[nineball]

there are many ways to skin a cat, this is only my take on how to do this. i suggest you get a spare bezel to work on just in case anything goes wrong so you still have your original to fall back on.

single din installed using a kit

remove the air vents. place your fingers on top in the middle and slowly pull towards you.

you will hear a snap and then pull the outside edges out first, then the middle. after this turn all your knobs to the left-most position for ease of installation later.

remove the two screws behind the vents.

grab the bar between the vents and slowly pull the bezel towards you, then work your way down. bezel is now removed.

remove the 4 screws that hold the headunit in place.

pull the hu out and disconnect all wires. this shot may vary depending on what you have installed already.

 

[nineball]

next remove the pocket in the bottom (or your toys or switches or whatever you have installed here). there is a screw on each side.

disconnect anything that is attached to this. for me that is only the rear defrost and the cig lighter.

now we will start to make room for the dd. first you have to cut out the plastic shelf on the bottom seen here.

shelf removed.

next you have to do the same thing on top. i found it easier to remove the screws holding the hvac controls so i could pull it out a bit for more work room.

i used a razor knife to cut the sides free, then push the upper shelf down. there are two screws in the back that hold it in place. remove those, then remove the top shelf.

nice and open to house the ddin now.

 

[nineball]

now that we have an opening it's time to start working on a mounting system. first thing to do is put a double layer of painter's tape over the face of the ddin. no point in scratching a $1000 unit before i even get to use it!

since no one makes a kit for this i had to find my own way to mount it. stopped by home depot and got some 1/2 size plastic electric junction box-type things as they could be easily cut, drilled and modified to suit my needs.

cut off all the parts i didn't need.

next you line up the cut box and mark your mounting holes to drill out. once they are all done simply screw it into the hu.

*note*
i had to redo the mounting holes after i took these next pics. the hu was set too far back into the center of the dash and needed to be moved forward. since each hu is a little different this isn't a huge issue but it should be pointed out. i had to move them back 11/16" of an inch

left and right side done

next i placed it back into the car to get an idea of where the mounting holes needed to be. i then used the single din mounting plate to drill the holes perfectly. i needed to trim a little off the right bottom due to the shape of the dash.

the new ddin is now mounted and ready to go.

 

[nineball]

on to the (spare) bezel. first thing to do is plastic weld the single din kit into place. this will do most of your fill work for you. in these shots i have already welded it into place and sanded off the excess plastic weld.

next you place the bezel loosely back over the hu to see where you have to trim to. take your time at this step and be very careful so you don't trim too much. i used a 3" cutoff wheel to make it fast, then a grinder wheel to trim it don to the size i needed. i had to go back a few time on the top and bottom to get the clearance needed. unfortunately i cut too much off the sides (this is why i said go slowly!). it wasn't that hard of a repair to fix my error, i just used some paint stirring sticks cut down to size. in the end this worked out even better and i had a sharp, smooth inside lines and it swuared off the top and bottom which should line up better with the ddin. i super glued them into place then came back over with a generous layer of plastic weld to make them permanent.

stopped here for a break, heading back out to the garage to finish now.

 

[nineball]

this will be the last update for tonight, it's too cold out to do any more. put the bezel back in the car to see how things will look.

looks like i may have to fill in the sides a little more but that will be as easy as gluing two pieces of wood together.

bought some 3m easy sand plastic parts repair and glue to use as a filler. you don't want to use any polyester-based here as it can crack, warp and move easily when applied to plastic. you want something epoxy-based and specifically designed for plastic. the 3m stuff sets up in 15 mins and can be sanded down to a smooth finish. i'd suggest starting with 160, then work down to 300 or so and it will be ready for primer and paint.

filled in the sides with a nice layer of the 3m stuff. you can see where the top and bottom of the wood is now flush with the outside and i have nice sharp edges all the way around.

since it's only 41 outside right now i am done for the night. tomorrow i will sand down the filler, prime and paint.

 

[nineball]

had a lot of crap to do today so i only had about an hour and a half of free time. i sanded down some wood to the right thickness to get a nice tight fit around the screen, refilled with the plastic filler and resanded. funny how one pic can represent so much time.

it was never above 52 today so no painting. i tried to put down a base coat but it came out terrible due to the cold and i had to sand it off. i should be able to get the painting done tomorrow at it will be in the mid 60s.

 

[nineball]

sanded off the paint from the first time with 160, then sanded everything with 320. shot it with a layer of plastic primer, then a few coats of high build primer. it's cured now so i can give it a light sanding and then the final coats of sem color matched paint sometime this week or weekend and it will be done.

 

[central_driver]

WOW! good shit bro. i wanted to do a double din but i didnt wanna hack anything up on the actually car itself. good stuff tho.

 

[nineball]

thanks. no biggie to do really. the only thing you are cutting are the shelves, which don't really serve any purpose other than as dividers. with the hvac controls, hu and cubby at the bottom in place it is as strong as ever. i did it this way with the thought of one day reinstalling the stock hu when i get rid of the car. i can put my stock hu and bezel back on in under 5 mins and no one will ever be any wiser.

 

[MidnightRacerSRT4]

this is pretty clean bro... lookin good.

 

[nineball]

got everything test-fitted and it looks good. i am waiting on a new mic to arrive as i did not get one with this hu, but everything else is connected and ready to go. it won't be warm enough until saturday to paint so this is it for now. after looking at the final product it looks like i am going to have to move the mounting points even further back (to bring the hu more forward) as it still sits back a good bit. it's a good thing though as i could use more space behind for all the damn cables and cords this thing needs.

just for the hell of it, max tilt

 

[tanker19kilo]

nice job man.

 

[Legoman]

^^x2!!!

 

[nineball]

another little update but not much of a change. i removed the tape and the plastic primer (which was white!) bled through and ruined the havc overlay. i removed it, repainted the bezel and it should be dry by now. i'll have to *carefully* remove the overlay from my stock bezel and pray i don't distort it like i did with the other one. if i do then i'll just shell out the $35 for the speedhut overlay and call it a day.

 

[nineball]

almost there....

i tried like hell to salvage the hvac overlay from my original bezel but it was an effort in futility. as a result i now have to do a little sanding and more painting on the new bezel then order an overlay from speedhut. it isn't perfect but this pretty damn close... for now.


damn, i need to do some dusting in there!

 

[sdpbob]

I wish my bezel was like that, 1,000,000x better then mine

Any way you could make one for me????

 

[nineball]

well it's kinda hard without having your hu here as every ddin is slightly different in size, and i looked at your old thread with pics and you mounted it much lower than i did. plus it's now mid-november and damn cold out in the garage. if you can wait til spring i'd be happy to help you out but if you want it sooner i will charge too much so you don't want it i hate working in the cold.

honestly, if you follow the info i have posted it shouldn't be that hard to do. that 3m plastic filler stuff is a dream to work with.

 

[sdpbob]

My car is gonna be on jack stands for awhile (aka all winter) and I will be working on it, I'm just like you hate the cold weather thats why I'm investing in a heater for my garage. I could do it myself but in all honesty I'm just lazy and would rather pay for it to get done.

 

[nineball]

ya i just picked up a used propane torpedo heater but i'm not sure how well it will work out in my garage with fumes. the little time i'll be out there this winter will be spent working on the other car. like i said i'd be happy to do it in the spring but i would need your bezel and hu to get things right.

 

[sdpbob]

No Problem, I'll be buying a new bezel because I want mine like you did yours