2006 VW Passat - MP3VW #2

MP3DUB · 01-28-2008, 08:01 PM

Had an 1993 Passat that had a number of systems in it over the years (V4, V3, mp3vw.com) that finally became less than roadworthy last August. Picked up a 2006 Passat 2.0T the same month and have been rocking it in stock mode ever since. Figured it was finally about time to do something about that.

Current plans involve putting the stereo (Alpine CDA-9847) from the old passat in to the CD changer mount in the glove box, operate it via an ir repeater, put the old pc (P3 HP ePC) in a new case and put it in the glove box, and finally put a 7" touch screen in the dash where the stock radio goes at some point.

To those ends, currently on order are:
PAC CR2-VW CAN-BUS wiring adapter
American International Dash Kit
Metra Euro Antenna Adapter
PAC X-IR IR repeater

Everything should come in by the end of the week, which should hopefully allow me to get it started this weekend, if not completely installed. The system will run headless until this spring at some point, driven by an ATi RF wireless remote.

MP3DUB · 02-03-2008, 11:57 PM

Old pc would fit in the glove box in the new passat, but the case would not, so I had to bend up a new one. Pro tip: Pay attention to the details. I actually built the acrylic top in reverse first, and had to reverse all the bends. I had everything marked properly, but removed the notes when I finally went to use the heat gun.

So to get the bend, first built a template to test fit and then build over (also proof I can still figure out how to get the angle needed in my head at 2 in the morning after working a 65 hour week):

Then cut a bit of acrylic to size:

Then form:

Case should have been quite clean, but due to the doubling of all the bends (not to mention I had been up for 20 hours by the time it was done) added some blemishes. Good enough to be hidden in the glovebox most of the time.

Also bought two dash kits for my car, as running screenless for a while, I figured I'd run the dash kit where the factory stereo went with two pockets (each kit coming with one pocket). Turns out the pockets aren't 1 DIN, they're more like .75 din. So instead I created a blanking plate out of the dual single DIN faceplate. Little plexi and the interior surface of a black binder, and I have a decent looking product:

Also got the goodies in the mail for relocating my head unit on Wednesday. Unfortunately, haven't had time to do anything with them:

Edit:
B6 Passat dash looks like this:

MP3DUB · 02-10-2008, 02:43 AM

Hacked out a portion of the rear of the CD Changer slot and got the head unit to fit. Just need to measure out the locations of the mounting screws.

Also put the ir repeater eye in the dash kit. Thinned out the material in the dash kit so the ir receiver could sit close to flush to the front to achieve a wide angle of use out of it, not sure I went far enough, but should be a good start:

Finally created the worlds longest stereo adapter harness. Plugs into the factory harness in the center of the dash and will connect to the head unit that will be in the glove compartment. Modeled the length of the adapter harness of the existing harness for the cd changer, so shouldn't have any problems putting the glove box back in.

Still need to pick up some hardware to tap the battery/ground, led's and led holders, and a switch for turning the pc on/off. As much as I want to start using the new stereo in the car, I don't want to put it in and button the car back up only to have to pull it apart next weekend to run wires for the pc (both power and control).

MP3DUB · 02-17-2008, 11:10 PM

Worked on it a bit this weekend and got the stereo mounted in the cd changer recess and got the glove box put back together, so we have something that looks like this:

Now you see it

Now you dont:

And a closer look at the pc (woo acorn nuts):

Now I need to start pulling wires, fused +12vdc from the battery (through the firewall), find some metal under the dash to ground to, cat5 for control signals (pwr led/pwr switch), plumb the lead for the IR repeater, and finally hook up the audio.

rdholtz · 02-18-2008, 02:40 PM

You might reconsider the Cat5 wire -- it's solid core, and you really want stranded wire for mobile installations. It'll work, but it could fracture somewhere down the road . . .

