FYI: There is no need to pry the edges if you have the nav. With the nav screen in the upright position, detach the clippings on the back side of the nav which holds it to the dash panel. Get a hold of the edge opening and pull away.

 

Perhaps V8s are different than DB9s, but I can assure you that the DB9 piano finish fascia is not a piece of plastic with a thin piece of venner bonded to it.

It consists of a cast metal (like pot metal) substrate, equivalent to your plastic one, to which is bonded a multi-layer (around 6 IIRC) piece of furniture grade plywood a little less than 1/8 inch thick. The surface of this piece of wood is then finished in piano black. This is also true for the nav door (identical construction).

Either the V8 uses different materials altogether, or when you order a real wood fascia for a V8 they replace the stock one with one contructed as I've described. I would find it hard to believe that AM would be using two different ways of making real wood dash panels.

 

Of course, the same argument could be used in the other direction. As in: "I would find it hard to believe that AM would be using two different ways of making Vantage dash panels—plastic substrate on metal facias and metal substrates on wood facias".

 

I wouldn't worry about it. Today's plastics are pretty resilient. It is because of that resilience why plastics are such a problem in landfills. Besides, I would be more concerned about the leather near the windshield air vents than the plastic below the fascia. That leather tends to shrink when exposed to a lot of sunlight and it can peel back from the metal underneath. I recommend not parking the car in direct sunlight without at least putting a sunscreen over the dash.

 

I picked up the facia from the custom cycle shop today. It looks awesome. He did a 2 stage paint job with three coats of clear and baked it twice. I was told to let it sit for a couple more days to let the finish harden further as the solvents evaporate before I attempt to install it. That way I minimize the risk of leaving any fingerprints in the finish as I push it into place.

It's tempting to just go ahead and install it (I did at least mount the vents and starter button). Luckily, my iPod/USB integration project will keep me from putting the facia back on until I'm done. I'll discuss that in another thread, but here are a couple of pics so far. Again sorry for the grainy iPhone quality.

 

Looks nice. I would give it plenty of time to harden. The last thing you want to do is add a fingerprint or other blemish to the high gloss finish. It would drive you crazy.

 

The Piano Black Facia Project is done and it looks pretty awesome. I think it would be very difficult for anyone to distinguish it from the original AM piece.

Oh, and I also finished my iPod/USB/Bluetooth Audio Integration project! It's a bit cumbersome to navigate using the little controls on the infotainment system, but at least I'm not stuck listening to CDs anymore. And playing songs from my iPhone while it's still in my pocket is pretty cool.

I'll go through the details in the next few days. It's getting late and I need to get to bed.

 

Don't forget photos!

 

Karl - That's some handy work and thinking outside of the box!!

 

The paint job turned out great! Congrats

 

I'm on my second Vantage roadster; both with the piano black and I love it. Very elegant and I've had no problems. I keep a very soft shaving brush in the glovebox and give it a quick dusting once in a while. I also have piano black in my '08 Maserati QP. One thought, I took all the wood out of an SL55 and had it painted techtite gray at a local body shop. Not too expensive and looked awesome.

 

Here's a pic I just took in my garage with the new Piano Black Facia installed.

BTW: Yes, the reflection is real. The flag is hanging on the wall in my garage.

 

Cool shot and fascia looks great. Are you satisfied with the result?

 

Thanks. Yes, very satisfied. I never liked the gray painted mini-honeycomb look of the alloy facia that came with my car. I don't think anyone would be able to tell that this was not a Piano Black facia from AM. The only difference is that I only paid about $150 for it instead of ten times as much from the dealer.

 

I am thinking of doing my inside door pulls and door sill plates in the piano black to compliment the piano black on the dash.
I bought an extra set so if I don't like the result, I still have the originals.