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his marks the third tech article in a series showcasing what it takes to build a show and magazine feature-worthy demo car. The ride in question is the Installer Institute’s Mitsubishi Evolution we printed a

full-blown feature on in our 8.03 isse (July 2006.) The four-door rally replica for the streets was built by the Installer Institute’s Director Jason Anderson and Lead Instructor Jack Randall in Daytona Beach, FL.

This particular sequence focuses on incorporating Kenwood’s DDX-7015 double DIN head unit into the Evo’s dash. This meant that the installers would have to mod-ify the factory dash bezel to accommodate the double DIN unit. It also meant that they had to relocate the HVAC controls below their stock location (see TechWorks in the last PAS issue, 8.05 for the work involved in that project).

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2003 Mitsubishi Evolution: Dash Bezel Build

Text and Photos supplied by Installer Institute Staff

And here’s how they did it:

We removed the product from the box to determine the total size of the head unit and to see what type of room we would have around the radio. We first removed the ISO brackets from the factory radio and attached them to the Kenwood piece. This allowed us to use the factory mount-ing location and saved us quite a bit of time.

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Taking a step back and looking at the radio and bezel we realized that we would have an empty space below the radio that would not look very good if we were to just cover it. After throwing a few ideas around we decided to mould in a piece of Plexiglas just below the radio. The idea was to light up a Kenwood logo in this location. So we cut a piece of 3/8-inch Plexi and super-glued it into place.

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With the Kenwood mounted in place, we placed the radio bezel over the radio and traced out our cut line. We had to make the cut go around the A/C portion a little larger than the rest of the be-zel because we would need it for another part of the install. With the bezel cut out we placed it back in its proper location. Then we took the Kenwood double DIN trim ring and made sure that it fit correctly.

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With both the ring and the Plexi glued into place, it was time for one more test-fit. Our next step was to use Dura-Glass and Body Filler to fill in all the gaps and eliminate the imperfections. The Dura-Glass was laid down first for strength and then body filler over the top to smooth out the bezel, then the bezel was sanded with 80-, then 120-grit sandpaper. Now it’s time for one last test fit, and at this point in the install we needed to make sure that the Kenwood would open and close correctly with the bezel in its correct loca-tion. We powered up the 7015 and opened and closed the radio a few times to double and triple check that it would fit correctly.

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Next it was time for primer. We used a high-build poly primer and covered the entire panel. Once the primer dried it was time for sand-ing. This time we started with 220-grit paper and sanded up to 400-grit. Because we sprayed primer over the Plexiglas, we had to sand the primer back down to the Plexi. We didn’t want to tape off the area of the Plexi that was going to have the Kenwood logo on it because of the lip that it would create when we removed the tape, so we choose to spray the whole thing and sand down the primer.

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2003 Mitsubishi Evolution: Dash Bezel Build

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2003 Mitsubishi Evolution: Dash Bezel Build

With everything finished we cleaned up the panel and mounted it in the car. Because we used the factory be-zel all the snap-in mounts matched up and insured that both the radio and panel will not move as the EVO is racing through corners.

07Installer Institute1524 Ridgewood Ave., Holly Hill, FL, 32117(800) 354-6782www.installerinstitute.com

THE SOURCE

With the panel primered and almost ready to paint, we applied the Kenwood logo to the Plexiglas making sure that it was centered with the radio. Then we cleaned the bezel to get it ready for paint. When painting panels make sure that you have a clean environment to spray in – one that’s free of dust and particles. With the panel almost dry we took a sharp pick-tool and removed the Kenwood letters, then let it dry completely.

05With the radio wired up and the dash bezel almost finished, it was time to install the neon light behind the Plexiglas piece. 06