BIG score = lots of work **Complete** with More pics
 

I aquired an Eclipse AVX2404 yesterday. In dash touch-screen LCD with built-in DVD, MP3, ... all the goodies. The problem is, it's a double DIN unit. I first was thinking of putting it in my truck but that opening is slightly less than double DIN and would require modifications anyway. So I decided that it was going into the Bonny.

I grabbed the spare dash from the shed and the Dremmel and went to town. I needed to fit it into the dash to get an idea of where to cut the trim panel. Slung around some fibergalss... and here are the unfinished results:

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Attachment 78354

Tomorrow I move into the Bondo phase to clean up the surfaces a bit more. The weekend will be when the mounting bracket is fabbed.

Woah. That's nice.

Sweet. Should look nice and professional when you're done.

Are you going to take off the cover and mold it all together. So if you paint it it looks like it came that way from the factory. Does look nice. How did you go about reinforcing the back end.

awesome i love those i was thinking about getting one like that but yah the double din problem...so now im going with the sun visor monitors and some 7" flip downs in the back. i have a sony 7" motorized flip down right now but its acting up (it likes to open and close randomly because of a bad tilt sensor) and im just gonna return it. beautiful work you are doing. i would be scared to mess up my dash doing all of that.

dammit!!! why do you have to make me so jealous!!!

looks awesome man

That is beautiful, man! You should have put it in the '90 ;). Talk about classic pimpin'

Straitor: Remember that Idea we were talking about? I wonder if that would work?

Randy: what kind of price did you pay [or should have paid?], and what kind of inputs do you have on that screen [if any?].


-justin

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say "cover". If you are referring to the trim ring usually found around the head unit then no, it is missing. This will be an iso-DIN fit. I carefully measured the faceplate and cut a piece of 3/4" thick lumber the same size. Thiis chunk was screwed to a scrap piece of 1/2" plywood that was slightly larger than the OEM opening plus the cut at the bottom. The wood "plug" was prepped with shelac, masking tape and Carnuba wax so the fiberglass would release once dry. Using the top edge of the radio opening as a reference, the plug was clamped to the dash trim. I was looking for Kitty Hair fiberglass filler but ended up with a Bondo substitute. It too had fibers mixed in with the jelly-like goop. The hardner was added, mixed throughly, and the mixture was packed around the left, right and bottom of the 3/4" block. I did this twice with an hour or so between applications. Then sand, sand, sand....



I don't think this model is sold new any more as it has been replaced with a newer model. The all-in-one units like this usually go for $1000 to $1400 new. I wanted a Pioneer unit that was similar but was a standard DIN size. I couldn't afford it though.

It has two aux video inputs: Navi in and Aux for rear view camera or other video source. It even has a split screen so two sources can be seen at the same time.

sweet man :lol:

I had a rather sleepless night last night thinking of how I was going to mount this puppy. I couldn't wait for the weekend so I started this afternoon. I came up with many ideas. Some of which required a sheet metal bending brake which I do not own (yet). The ideas gradually got more and more complex but in the end, simplicity won. The idea was to make the new radio the same width as the the factory radio and use the factory mounting brackets. The difference in width between the factory and aftermarket units was just over 3/4". I had some 3/8" polycarbonate laying around from an abandoned project that would work very nicely as a spacer. Here they are here:

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The factory mounting tabs are fastened to the spacers using a flat head screw and a nylon locking nut. The spacers mount to the radio with four more screws. The holes are enlarged so slight adjustments can be made to the up and down alignment. Overall, the width is 1/8" smaller than the factory radio allowing for shims (washers) to be placed for left to right adjustment. It's ready to be installed but the weather might put a stop to this tomorrow. The dash trim still needs to be finished and painted so that can get done easily tomorrow. Hopefully I can have some completed pics before Monday.

Attachment 78352