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As I have reported elsewhere I am planning to free up the headunit space for a cluster of 3 gauges (oil temp& pressure and water temp).
I have been juggling ideas about the new headunit placement (an Alpine with a detachable face), and had some already lined up when a recent thread in this forum made me consider something else. This is the headunit I'm considering:
I would like to install just the detachable face on the inside of the dash console door, and wire it to the rest of the headunit to be stored away (probably in the trunk). I believe shaner has done this, but I cannot find any description in the forum.
Would I need to solder a cable to the detachable face and headunit? or is there a more elegant solution? How far do you think I can locate the face from the headunit?
First, I must admit something: My Alpine ERA-G320 EQ/Surround came pre-wired for face/remote controller box. All I had to do was cut a hole in the flip-down door for the face and run the cable to the controller in the trunk.
The only difficulty is if you place the remote wired headunit somewhere else, you won't be able to insert CDs... but a changer would solve that problem.
As for space in the headunit cavity: there are vents directly above the stereo that feed those small vents above the flip down door... and the rear of the headunit is close to the fixed ventilation fan's output... below the headunit is an SRS controller...
I was able to squeeze a changer in the stock headunit location but the back of the changer is up against the vent, the right and left sides are against the dash support beams and the changer is sitting firmly on top of the SRS controller box...
I would hide the "main" section of yor head somewhere in the trunk and use a changer (under your seat) for disc listening...
Originally posted by shaner The only difficulty is if you place the remote wired headunit somewhere else, you won't be able to insert CDs... but a changer would solve that problem.
The unit I'm considering (pictiure above) is just a receiver commander, so no cassete, MD or CD loading is involved. Unfortunately it does not come standard for remote installation and I need to hack something up. I though you had done that...
My plan was to install the headunit inside the cavity sufficiently deep to allow the installation if the gauge set right at the front. I'll measure it, but from what describe I may be out of luck.
There is a bit of room under the passenger airbag and to the side...
Worse comes to worse, you wire a really long cable andput it in the trunk over the gas tank...
Soldering a cable inbetween the copper contacts of the face and headunit should be a breeze... It will definitely be easier than cutting a new DIN opening in the dash like I did...
I need help from the experts... The Alpine engineer says any attempt to connect the detachable face remotely from the headunit will fail. Something about the "signals being too weak".
I doubt it. Any experts out there volonteering to provide some advice?
Don't be surprised if it causes you problems, especially with the distance from the trunk to the front. You're not delaing with high current flowing to a speaker, you're dealing with probably a few milliamps across those connections. Try it out, you don't need to install it in the car to find out...make a connection of roughly the length you think you'll need and let it sit there running for an hour or so...press buttons a lot, see what happens.
Of course, if you can live with not actually seeing the display, PAC makes an IR repeater for about $40 that will allow you to use the IR remote to a head unit mounted anywhere in the car.
Tricky headunit installation
