Dual Din Install

[BRADY]

Hey!

I LOVE my SVX!!! Just did my first long trip (800km) and....WOW!


Now, about the stereo...

I REEEALLY want to install a double din touchscreen DVD/GPS/mp3 player. I think the audio cover will be a problem...

Anyone know if I should think single din??

P.S. - Tony, thanks again with your help finding my SVX - It is like new!

[AUSVX]

your car looks awesome and believe it or not.. I really am thinking of doing the exact same thing!!
It'd be cool to push that button on the cover over the head-unit and see that cover piece drop down and all you see is a double-din touchscreen, let us know when you go ahead with it... and I'm sure you can do it in such a way so that cover piece still drops down all the way, and doesn't interfere

I have an SVX completely identical to yours.. check out the thread "SCORE!!!" in downunder and look at post #1

Jordan.

[JDW-SVX]

Originally Posted by TuRbZ

It'd be cool to push that button on the cover over the head-unit and see that cover piece drop down and all you see is a double-din touchscreen

http://www.subaru-svx.net/forum/show...3&postcount=23



Jason.

[BRADY]

Originally Posted by TuRbZ

I have an SVX completely identical to yours.. check out the thread "SCORE!!!" in downunder and look at post #1

Jordan.

Hey Jordan,

I know your car as I took it for a test drive on my quest to find mine!! Very similar!!

Will have to race em!! LOL

Let me know what head unit you are looking at...

Mike

[Crazy_pilot]

I haven't tried it (yet) but I've checked the dimensions of the Pioneer AVIC double DIN units, and both the D3 and Z2 wouls make great candidates. The Z2 has built in hard drive for the Nav system, and a variable tilt screen. It costs a little over $2000 though. The D3 is $1000 here, maybe less in the States.

[Dessertrunner]

Glad you are happy with the car I hadn't heard from you so I wasn't sure if you were happy. I think its the best example I have seen in recent years.
Tony

[AUSVX]

ahahaha so you met Charlie, the old owner of the car? hahah, that's so funny!!!

Yeah, I bought this car mainly to fix up, it has been looked after very well but it needs some massive work... Was that you who SMSed Charlie and said that the car needs cylinder coil?

Can't wait to see the screen done in an SVX or mine

Jordan.

[BRADY]

Ha ha, Yes, that was me that sent the SMS to Charlie about the cylinder coil!!
Was told that tid bit by the fellow in Brisbane that just sold his 92 silver (with SVX plates).

As for the stereos, there are VERY cheap units on ebay from China. See here:
http://search.ebay.com.au/search/sea...vd+&category0=

They have all the features (just not sure of the reliability). Could pick one up for less than $600. I love good stereos, but I can't justify spending $2,000 on something that will go out of date in less than 2 years.

Mike

[McTaff]

Installing a double DIN isn't easy, and any screen that moves out or otherwise makes room for you to put a CD into the unit will run afoul of the cover plate, which stops a good half inch higher than the bottom edge of the chassis.

I stuck with a single DIN unit with a fold down screen (quite old now, a Clarion DXZ-935). I can't close the cover with it folded out, but seeing as the default for the face is "closed" and it operates quite happily like that, then I'm pretty safe as I can't open it while the cover is closed.

The plus side is that I can put a heat sink in that space underneath the unit, and a tiny PC cooling blower which ejects a low volume of air out from that space. Main reason? My CD player gets very very hot, and it is worthwhile keeping it a little cool.

The other option is to use the double DIN as a spot for a touch screen for a stereo unit that is located elsewhere (i.e. in the glove box or centre console). This would allow you to have a touch screen there to use for navigation, stereo control, etc, and the CD player itself would be stashed out of sight elsewhere.

I considered this back when I got my stereo, but discarded it due to (back then) the exorbitant cost of touch screens. I'm sure that these days that it would be fairly cheap. I do not remember the part numbers or brand, but they'd be a good seven years old or older now.

