A different approach to Double Din in a 99-02

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HackMcMaster

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Jun 26, 2012
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this aint my info im just saving it here for you guys

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/825435/3
Here are pics of how it was done...



I made some brackets cut out of sheetmetal using an angle grinder/cutting disc. I used a hammer and pliers to bend them. I reused the plastic side brackets from the single-DIN installation kit.

It fits! It snaps right in. Well, I had to cut and bend a metal bracket behind it with my angle grinder first. Since I had a road trip to take, I cut a big rough hole into the bezel so it could go back on temporarily until I had time to make it look good. I cut the notch out of the upper left of the opening later, so I could use those scrap pieces... more on that later.
I debated doing this next step, which is lowering the climate control. At its current position, the trim ring wouldn't fit on the radio. Since I was planning to make the radio opening in the bezel exactly the same dimensions as the 03-06 factory radio opening, I would need the trim ring to fill in the space. I also thought lowering the climate control would make the overall appearance more balanced and make it so I could have a decent sized bar across the bottom of the HU to look more factory. So, that was when I decided after measuring a hundred times to lower the climate control exactly 4.0mm.

To remove the bracket involved drilling out 2 rivets in the back (not fun) and removing 4 7mm hex screws. I cut out the climate control mounting areas using a Dremel and used aluminum tape to hold them in their new position.

Pic on the left shows the aluminum tape. I used JB Weld to permanently bond the mounting holes to their new positions. Then I sanded it smooth, but had to keep reminding myself not to go overboard because it's not a visible part!

Left pic shows the trim ring fits on the HU, with 2mm to spare between the trim ring and climate control. Right pic is where I started to build the radio opening. I could have made the opening fit tighter to the HU, but I decided to use the exact dimensions of the 03-06 radio opening. The reason behind this is I will probably want to swap out the HU for a new one in the future so I wanted the opening to be a universal size rather than only fitting a particular model. I had cut out the 1.5 DIN opening completely intact, so all I had to do was section it horizontally to shorten it about 1/4". I then took those pieces I cut out and glued them to the vertical sections. Then those little scrap pieces I cut out from the bezel earlier were used to extend the height to exactly the correct height. Since the bezel is made of PC (polycarbonate), I used Tenax7R (methylene chloride) as the glue. It isn't really a glue, but a solvent. It solvent-welds the pieces together for maximum strength.

Next step was to cut out the climate control opening. I then took the climate control opening and solvent-welded it to the newly assembled radio opening. A ton of measuring with calipers, Dremeling and test-fitting involved in this step to get the divider bar exactly uniform.

Left pic is test fitting the new openings into the dash. A lot of fine Dremel work involved to get the new openings to recess into the bezel. After some very careful test-fitting with it installed, I used aluminum tape to hold the openings in their exact position. After this, I solvent welded a lot of scrap pieces into the gaps to hold everything together. Then to fill the gaps, I took all the shavings and smaller scrap pieces and soaked them in Tenax7R in an attempt to make a liquid polycarbonate sludge. It was difficult to work with because methylene chloride evaporates real fast and the best consistency I could get out of my polycarbonate sludge is like super chunky peanut butter.

Eventually, I did make it work. Sanded, made more chunky sludge, brushed more Tenax7R on it, repeat... eventually it started to look pretty good. It took a lot of wet-sanding with 220 and 320 grit. I used an old 9V battery and AAA battery as sanding blocks. Left pic shows the finished product. Since the sludge was chunky and dried so quickly, I was left with some pinholes and tiny cracks. It was difficult to get polycarbonate sludge smooth and liquid enough to fill them, so I used a very thin coat of JB Weld to fill in pinholes and surface cracks. Pic on the right shows after I sanded the JB Weld smooth.
 
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