Need some help on getting a screen into the dash of a 2004 Maxima

nst6563 · 08-29-2007, 03:21 PM

Ok...2nd carputer install...and this one is tougher than the 2005 Mustang I helped with a couple years ago

The screen is a Lilliput EBY701. Removed from case. dash cutout and some adjustments made to make things fit...although it's very very close and doesn't quite fit right.

So, I need some ideas on how to make this better, while still maintaining a factory look to it.

Here is a pic of the original dash (as if there aren't any pics of a maxima dash out there)

Here is a pic of the cutout installed into the car:

Things to tackle:
screen position - I'd like to have the bottom tilt out more than the top as right now I get a lot of glare from the seats and shifter.

Tilting the screen doesn't seem to be possible due to the depth restrictions. The damned tape deck (who in the f* puts a tape deck in a car anymore anyway?!) is right behind the screen. and although I've removed extra pieces and shaved the front bezel down so it's a lot thinner, I won't be able to tilt the screen out much at all. If I do, I'll have to fabricate something out of fiberglass or some of that resin I read about in one of the how-to's. Then I run into the problem of how to paint it so that it matches the rest of the pieces (or paint it silver and paint the rest of the pieces to match).

I also thought about moving the vga screen up top and moving the info display down below (gotta keep the bucket below)...however it looks like the info display is way too thick as well. - I would prefer this method anyway.

so...I can put more pics up (and I plan to), but I need some suggestions as of what to do and how to go about it because right now... it just looks "ok" leaning toward the side of crap. The mustang install looked much nicer but I made a fiberglass bezel for it and was painted to match the car.

Thanks!

BiGGy · 08-31-2007, 03:09 AM

Tape deck behind the dash? I dont understand.

This fabrication will depend on the dash removal order. By the looks of it the lower darker dash piece lifts up which allows the vertical piece to pull out. Tell me if im right and ill tell you what I would do here.

nst6563 · 08-31-2007, 09:26 AM

yep..tape deck is still behind the screen as there's no way to remove it from the headunit. I'll post a couple shots of it here(been meaning to anyway), it's a little confusing to explain.

the faceplate with space for tapedeck:

the dash with headunit which shows the tapedeck which is right below the slot for cdplayer. (I had to trim off the plastic bezel that was over the tape slot to make more room. May have to trim more from the cdslot as well)

Here's a shot from the side that doesn't quite fit right as you can see a small gap between the bezel and the housing.

As far as getting it to tilt out more at the bottom, I was thinking of maybe heating up the bezel so it's plyable, and then push it out at the bottom a little... would this work? (as long as I don't get it too hot that it gets all riply and bubbles from the heat)

kazzxtrismus · 08-31-2007, 12:42 PM

can you open the hole up a bit?

Maybe snake a generic or custom double din mount / adapter?

this will let you put the screen in the adapter / mount.

so you can fiddle all you want with putty etc on the mount and save thge dash.
it will also give you about 1" of movement back (towards shifter).
this will allow you to tilt the screen as you can then mont the adapter at an angle.

i had to do this with a car stereo a few years back as the angle of the dash and the glossy face just wouldn't work..(also it would glare you out while driving).

add a little epoxy like a (wedge shaped) gasket behind the bezel...sand to make it look as if it were all 1 piece orgionally.. paint done!

its really that easy...just remeber to mask off anything that you don't want "gooped"

wax paper works good as a cover too.

nst6563 · 08-31-2007, 05:53 PM

hmm... thanks for the tips... after mucking with it for a while...I've come to the realization that I may have to graft the face of the original console.

The only problem I have with that is getting the paint to match. I've looked around, and the color of the dash on the maxima isn't the easiest to match. It's either too light or too dark when compared to a close-matching color. The other option I thought of was to paint it a satin/flat silver finish as I think that would look good on the inside with the grey interior. But then what paint would you recommend as the dash pieces are plastic and most paints don't work too well on plastic? I've seen some recomendations of the Vinyl Dye and krylon fusion but how well do those hold up in an automotive environment with heat/cold/sunlight etc?

As far as making the hole bigger...here's a shot of the backside of the face, I'm kind of limited in what I can do. Feel free to grab the picture and draw any recommendations on it. I'm not opposed to working with fiberglass (I have plenty of the cloth), and bondo looks simple enough.

I think what I may do is experiment with this face, and then do the final setting with the other face I have (long story short, had another maxima for 5 days until a hit and run driver totaled it. so while cleaning out the car, I grabbed the bezel since I knew I'd be doing this project).

Here's a shot of the back of the face bezel.

nst6563 · 09-02-2007, 09:02 AM

ok... somewhat took your suggestion of putting a double din mount in there, only I decided to simply graft the frame of the screen into the dash. Not quite the look I was going for, but it does look and fit much better than my previous cutout. While I was at it, I also grafted in the button panel to the right so I could maintain the lcd buttons if needed.

Here's a shot with both grafted in.

Here's a shot with some bondo and some sanding.

I was also able to angle the bottom out like I wanted to reduce some of the glare. I think it turned out pretty good and much thanks for the advice...

I'll have a worklog posted soon of the whole project.

Thanks

kazzxtrismus · 09-11-2007, 10:45 PM

ya perfect...exactly what i meant!!

thias only needs a couple more millimeters (1/25") than the oe hole (sometimes).

now there are lots of good ways to paint.
first sand teh whole thing to 1 grade (600 is best)
coat with plastic or flexible body primer... any pep boys or canadian tire store will have it.

it should not be let to dry completely. for the first coat just be super cheap.
then a bit more until even coverage.

this is still a little wet when you putht e first filler primer coat on.

then sand again

if its now all nice and smooth and straite etc.
then paint with thin coats then clear with thin coats.

these small parts make it hard to be cheap with the paint.
but BE CHEAP.... runs are a major nightmare.
then you buff a little (by hand) and it should look super hot!

pm me if you want for any more advice or a over the phone walktrough.
but I'm in canada.... better have a good long ditance plan!!

nst6563 · 09-12-2007, 09:36 AM

Thanks for the advice, it was exactly what I needed

guess I should have posted the worklog, sorry. I'm actually most of the way done with the whole project now.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/work...e-install.html

anyway, I didn't clear coat it as when I did the clear coat on a test piece, it dulled the finish a lot more than I wanted. I was very sparing on the coverage as well. I may try again soon on a scrap piece to see if I can get better results, but as it stands right now, I like the non-clearcoated finish very much. It's not smooth as glass (intentional) and not super-glossy. It has a *very* slight texture to it from spraying with very light coats and I like it a lot.

The only things left to do on it now are install a switch to kill the switched 12v line from the drivers seat (use this in case for some reason I don't want the pc to turn on when starting the car). Correct the power line to the Altec Lansing speakers that are behind the dash as they have some engine noise (going to power them from the opus). The altec's are there in case I want to listen to the factory radio/cd but still need the GPS directions. There's a volume knob to the left of the screen to adjust the volume.

again...thanks VERY much for that advice. It made things a LOT easier really. I think I still like the looks/idea of the original cutout that didn't have a frame around the screen, but this looks very good IMO.

User Name		Remember Me?
Password