Help on custom dash for Caddy STS

Slaughterhouse · 11-15-2004, 11:49 PM

As far as i can tell i'm the first caddy in these forums. I'm wanting to put a 7" Xenarc in my console but want to make sure it's doable before buying. As it stands im uncertain how mold my monitor into the dash and make it all look like one peice and being stock. I pulled some pictures off ebay of my dash to get an idea what i'm talking about.
THe problem is there is no actual seperate dash peice that i can work with. I cant mold what i dont have. The leather trim that borders the cd player is all connected to the center console only, not the rest of the dash. iF i cut about 1/2 inch off the top layer of the wood trim in the center console right before the cd player starts my xenarc should fit in the openign very snugly. but i want to make it look like it's part of the dash and that's the problem. I was considering paying a company to make a wooden trim peice that would go over the casing of the monitor. What are people's thoughts on this? Any ideas are very welcome.
Let me know if something is confusing and ill try and explain better

hd54321 · 11-15-2004, 11:55 PM

Welcome to the forums. You may be the first STS, but not the first Caddy. I'm pretty sure there was a CTS project here.

aleromaster · 11-15-2004, 11:56 PM

You could try what I did. I bought a spare case for my screen and a radio install kit from best buy. I then cut the mounting tabs off the radio install kit and epoxyed them to the case. Then I cut part of the case that would not fit in my dash, little bondo, paint and wolla radio replacment

ACHIEVER · 11-16-2004, 12:01 AM

Ive got a 95 eldorado with the exact same dash. I had some big ideas about fiberglassing but have since decided to take the black trim piece that is framing the factory radio and plastic weld it to the screen bezel. With a little work it would look factory. The main problem with this is it doesn't allow access to the buttons. None the less it is the best idea I have come up with. Also you would have to dremel out the support the radio normally bolts to.

Slaughterhouse · 11-16-2004, 01:23 AM

Hey Acheiver,
glad to hear someone has the same dash as me. I came to the same conclusion that the height of the cd player housing has to be expanded. Dremeling out the cd player housing is not a problem at all. I thought about drilling holes through the wood for the buttons or completley removing about 1/2 inch off the top of the wood center console to expand the height. THe only way to make that look good however would be adding a custom wood instert that would connect where i cut the center console wood peice and lay over the top of the casing of the Xenarc. It would be like doing a wooden installation kit for my monitor.
An idea of what i'd like it to look like is on the image.
The same concept except only a cutout in the wood for the screen. Only problem is being able to tell that the wood is place over the casing b/c it's so thick. unless you could smooth the edges out where the screen meets the wood it could look really stupid.

ACHIEVER · 11-16-2004, 01:36 AM

I too had thought about cutting the wood, but I just don't think I could ever make it look good again if I did. I don't think you could ever match the wood type or finish. But my way could look factory if after bonding the trim piece to the case you smoothed out the finish and painted it.

Slaughterhouse · 11-16-2004, 01:53 AM

i agree, i dont think that would look too shabby either.
BUT, how do i get around not having access to the buttons?
I'm still new to how the Xenarc functions and it's abilities so im not sure what are the possibilities there. There's a site that makes wood replacements for Caddies, i assume they'd have the exact color would i want. But your right, matching the two up to look good would be a real challenge.

ACHIEVER · 11-16-2004, 02:26 AM

Here's a mock up of what I'm talking about. As for the buttons you could just extend them by soldering on some leads and locate wherever is handy. That's if you don't have the newer version with ir remote, then you could just relocate the the sensor. I have the non-remote version but wish I had the newer for this reason.

ACHIEVER · 11-16-2004, 08:07 PM

Oh yeah, I don't know if you are aware of this or not but this is the dash of a 96+ car and won't work in our cars, unless you were to get the entire console and mod it.

Quote:

An idea of what i'd like it to look like is on the image.

Slaughterhouse · 11-16-2004, 10:52 PM

i was just giving it an example of how i want the finished product to look.
I like how the wood continues on up to border the cd player/monitor and give it a nice luxury look to the car. I would do the same thing to the installation kit if i was doing an aftermarket headunit but i think i'm going to stick with the carputer idea. http://www.woodtrimwarehouse.com/ said they would make me a custom wooden trim for anything i want but i havent got a response about if they could make a kit if i cut off some of the center console wood piece to make the monitor fit. What other options do i have of making the monitor fit w/o cutting the center console up?
I understand in your photoshop picture what your talking about. i'm going to try and explain something that's hard to explain on paper:
the wood console piece curves up and in right before you hit the cd player. If you try and mount the monitor behind this and not cut the lip off you'll be forcing the cd player to be too far back, even behind the trim of the dash. I'm not sure if it'll look good recessed this far back and it'll be really fun to mount it like that as well.
With my way(def the harder way if yours doesnt work) the lip is gone and your able to mount the whole monitor up right out in front and it should fit very snugly. Only other issue is making it look clean and professional. Any more thoughts on the matter? you see what im talking about the lip on the wooden console? thanks

damn cadillac for always making everything so difficult.

ACHIEVER · 11-16-2004, 11:12 PM

Yea I think I know exactly what you mean about the "lip" that curves in. I haven't test fit it all together yet but had already thought of 2 possible fixes as it does seem as though spacing will be tight. I may be able to trim 1/4" or whatever off the wood piece but still have that cut hidden by the black stereo trim piece when back together. Otherwise I may have to cut the case of the xenarc case, or some combination of both althougth I think that's unlikely it would need both. I do like your idea and the possibility of having the wood grain like that. Keep us posted on your ideas/progress.

Slaughterhouse · 11-17-2004, 12:01 AM

will do.
now if i dont decide to cut and want to just hide the buttons.
Is there anyway of mounting the buttons on teh monitor elsewhere or not even needing them?

ACHIEVER · 11-17-2004, 12:07 AM

Well I think you might need access to the buttons at some time, maybe to dim it down at night. I've thought about putting them in the ash tray or glove box.

Slaughterhouse · 11-17-2004, 12:17 AM

can u point me to a post where someone has done this mod to seperate the buttons from teh screen. thanks for all the help

ACHIEVER · 11-18-2004, 11:40 AM

I found some threads with talk about soldering wires to the xenarc borard and extending the buttons elsewhere but none of the posts went into any real detail nor had pictures. I sure its pretty straight forward to do, I guess its a matter of how well you solder.

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