing here?

Go back and read the original post again. They are cutting the hole oversized, and then bonding a new piece in place to bring it back down to the right size and shape so at the end of the day, it doesn't look like someone just took a knife to it.

The $900 was for the new bezel AND console pieces, both hydrodipped (film + coats of automotive clear) to give the carbon fiber look. When you send your stock pieces back, you get $200 back. So at the end of the day, it is $700 for the finish on the bezel and console + the bigger hole in the bezel.

 

[anton28]

Insurance commercial actually. That's a lot dough, get it?

hahaha yeah i thought that's what it meant.

 

[anton28]

hydrocarbon film over the re-cut piece. I think Vipair was selling real carbon fiber overlay for less? You could just cut the hole yourself and then let him cover the piece for less?

I was going to send mine out to my guy on the east cost and have him wrap all my parts in reall carbon fiber. The guy did my escalate and that S###T looks like it came from the factory! Built me a full custom steering wheel too.

 

[anton28]

Go back and read the original post again. They are cutting the hole oversized, and then bonding a new piece in place to bring it back down to the right size and shape so at the end of the day, it doesn't look like someone just took a knife to it.

The $900 was for the new bezel AND console pieces, both hydrodipped (film + coats of automotive clear) to give the carbon fiber look. When you send your stock pieces back, you get $200 back. So at the end of the day, it is $700 for the finish on the bezel and console + the bigger hole in the bezel.

I did read it and honestly did not want to say anything but the the new opening looks uneven just like someone did put a knife to it. If they did bond a new part in to assure clean lines, then they failed. Plus 700 to hydro your parts is criminal. Shop around and any place online can get it done for 150-250 max. I've had plenty of parts hydro dipped so i know. As I stated before any reputable stereo shop will cut an opening with such good precision that you won't need any "fancy" parts molded back in to assure straight lines at no charge, given you purchase the stereo through them. I hate being negative guys but this is just a waste of money. That 900(-200 for core) dollar price tag is pure profit. Minus the roll of film for the hydrodip which is used for other customers parts. Nothing ticks me off more then people charging viper tax and this is the finest example!

 

[labtec]

Trust me it does not look like someone took a knife to it. The pictures really do not do it justice, the lines are perfectly straight and the beveled edges look great and flow well, if not it would already be on its way back. I already had a shop cut the opening on my original bezel but the lines were not completely straight and the flat cut out did not fit my idea of a factory look. Although it was expensive I feel it is worth it, if you think your guy on the east coast can do a good job you should go with that. No offense but you should not pass such hard judgment on the finished product based on the rather poor pictures from my cell phone. I will try to get better pictures soon and post them. In person it looks totally factory.

 

[anton28]

Trust me it does not look like someone took a knife to it. The pictures really do not do it justice, the lines are perfectly straight and the beveled edges look great and flow well, if not it would already be on its way back. I already had a shop cut the opening on my original bezel but the lines were not completely straight and the flat cut out did not fit my idea of a factory look. Although it was expensive I feel it is worth it, if you think your guy on the east coast can do a good job you should go with that. No offense but you should not pass such hard judgment on the finished product based on the rather poor pictures from my cell phone. I will try to get better pictures soon and post them. In person it looks totally factory.

Maybe the pics do not do it justice but I still think the company that is selling this service to the viper community
is ripping us off. This is a basic mod that is no way should cost that much money. Just my 2c take it for what it's worth.

 

[labtec]

Thanks for all the comments, I am adding more detailed write-up information to better explain the finished appearance of the product. Anyone interested in better pictures of the product can visit their website, select Viper section and zoom in on the dash panels. The pictures show better detail of the beveled edges and also the addtional material on the bottom which adds strength to the thinner edge, helping to blend the larger opening to the surrounding area. I'm sure some of the cost is associated with the complex molds required for the plastic double din insert. As noted previously the back side of the bezel also has extra expoxy type material (not bondo) to add strength and retain the shape of the bezel. The biggest problem with the original bezel is the enlarged opening will not allow correct positioning of the audio unit to keep it flush at all points because the bezel actually has a convex shape in the middle. This causes the audio unit edges to either be too far in on the sides or too far out in the middle depending on position. This bezel solution eliminates the problem because the molded opening matches the flat frontal area of the audio system and then seamlessly curves to match the contours of the bezel. Hope this information helps clarify the overall look.

 

[AZTVR]

Maybe the pics do not do it justice but I still think the company that is selling this service to the viper community
is ripping us off. This is a basic mod that is no way should cost that much money. Just my 2c take it for what it's worth.

Please post some website links to established, reputable, quality companies that do this job for the kind of prices you are quoting. There are people that own Vipers and other high end cars that do not want to trust their car to a high school drop out at the local stereo shop in their little town in Arkansas, Utah, Maine, etc. Sure, the end product might turn out just as good, at least to your quality standards; but, it is often a crap shoot.

 

[Steve M]

Maybe the pics do not do it justice but I still think the company that is selling this service to the viper community
is ripping us off. This is a basic mod that is no way should cost that much money. Just my 2c take it for what it's worth.

I'm not sure what you are seeing from the pictures that makes you think it isn't a quality job. They are low resolution, so it is kinda hard to tell much of anything other than it looks pretty good to me.