[AUSVX]

true that, my mentality is that if you think you might end up spending big bucks for premium features and sound.. You should take advantage of all the touchscreens capabilities.
Why not mount a PSU, motherboard, CPU, RAM, HDD (all connected up) under the passengers seat or mount it enclosed to the ceiling of the glovebox and wire it up to the touchscreen?? Why not some wireless access so you can transfer all the files and music to your car from your garage or driveway from your wireless router at home, mates house or a maccas or a random wireless access point (No CD's ever needs to play music). I can't think of any downsides for doing this and the computer parts will cost you well below $800, you wouldn't even need the add on of a graphics card for your in-car computer (which costs a lot) because the screen is only 7" and you won't be able to pick up any quality differences whatsoever.
Think about it and I've been thinking about it for a while... I narrowed myself down to 2 cars before I bought the SVX... it was between a Toyota Soarer/SC400 and the SVX and I was planning to do this to the Soarer because that car has the EMV screen standard which is essentially a full on GUI interface touchscreen, so I had the whole setup in mind.
Think about it!!

[McTaff]

I've been toying with that for years; the install is a bit tricky but could be fun. However I wouldn't do it the way you're thinking.

The way you want to try, you'd need to install a proper PC case deal, mostly due to the constraints of power and mounting. Coming from someone who has built lots of computers, I am wagering it is more trouble than it is worth unless you're pretty clued in with this kinda stuff. To be honest, and you were determined to have a PC, I'd be getting a laptop with a 12V power source to begin with (saves the effort of inverters and stuff) and a second battery for the vehicle (as it will draw power as soon as you turn the key, and this is a good opportunity to wire your amps and other bits and pieces to the second battery). As you'd have two screens with the same desktop display, you only need a laptop with a screen no bigger than 14 inches. Less is fine because the screens need to run the same resolution. (Don't have screens "A" and "B", have the 7 inch simply slave out the image from the laptop monitor)

As drastic as it sounds, cutting a section out of the top of your dashboard and having the screen 'lift up / pop out' over on the passenger side is a darn sight cooler. This can be as stealthily installed as you like if you're sh!t hot at car interiors, or you can cheat and use a dash mat to hide the lovely big cuts you've made. A sliding drawer will look garbage; you need to solid build this thing into the top of the dash - potentially using a docking station as a base (especially the ones that accept 12v power and come with some nice fans to keep it cool). You can still have your touch screen, but the real functionality is that you can flip open your laptop and do the usual laptop thing instead of trying to use a dinky little touch screen (which makes things hard if you want to type, no keys!). This way, if you can't have a touch screen you can still have a monitor screen in your little stereo hole.

Otherwise, you could have the laptop mounted under the passenger seat, but you would be stuck using a seperate keyboard and mouse (or trackball for the people who cleverly realise that there are no suitable mousing surfaces in a car), and your dinky little 7 inch screen. Mounted under the seat will be the most non-invasive, but it's a pain to change anything plugged into it.

The CD drive could be situated between the seats as an upright slot load CD-ROM, (slot loaders are hard to find but the best way to do it) neatly in an external drive to make things nice and easy for your install. If you are clever, you can use extender cables so you can plug in your USB devices, keyboard, mouse and various other PnP devices stored in the leftover space in there.

Audio out direct to amps, etc is standard fare. Mount them in the boot; no sense in messing about.

Being a laptop, built in battery means the thing won't be smash-booting when you start your car and the power flicks on and off, and gives you time to shut down the system when you turn off the key. Some laptops have a smart shutdown capability that you can tune for "X amount of minutes without power", or the savvy user can wire up an ignition off circuit to detect that for you and shut down the lappie after fifteen minutes.

Best part is that you can use a PCMCIA cards to get wireless internet on the move anywhere you go, and also wireless networking to download your music from your home network (or your neighbours). The internet can be used to occupy front-seat passengers who are unfazed by your bad driving.

