I've been waiting for this post for a long time. The light at the end of the tunnel is finally visable.

I've finally started installing the DVD player and the monitor.

The first part of the process was to replace the dash. My old dash had a crack in it, so I started with a new dash and did the dvd player install before the dash was in the car (that was in update #3). The dash needed to be cut to fit the monitor, but I didn't want to comprimise the strength during installation, so I decided to cut it after it was mounted.

Anyway... out with the old dash:



Look at the pic and notice the big air duct in the middle. This is what supplied air to the center vents. For the first time since I owned this car, I was actually impressed with the way GM designed something. 4 bolts and that air duct was gone. In the next pic you can see the plate I built to block off the opening left when the air duct was removed:



Once the dash was all bolted in, I cut the holes for the lcd monitor housing to fit. Since I really didn't want to make a mistake, I actually cut up the old dash on my workbench first. Once I was happy with the fit, I transferred the measurements to the dash in the car, and made nice clean cuts that required minimal trimming.


I threw the center console back in, and I tossed the equipment into place. The lcd housing was just sitting in place half crooked and not in it's proper location. I just wanted to get a pic to get an idea of how it's going to work out:





When this is done it'll be a much nicer fit, and the side piece of the monitor housing will be shaped to conform to the shape of the dash behind it.

After I took these pics I figured out how to mount the monitor housing to the dash. I epoxied the mounts into place, and I epoxied some reinforcement bars behind the dash. I'm a bit concerned about the new dash cracking because of the combination of all the cutting, all the extra weight, and the lack of a center bar mounted to the cowl. I'm going to try to modify the center bracket to fit around the dvd player.

Anyway... soon I'll get pics of my mounting scheme, and pics of everything bolted in. Once I get to that point, I'll be able to make the side piece for the monitor housing, do the final body work to the housing, and get it painted up so that it'll match the rest of the dash.

It's absolutely amazing how much work it takes to make something look stock. If I just fiberglassed the monitor in I would have been done 2 months ago.

 

Exactly. But in the end, all the hard work pays off. I too am striving to make a stock appearing system.

Looks good

 

Any anti-theft measures you have planned?

The whole set-up looks real nice, can't wait to see the completed product, although it looks pretty nice now....

 

Yeah it looking real good

 

Verry Nice Jim.. I cant wate to see the finished pic's.

 

wow. :yourock:

i like it.

only flaw i see is the black abs around the dvd player, but it looks great!

 

well, right now my main form of anti-theft is the fact that the car never leaves my sight unless it's in the garage. Plus, I live in a very rural area, so overall it isn't a concern.

But... the Clifford 900 IQ will go in soon.

Because it's brand new ABS, it reflects the flash like a bastard. In person you don't even notice it. If you look at the piece around the head unit in the same pic, you'll notice that it looks fine. It's the same stuff... just at a different angle so the flash didn't make the same reflection.

BUT... if I get time I'm going to cut a chunk out of the old dash to make a new trim plate that matches better. Whatever plastic I wind up with, eventually it'll get the edges routed and will have the screw holes cut into it to match the stock style. Right now my priority is with the monitor housing. It still needs the side piece that will contour to the dash shape, plus the paint to make it match.

 

Sweet.

 

very nice setup, is that a jvc headunit?

 

Yeah, it's a JVC SH909 Digifine deck. Most JVC stuff sucks, but their digifine decks sound real nice. I never expected to own another JVC, but I fell in love with these digifine decks, and when I found the matching DVD player I was hooked.

 

Looks good Jim!

I'm not sure what you're using to color match the plastics, but I used some Select Products interior spray to redo my dash the other day and it turned out very nice. It looks like brand new stock plastic, not sticky or shiny like most normal spray paint.

 

I'm almost done. All I need to do now is clean up the dash & center console, and make a new trim ring for the DVD player. I'm not happy with where I put the screw holes on this one, and because of the abs I used, it photographs terribly. The ABS looks ok in person, but shines WAY too much when a flash hits it. I'm going to use a piece of stock ABS from another dash, put the screw holes in a better spot, then route the edges to match the stock stuff. I also need to figure out how to hide the DVD player. I need to fool around with the stock vent configuration and see what I can come up with.

Anyway... on with the pics.

Here's everything installed:


Here's a shot with the LCD & radio covers. I've got a camaro radio that I need to chop up, but until then I'll just use the pontiac cover. Once I clean up the LCD cover it'll look better. The dust seemed to show up with the flash:


From the other side:




Watchin' a little Tim McGraw :

 

Do you plan on making a cover for the DVD player? I think it looks real nice. Great job.

 

Looks good. But even if you hide everything, the kicks are still exposed.

 

Yeah. I mentioned above that I haven't figured out how to hide it yet. I'm going to play around with the stock vents and see what I can come up with.

Justin, the kicks are exposed, but without a flash, they really don't seem so noticable. I've entered the car in a couple shows since I built the kicks and so far not one single person has noticed them until after I pointed them out. Because I made them with a stock-style appearance, they go un-noticed, even by other thirdgenners until they really start looking.

It's not like ANY thirdgenner is going to be fooled by the big blank spot above the heater that says "CAMARO" anyway. My goal was to maintain an "OEM-Type" appearance. This is what I think it would have looked like if it came from GM with this equipment. That was my goal from the beginning.

If I decide to go with darker carpet when I replace the worn out stock crap, I'll recover the kicks to match, and once I do that, you'll never notice them.

 

True, black carpet and they'll dissapear. My red ones with black grills stuck out like a sore thumb.

IIRC Your not running any rear speakers. Are you going to get a surround sound thing going?

 

Looks extremely nice! What LCD did you use, if you don't mind me asking?

 

Justin, I don't know if I'll ever have a surround-sound setup. I don't have anywhere for a center speaker, and I'm not aware of any phantom setups for Dolby Digital. Plus... I'd need to replace all of my amplifiers, which I really don't want to do. I have this primarily for music video and concert dvds anyway.

The monitor is a Nesa NSM-7000WH. Nesa's website is www.nesavision.com. You can find these on ebay for around $300, which is about what I paid through dealer accomodation 2 years ago.