most auto grade/ or speaker box carpeting is easily stretchable, or buy a roll of vinyl or padded vinyl - that's what I would wrap it in,
you do have a funky contour 3/4 the way back, Its tough to tell exactly what it is, but I would build on the inside of the 90 and make it a 45-- just remember your finish material is what shows :-)
suggest 3m 90 spray adhesive--both surfaces

if your unsure, practice on a dummy 1st
g/l

 

Great looking job on the overhead, looking forward to seeing the final result! Good luck on the headliner cut.

 

I stopped by a local stereo shop today (same guys who installed my alarm/remote start) and talked to them about some suggestions on covering.

They stated that with all the angles on there it would be very hard to cover it all with carpet. They suggested fiberglassing the whole thing but I didn't jump at that thought!!

They stated instead to cover the entire area inside the rails with carpet that matches the truck interior. That leaves light grey or graphic grey. They suggested to stain the sides. When I said I didn't want to leave it wood - and certainly didn't build it correctly with all the screws and putty - they suggested using icing.

They explained that I could ice the sides, sand and paint and suggested that the paint match the exterior of the truck. This would mean I would only need to carpet on the inside area. The icing will give a very smooth finish to put the paint on.

I liked that idea so I stopped and picked up some icing today. My understanding is it has to be mixed with a hardener (which I also got) and just lay it down like drywall mud - or bondo. It can be sanded and primed and then sanded really smooth and then painted.

I never used this icing stuff before and now I hope I don't screw this up. I totally see this going bad and then I'll have "waves" on the sides... not good...

Maybe I should paint only the bottom edges and inside of the siderails and carpet the inside and outside. Still thinking but in the meantime I think I am going to start applying the icing.

Anyone done anything like that before?

 

How about fabric the inside and outside with two separate pieces than where the pieces meet at the edge of the wood lay some sort of trim over it? Could be metal trim, plastic, wood, whatever.

Edit*

I have it! router a groove in the edge of the wood so where both fabrics meet you can push them into the groove and either leave the grove (look like a line down both sides) or push a rope in the groove to fill it in and hold the fabric tight, or push in a colored plastic door bumper guard, or something of the like.

 

Heck the only "icing" I've ever heard of was on a piece of cake! Post pics of the progress though.

 

I have a router, would just need a really thin bit. But with the angles I have to follow I can't see a way to get the slot consistent all the way. It would go in easily in some places, but not others. However, the slot has me wondering if I could break it up some using that idea. If I was good enough (i.e. steady), I could cut that slot with my angle grinder...

I have awhile as I need to order switches and cut that slot before I cover it. I was going to put the icing on it today but I am still thinking.

Keep the ideas coming!!

 

In those hard curves maybe you could use a dremel/rotozip?

 

I don't think the depth of the cut would matter much especially if you use a filler piece of some sort. The important part is getting the slot centered along the whole edge as best you can. I like the idea of a dremmel possibly with some sort of fence strapped to it.

 

I have visited OTRATTW as well as a few other places looking for the Contura V-series switches. The most difficult part was finding what text and symbols were available.

I just ordered my switches and bezel from these guys, thanks for the heads-up!! I went with the Contura V switches with the green independent light on top which I will switch on either with key-on or with the lights.

The lower is a red bar which will illuminate when the switch is in the 'on' position.

Another thing I'm looking to do here is add several cameras on this truck. I have the tailgate cam and I'd like to add one to my trailer and one in the front. I need a way to switch the cams. I want to be able to view them at any time and be able to switch between them.

The rear camera I also want to come on when the truck is placed in reverse. however, any rocker or rotary switch for that will likely be added to the dash where the most trucks have the shift-on-the-fly selector (I have the manual floor shifter).

 

Another option I am now considering for the finish of the console is to paint all of it. If I do, I would paint the middle to match the gray of the dash and paint the sides to match the graphite portions of the dash.

The advantages are easy of finish and even though it would be a more subdued finish, I think it would look factory. Of course, the factory plastic has a "texture" to it and isn't smooth so that wouldn't look quite right...