To choose the right laptop, you need to buy a rugged one to cope with the constant vibration, preferably one with a low power draw. Max out the memory and ensure it has the latest USB hardware. As I said before, a fourteen inch screen is huge, and try to go with the simplest, most reliable construction. You shouldn't be spending a lot on the laptop itself; a second hand four-year-old laptop is quite adequate; check the local computer fairs for some. You're bound to get a few good deals.

If you're really keen, and are up to spending money, you could even use Windows XP Media Centre Edition. That way your OS does not have to be running but you could still play your music with CD's. I'd only do this if you've shelled out for a pretty decent laptop though.

Oh, and mounting a USB webcam in your camera pointed forward? Funny as hell to watch the playback at 4x speed.

Additionally remember there are a couple of things:
-Installing a laptop in an enclosed space is going to create heat, you'll need to deal with that.
-Power will need to be steady and clean, and check how many volts you'll need. You will have to get a transformer or power inverter depending on what you've chosen. If you're lucky you'll get an adapter for your laptop for a car and that may do the trick.
-If you're going to cut holes in your dash: Practice how you're going to cut on something else, and if you're able, go ahead and remove your dashboard but buy another from a wrecked car and cut up that one. That way your dashboard is safely in the shed wrapped up in plastic while you're hacking away.
-You need an operating system to run this. Don't forget, as it'll need to be a legal copy of Windoze or a friendly Linux O/S to run this rig.



edit to add:-
after checking a well-known auction site, there are some 'no-name' laptops out there that have dinky little screens and plenty of features. They would be up to the task, warranty and actual processing power is moot, really. Also, there are stacks of second hand laptops that are well suited that are even cheaper. When I toyed with this idea, laptops were a lot more expensive. But there are stacks and stacks of cheap and adequate laptops for this purpose.
Quality might not be up there with some of the pricey head units, but it'll be pretty good. And unless you're spending loads on speakers and amps it won't matter. Fancy media centre laptops (like the one I am typing on now) do have some very nice sound output quality, but that increases the price.

[BRADY]

Whoa......

That is intense man!!!

I was just thinking $500 head unit!!!!

I have noticed the immense heat emanating from under the ashtray and stereo though--can't be a good thing for ANY equipment!!

(Is this heat generated from the gearbox???) Why did Subaru allow this strange phenomena??


I reckon installing some micro fans or heat sink down there would help in any case, with any head unit, on any of our SVX's.

Anyone performed this particular "cooling fan" mod?? ( I imagine it would be reasonably cheap and easy to do..and important to those who read the manuals of their head units and notice what operating temperature they like to survive!!!)

I appreciate the advice on the "SUPER INSTALL" but me thinks subtlety is best on SVX - after all, the SVX is a subtle car. Also, I can't stomach the thought of cutting into the interior of my baby!!!

I am now looking at uber-cool SINGLE DIN units!! Ones that have GPS/DVD/USB/BTOOTH/mp4 etc etc for a price that allows me to upgrade again when this technology becomes redundant in 18 months!!

That should lead to the least amount of trauma to the interior of my cherry red sweetheart and the least amount of trauma the installer I choose to help me!!

[AUSVX]

I work at Jaycar, and there are some pretty cool new head units coming in stock, I'll have to have a fiddle with them but the best thing is that they're black, I'm sick of all those shiny silver headunits that look out of place in a car that has a dark interior.
So far we have a head unit that takes SD cards, anything USB storage and it can play DVDs the best thing about it playing DVDs is NOT for watching the DVD (the screen is sold separately) the best thing is the 4.7gb of storage that you can put onto a DVD.
The new headunits that are coming in are single din with a proper LCD screen that you can watch movies on but the screen is very small obv. If anyone is interested, come see me at Jaycar Bondi Junction (we don't get commision)
Jordan.

[McTaff]

Originally Posted by BRADY

Whoa......

That is intense man!!!

I was just thinking $500 head unit!!!!

I have noticed the immense heat emanating from under the ashtray and stereo though--can't be a good thing for ANY equipment!!

