I woke up with great anticipation to get started, though I still slept till 11ish and didn't get started till noon (hey that's early for me on a weekend
).
Like an idiot I started carving up my dash BEFORE I tested all the electronics. And of course it bit me in the ***.
First thing I found was that Ford welded in part of the stereo guide slightly off so it wanted to throw my screen to an angle, so out it came. Now there was nothing to support the WRX housing i'm using to hold my screen.
I came up with a plan to use some plastic card stock I had to make a custom platform for the housing to rest on. This is also the same stock I planned to use to fill the gaps on the sides of the LCD frame after the facia is re-installed.
I got to thinking and called Mike from Carnetix (this guy is great. I wish I had more cars to put Macs in, but my wife won't let me put them in hers
) to see if it was going to be ok to power the P1900 from my AMP line that used a 60W fuse (manual says use a 15). So out I go in my wifes truck (it's been too long since I last drove a stick
) to get another fuse block and fuse. The shop that originally installed my HU and AMPs is cool. I payed for the block (which they pulled out of a kit for me) and they didn't charge me for a couple feet of 8 guage or the fuse
So i'm feeling good and hook everything up (except the Mini). Everything looks great. All my volt readings are coming out exactly as expected and the delay turned on my AMPs as it should. So I turn it off, plug in the Mini, turn it back on, and a big fat nothing. Still haven't figured this out as everything appears to be hooked up right and the resistor I added for the iSense appears to be good. Mike and I are trading emails to figure it out (did I mention that he is a great guy).
So I hooked my PowerBook up to the AMPs and besides having the right channel going to my Sub and the left to all my speakers, everything worked great.
So the glue dried on the tray for my LCD and it dropped in perfectly and a steel bar at the rear of the cavity happens to be at the perfect distance to back stop the LCD case. A quick dry fit of the facia was perfect so I cut, painted, and glued some plastic card on either side of the LCD to fill gaps that were left (the opening isn't quite double din and is wider than a single din
). This too came out perfect (I figured it would look a bit obvious, but it actually looks really good).
So finished up by reinstalling the controls on the facia, vacuuming (it's been awhile
), reinstalling the lower portion of the center console, and putting my drivers seat back in (woohoo I can drive it again
).
So hopefully Mike can help me figure out what is going on with the Mini (works in the house so we think it is related to the iSense) tomorrow so I can put the rest of the car back together
A few more pics were taken, they'll get added soon. I swear.
-dave