5th Avenue SatNav

[Monkeyed]

ebayed a Blaupunkt dvd/gps head-unit for the 5th. Had one of those feelings I couldn't quite place when I ordered it.

Got it yesterday, soldered up the connections to the install harness, went out to stuff it in the dash... it's "double din" size, and the chrysler radios are, let's just say not..

2 hour jam it in session turned into an 7 hour hac job with the rotary tool.. it's in, it ain't the prettiest. I had to cut out part of the vent inside the dash, but managed to save the part that directs the air, it's squeezed a bit, and moves with resistance, but since I thought I was going to have to hack a 1/4" or so out of it, I am not complaining.

I was going to dress it up a bit more, but it was already after midnight, Cinderella's already left her balls and all, so I'll fill in some of the more unfortunate gaps with excess plastic, or something.

pics to follow ottytrain2:

:angel8:

 

[kkritsilas]

I'm pretty sure the radio openings in our cars are 1.5 DIN, not the full 2 DIN size. This is mostly a height issue, I think the widths are the same.

I'm pretty sure that the only way to get a large screen display radio into our cars, without the extensive cutting up of the dash, is to get one of the units with the flip up screen. they may end up covering up too much of the dash when they are open though; so that is a personal decision as to what you are willing to accept.

Another approach is get a single DIN size reciever that has iPhone or Android interfaces built in, and use the navigation programs in the phones to do the routing, and have the voice navigation come through the speaker system. No display to look at, but if you can live with voice navigation, it is a workable solution.

Kostas

P.S. Generally, I have found that the smartphone GPS is more current than the sat nav systems built in to the cars, or the third party radios that have sat nav, as the smartphone GPS units are being constantly updated with new map data, while the car/third party radio sat nav systems must be manually updated, and that happens every few months. The smartphone systems are also better with real-time traffic data.

 

[Monkeyed]

I'm pretty sure the radio openings in our cars are 1.5 DIN, not the full 2 DIN size. This is mostly a height issue, I think the widths are the same.

I'm pretty sure that the only way to get a large screen display radio into our cars, without the extensive cutting up of the dash, is to get one of the units with the flip up screen. they may end up covering up too much of the dash when they are open though; so that is a personal decision as to what you are willing to accept.

Another approach is get a single DIN size reciever that has iPhone or Android interfaces built in, and use the navigation programs in the phones to do the routing, and have the voice navigation come through the speaker system. No display to look at, but if you can live with voice navigation, it is a workable solution.

Kostas

P.S. Generally, I have found that the smartphone GPS is more current than the sat nav systems built in to the cars, or the third party radios that have sat nav, as the smartphone GPS units are being constantly updated with new map data, while the car/third party radio sat nav systems must be manually updated, and that happens every few months. The smartphone systems are also better with real-time traffic data.

yeah, it's about a din and a half opening, it's also, maybe 1/2"-3/4"? of an inch wider than the din. it took some persistance, and I ended up cutting 1/4" or so too far off the bottom, but it's in there.

I have an old Garmin Nuvi in the Broncosaurus that I've had for probably 6 or 7 years, I have yet to pay the $99 they want to update it. annually. so, free manual updates, is no problem. the nuvi I have has 0 traffic updates, so plus there as well. I love the humungous display, and the screen refreshes smoothly compared to the other. not sure the fps, but the nuvi was more in the spf category, so again win.

 

[greymouser7]

i am looking forward to pics

 

[Monkeyed]

i am looking forward to pics

you can see where the top of the radio is now the bottom of the vent

I have more I'll post when I get a few minutes

 

[Monkeyed]

here's a little closer view of what I had to cut away

I cut the plastic part on the bottom, but left the trim mounting tab on the bottom corner.

on this side the heater control sits right on the radio now, I had to unbolt it so it sits slightly higher than normal. I ended up wedging a couple small scrap pieces of plastic in on top of the controls because it kept wantong to tilt up and make the slider rub on the opening.

looks pretty good in the dark!

still has some excess space to fill in around the sides and bottom.

I plan on taking the chrome piece I cut awy from the bottom and flipping it around so the chrome is out, then gluing it in place. I may try out some Gorilla Glue for this I've heard good things about it.

doesn't look too bad from the side, I suppose..

kind of at the "it'll do for now" stage.

does look quite a bit different,

 

[Jack Meoff]

Holy Sat Nav!
That's pretty wild!

 

[kkritsilas]

Monkeyed:

That looks really good. Considering the size of the opening, and the size of the Double Din deck, its a great job, you should be proud.

Kostas