This company charges as much to do this for the Viper as he does for the Corvette guys. The cost for reshaping the opening is $200, so the rest of the cost is the hydrodipping. If Dennis has his own equipment to do this, it wasn't free...if he's contracting the work out, their equipment wasn't free. If the price is a little high, so what? Someone can have him modify the opening for $200, then you can send the pieces off to the finisher of your choice and save some cash.

I don't think you are seeing a Viper tax here. What he's doing is custom work, and that stuff takes time. It'd be interesting to know how many hours go into it...that might explain the price. For me, I'd rather pay someone $200 to do a good job than trust someone to make good cuts that charges nothing at all.

 

[PeterMJ]

Thanks for all the comments, I am adding more detailed write-up information to better explain the finished appearance of the product. Anyone interested in better pictures of the product can visit their website, select Viper section and zoom in on the dash panels. The pictures show better detail of the beveled edges and also the addtional material on the bottom which adds strength to the thinner edge, helping to blend the larger opening to the surrounding area. I'm sure some of the cost is associated with the complex molds required for the plastic double din insert. As noted previously the back side of the bezel also has extra expoxy type material (not bondo) to add strength and retain the shape of the bezel. The biggest problem with the original bezel is the enlarged opening will not allow correct positioning of the audio unit to keep it flush at all points because the bezel actually has a convex shape in the middle. This causes the audio unit edges to either be too far in on the sides or too far out in the middle depending on position. This bezel solution eliminates the problem because the molded opening matches the flat frontal area of the audio system and then seamlessly curves to match the contours of the bezel. Hope this information helps clarify the overall look.

If I was doing this, I would cut the hole and then mould in it one of the standard metra plastic surrounds that can be had for ten bucks on Ebay and then fill in the surrounding area and blend it in to match the rest. If you think there are custom pieces involved here, you may want to check how much a set up like this would cost. I have seen the vette pieces, they actually require more work and they look only so so IMO. You have to use expoxy to do this because anything polyester based will not stick and eventually crack. This is why you see epoxy being used, just like when repairing plastic bumpers. With that said, if you think you got your money's worth, this is all what matter. If you are a DIY with some fabricating experience, you have a different perspective, you price custom stuff on the price of materials alone. Like with everything else, price is dictated by demand, if you are willing to pay, this is what it will cost.

With that said, IMO, these pieces should be wrapped in real CF, not hydrodipped but I guess the profit margin would be decreased.

 

[PeterMJ]

I'm not sure what you are seeing from the pictures that makes you think it isn't a quality job. They are low resolution, so it is kinda hard to tell much of anything other than it looks pretty good to me.

This company charges as much to do this for the Viper as he does for the Corvette guys. The cost for reshaping the opening is $200, so the rest of the cost is the hydrodipping. If Dennis has his own equipment to do this, it wasn't free...if he's contracting the work out, their equipment wasn't free. If the price is a little high, so what? Someone can have him modify the opening for $200, then you can send the pieces off to the finisher of your choice and save some cash.

I don't think you are seeing a Viper tax here. What he's doing is custom work, and that stuff takes time. It'd be interesting to know how many hours go into it...that might explain the price. For me, I'd rather pay someone $200 to do a good job than trust someone to make good cuts that charges nothing at all.

If I understand correctly, this mod costs 700 plus 200 core? Where do you see 200 bucks? I am not knocking this guy for jumping on opportunity to make an extra buck but the fact remains that high price of anything gives at least some people assurance they buy a better product. If you are DIY, you can get this done real easy for about 300 bucks including all parts and hydrodipping. But again, you have know how to do this stuff. I would say this guy makes real good money on this stuff. I do not need to do this but if you ever have any doubts how much you can do this DIY, we can make a bet.

 

[Steve M]

If I understand correctly, this mod costs 700 plus 200 core? Where do you see 200 bucks? I am not knocking this guy for jumping on opportunity to make an extra buck but the fact remains that high price of anything gives at least some people assurance they buy a better product. If you are DIY, you can get this done real easy for about 300 bucks including all parts and hydrodipping. But again, you have know how to do this stuff. I would say this guy makes real good money on this stuff. I do not need to do this but if you ever have any doubts how much you can do this DIY, we can make a bet.

You have to go on his website and poke around...the $700 + $200 core was for the modification PLUS hydrodipping the bezel AND the console. The modification to the bezel alone with no hydrodipping is $199 according to his website.

 

[ViperGeorge]

For me it makes more sense to just install a single DIN with retractable screen and save the $700 for better speakers or amp.

 

[PeterMJ]

For me it makes more sense to just install a single DIN with retractable screen and save the $700 for better speakers or amp.

I would not do it, fold out eventually break, they are not as nearly as reliable as in dash double din units. The ribbon cable breaks on all of them. The better way is to do it yourself if you must adapting the dash piece for double din. This is cheap and very easy to do.

 

[PeterMJ]

Apparently he has a sale? LOL. I am not knocking people paying him, it all depends on how much you value your time and how much skill and determination you have. If you have the time and some skill, you can do this part for about 20 bucks or a bit more if you want to spray a textured finish on the piece. BTW, this is what I am talking about

http://www.amazon.com/Metra-95-7861-Double-Installation-2003-2007/dp/B0014GTHKI

This is an actual kit but I bet he gets the actual trim piece for less than a buck when buying in bulk, and without the rest of the kit.