At least if I paint it and hate it, I can still proceed with any other option that was discussed here...

 

Local dealer has a 2013 CC LB F350 6.7L PSD and I made the mistake of stopping and looking at it yesterday.

You would think that the $59,375 sticker would be what is keeping me away, right? Nope, it's the fact that this console doesn't fit the rooflines and I'd have to start over!!!

 

Icing isn't horribly hard. You just have a limited working time. The best way I've done it before is pull the piece out and lay it flat. Icing will naturally level itself if you thin it out enough. When I did my friends center console, I did it in thin stages. It doesn't sound like time is an issue for you, just quality. But its pretty easy. Apply, let dry, sanding block, repeat. I did learn to never use a air sander, or any kind of mechanical sanding tool. A sanding block, a good eye, a straight edge and patience will work wonders. I wish you luck!

 

bikerman, thanks. How many coats do you apply? I would imagine as few as necessary?

I took a small puddle and tried it on a test piece. It does flow more than I thought it might. It is not as thick as, say, drywall mud. It is much thinner but spreads out easily using a spreader.

It seemed to sand down pretty easily as well. I am thinking of doing all of the faces with the icing and painting it two-tone. My son thinks it would look better with carpet if I could get it to match the headliner. I guess I am just being cautious here. Some steps can be taken and the course changed later. Other steps cannot be reversed. If I glue down carpet, I can't then peel it back off and sand down to paint. At least without an enormous effort.

Someone stated I should sand the wood with something more coarse than 60 grit so the icing will stick. Have any advice on that and how fine should I sand after?

 

Icing 101:

I started out with the coarsest grit I could find. The first layer of icing should be treated as bondo or whatever filler you like. That will get the first layer to adhere to the wood.

Once that is cured(take your time), sand with a much lighter grit paper, then wipe of with a tac cloth. Go with the second layer. Now, depending on how thick of a look you're going for, keep sanding, tac-ing and reapplying.

You can absolutely paint icing. HOWEVER, if you do paint it before it cures, the paint will work its way into the icing and ruin that layer. Also, imperfections in the surface of the icing will show through in the paint. Think bad body job covered with black paint. You'll see everything!

As far as going around 90 degree corners with icing....that is like ninja skill, you have to have icing mastered. Down to knowing the difference between set times and cure times. Set time will give you enough stiffness to keep it from "excessive flow", cure time, you'll be sanding it all off to start over. If I were you, I would do one side, let it cure completely, rotate your piece and then do the other face you need to go around the corner with. The trick to it is this. Just before it sets, you have to pull it around the corner to overlap the other, previously iced side. Then you need to let it cure, rotate and do the other side again to over lap the side you pulled around the corner. That way you end up with a sandwich of icing that won't crack at the corner. Or, if you're really wanting to make this a permanent thing, that will last through sledge hammers, get some fiberglass or carbon fiber and while the icing is still wet and you can manipulate it easily, press the glass or carbon into it and wrap it around the corner and pull the icing over it to permeate the glass or carbon.

Icing can build up pretty quickly. But, you always have to option to sand of as much as you want. Corner sanding takes a delicate touch, especially on those corners. I wish you luck!

 

bikerman, that is GREAT info! But I don't know if you encouraged me or scared me away!! haha!!

I have been hesitant to use the icing. I did a trial section on a scrap piece and it seemed easy enough. The issue is that I am not sure I want to deal with more "finishing". So I cut off a piece of the liner that I have and started fitting it around the complex corners. I was actually surprised how easy it was to get it to form around the lines I have.

So I stopped in some local auto parts stores and they were about useless. They had liner but all of them only had black. I think I am going to order some carpet and just hope it closely matches the colors of the dash.

I have a serious amount of items on my to-do list in the next month so I need to get this wrapped up. I would simply paint it as-is if I was sure I could cover the wood-grain. I will likely get it mounted this weekend whether I have the final finish on it or not. I can always use it now and revisit it for the finish.