(Is this heat generated from the gearbox???) Why did Subaru allow this strange phenomena??


I reckon installing some micro fans or heat sink down there would help in any case, with any head unit, on any of our SVX's.

Anyone performed this particular "cooling fan" mod?? ( I imagine it would be reasonably cheap and easy to do..and important to those who read the manuals of their head units and notice what operating temperature they like to survive!!!)

---

Originally Posted by McTaff

I stuck with a single DIN unit with a fold down screen (quite old now, a Clarion DXZ-935)...........
The plus side is that I can put a heat sink in that space underneath the unit, and a tiny PC cooling blower which ejects a low volume of air out from that space. Main reason? My CD player gets very very hot, and it is worthwhile keeping it a little cool.

Yep, I've tried a couple of things, but the two best solutions were an expansion slot cooler like this: click here
and small heat sinks attached to the inside of the finished install. Use several chip heat sinks rather than massive ones.

There are two big catches;
Firstly, don't go crazy with heat sinks on the underside; you'll block the holes in the cage which allow airflow. Leave some space.
Secondly, don't wire the fan in without a fuse, and be careful how you wire it as wiring will melt if it gets too hot. Live power in the car is not cool.

You will need to make a choice if you want to completely block the rest of that DIN-sized hole, or if you want to leave it completely open. Next time I do this, I'll opt to block it off. Simply use a drive bay panel from the front of any black computer case to help you build that; if you rig it so that you can easily remove it without screws it is very handy.

The best thing I found to do was to build a "slide in" rig that accounts for the fouling of the stereo door. If you've done it right, it'll be a snug fit, even though it looks crappy because you have had to cut a part of the right hand side and the bottom (or left hand if you're in a LHD US car).

Use a proper DIN stereo chassis or an old CD-ROM drive that you have gutted. Both are easy to get. Fix everything inside it. Make sure you strengthen this by either putting crossmembers or brackets in it. If you can, you can flat screw heat sinks to inside of the 'cage' (use the same screws you use to install hard drives). I only put very small heat sinks at the sides and rear, an effort to disperse the heat from the unit shell itself, and only on the 'roof' of the unit where my CD player did not have holes in the chassis. If you want to put more on the 'roof' then either make sure they do not block airflow inside the CD player.

Once you have got your "slide in" unit, then use the front facia from the drive bay to cover it up. A CD-ROM bay here is ideal, because the actual drive door is about the right size for the ejection port for the expansion fan to fit through. If you use a computer case DIN cover you'll need to Dremel or cut it. Because you use the whole face, it covers up the nasty work you had to do to fit the cage in!

Have nice long power cables that are shielded, so you can slide the whole rig out, disconnect it, and remove it easily. How you attach the face is up to you. I will drill two holes and use clips. You can simply wire the power to the ignition if you wish, or you can try fancy things like putting a power button in the front of the unit; also a 'direction' button would be handy - your choice again.

My first little rig worked well; insofar as filling the cabin up with warm air. I took this to mean it was removing hot air from the CD player area; you can draw your own conclusions. In retrospect, it was ugly as anything and I couldn't turn the airflow to go from the cabin into the rig. (Which is why I have it removed at the moment) I would rather, in a hot day, be able to reverse the airflow. Prolonged use would be bad for the unit as you will fill the inside of your CD player with dust, only making the problem worse. I will only reverse it on really hot days when I am running the air con.

Sorry for the long diatribes, but this stuff was all trial and error, and lots and lots of planning, dismantling plans, poking holes in them, testing and re-planning, sometimes even trialling stuff! I don't want everyone to have to go through that themselves individually, you can live vicariously through my failures to the somewhat successful finished product.

Some people will object, feeling that it is better to completely leave the second DIN bay empty and rely on natural airflow to cool it. Those people are welcome to this opinion - I couldn't tell any definitive difference, but I'm not a thermometer. The only reference point I had was the front face which had a screen and other heat-producing elements. The hot air coming out of the unit seemed to indicate there was heat being removed.