I am about to begin a project to mount my V1 into the upper storage compartment lid. I would really feel far more comfortable working on an extra lid, and still having my original in case I F*** up this installation. Does anybody have an extra black upper storage compartment lid, or know of a junkyard that might have an one?

Thanks,

Clark

 

Just curious, do you have a windscreen? Are you going to have it mounted permanently or will you have a removable device?

 

I don't have a windscreen yet. I was planning on fabricating my own, similar to Rick's windscreen (actually did come up with the idea myself before I saw Rick's). However if I don't like my own work, I'll pick up Rick's.

The mounting of the detector won't interfere with the windscreen though. What I plan to do is mount the detector INSIDE the lid. I will cut a window front and rear for each antenna to view through, and then block out the hole with a small piece of smoked glass or plastic. In my mind's eye this is looking great, and the detector performance shouldn't really be diminished much, if at all. It just remains to be seen how well I end up executing this (I'll take plenty of pictures and post the results).

Clark

 

Smoked glass or plastic, plus the severely narrowed field for the radar sensors, will severely impair the V1's performance. You'd probably be no worse off buying a cheap radar detector that nobody would want to steal and mount it on the windshield.

I don't think you can improve much on Loki's install for the optimal balance between performance and stealthiness.

 

Chris S,

A piece of smoked glass or plastic will not interfere with the antennae provided that it does not use a metallic compound for the tinting (like some of the chromium based tints that have been used on the top 2" of windshields for that blue-green tint, or something like the InstaClear windshields which use a one micron thick metal coating across the whole windshield). I'm just talking about a piece of smoked glass (or more likely plastic) exactly like what is covering the antennae on the V1 as is.

Now the possibility of a reduced "field of vision" due to the placement of the detector, it is possible that might reduce the sensitivity some. I certainly plan on evaluating the performance after doing the mounting. That is all the more reason why I'd like to use another compartment cover, so that if I don't like how it works I can go back to stock. However, I'm not too worried about interfering with the performance. I know several people who've done custom installs encasing the V1 inside of various plastic casings, placing them in multiple places (usually the rear window deck) and the performance has been just fine in every case.

I'll let you all know how it turns out.

Clark

 

Clark-

You might want to check with one of our sponsors, H & A Accessories.com. They could probably get the part number and order it up for you.

If you could also keep us (OK, me) informed of your progress. I currently mount my V1 on top of the console, ahead of Rick's smoked windscreen, in order to shield the V1 from my fav VA state troopers. The problem is that I practically dislocate my shoulder fastening or removing the unit.

Having gotten the idea from the NSX FAQ, your method is the next logical step, although I believe your field of view will be close to 0

 

You can look up and order nearly any honda part online at.

http://www.slhonda.com

They are currently shipping for free.

 

Gregg,

Thanks for the info on H&A, I'll check with them. I'll happily keep this forum updated with my progress.

Although you may be right about a certain amount of diminished signal from the rear with the top down and boot on, I don't think that it's going to be zero. Keep in mind that radar is not extremely line of sight. I don't think that not having a direct line of sight through the rear window is going to affect it much as the cloth top will really not reflect the radar much anyway.


And thanks for the part lookup info Y2K S2K.

Clark

 

Year's ago, I had a radar detector located in this position on a 914. Just to let you know how long ago, it was a Fuzzbuster. I fabricated a plexi box to put it in and drilled holes on the side in a circular pattern for cooling. It worked great and even picked up some rear signals reflected off the rear view mirror (I think.)

To further disguise it, I mounted a "Virginia is for lovers" bumper sticker on the back of the box. I told a couple of officers that it was a speaker cabinet.