MP3DUB · 02-18-2008, 05:55 PM

It'll actually be a cat5 patch cable, so it'll be stranded, but I've used (and continue to use) solid core 22 and 24 ga wire for fine connections for the past and have actually had what they're attached (crimped or soldered) to fail first. If I was going to put it in the accordion boot in one of the doors, I'd definately want stranded, but for simple static point to point, solid core won't have any problems (and the old car had sport suspension and was running 205/40 profile tires, so not the smoothest ride

). Thanks for the input though

.

boomintrac · 02-18-2008, 06:29 PM

Hey Nick lookin good, who needs a glove box anyway??? Still not runnin a screen, Im sure we can fit the 15" in there somewhere!!!! Cant wait to check it out at the meet.
Aron

MP3DUB · 02-18-2008, 11:47 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by boomintrac

Hey Nick lookin good, who needs a glove box anyway??? Still not runnin a screen, Im sure we can fit the 15" in there somewhere!!!! Cant wait to check it out at the meet.
Aron

Hopefully there will be a screen by the time we start having meets again. But I suppose we'll have to see, as there are a lot of other stuff that needs to be done to the car too (coil-overs, wheels, chip, downpipe+test pipe, etc).

rdholtz · 02-19-2008, 09:07 PM

Quote:

It'll actually be a cat5 patch cable, so it'll be stranded.

I cut into a Cat5 patch cable I have, and, sure enough, it's stranded. So I'll be using it like you are: power switch, reset switch, LED indicators.

Thanks for the tip . . .

Nola111 · 03-04-2008, 11:16 AM

MP3Dub, looks very nice. These pics are like deja vu for me as I have your exact vehicle and went through this. I'm on my 3rd different setup and have finally attained something that I'm happy with. Yours looks really nice... I really wanted to get my pc to fit in the glovebox but couldn't make it happen with what I have. I also hacked up the back of the cd changer receptacle to accomodate my aftermarket HU, no biggie, just cheap plastic, and whoever buys the car from me eventually will be none the wiser since the CD changer will be reinstalled and will work fine (unless they happen to be a car pc/aftermarket audio enthusiast that is!) I've got the Dynaudio system in there and it sounds awesome: I've got my soundcard running into a small Sonic Tio PCI amp, and out of that directly into the Dynaudio amp, and the sound is unbeatable. I love it.

One question for you: have you hooked up your Euro antenna adapter yet? I am getting really bad reception with mine. So much so that I'm only listening to satellite radio b/c the reception on AM/FM is unbearable (I'm using the ADS/Silabs USB stick with a modded antenna receptacle to take the male motorola plug from the adapter). The only think I can think of is that my adapter is faulty, or I've got the blue power wire hooked up wrong. I've currently got it connected to the "Power Antenna" wire of my aftermarket harness (similar to your C2R-VW piece). I'm thinking I should try running it to a dedicated 12v output wire instead. And the fact that one of the two antenna plugs that goes into the back of the factory radio is left unused, doesn't make me feel like the aftermarket reception has the potential to be all that great.

kickercivic1 · 03-04-2008, 01:13 PM

ya the rep sux unless you have the power ant adapter.. I had the same problem in my 07 jetta.

MP3DUB · 03-05-2008, 09:06 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Nola111

MP3Dub, looks very nice. These pics are like deja vu for me as I have your exact vehicle and went through this. I'm on my 3rd different setup and have finally attained something that I'm happy with. Yours looks really nice... I really wanted to get my pc to fit in the glovebox but couldn't make it happen with what I have. I also hacked up the back of the cd changer receptacle to accomodate my aftermarket HU, no biggie, just cheap plastic, and whoever buys the car from me eventually will be none the wiser since the CD changer will be reinstalled and will work fine (unless they happen to be a car pc/aftermarket audio enthusiast that is!) I've got the Dynaudio system in there and it sounds awesome: I've got my soundcard running into a small Sonic Tio PCI amp, and out of that directly into the Dynaudio amp, and the sound is unbeatable. I love it.

One question for you: have you hooked up your Euro antenna adapter yet? I am getting really bad reception with mine. So much so that I'm only listening to satellite radio b/c the reception on AM/FM is unbearable (I'm using the ADS/Silabs USB stick with a modded antenna receptacle to take the male motorola plug from the adapter). The only think I can think of is that my adapter is faulty, or I've got the blue power wire hooked up wrong. I've currently got it connected to the "Power Antenna" wire of my aftermarket harness (similar to your C2R-VW piece). I'm thinking I should try running it to a dedicated 12v output wire instead. And the fact that one of the two antenna plugs that goes into the back of the factory radio is left unused, doesn't make me feel like the aftermarket reception has the potential to be all that great.

My car's a 2006 package 0 + cold weather, so I only had the single disc headunit in the dash, no aux in, cd changer, or satellite radio, so I don't have a shark fin (or dynaudio

), only the diversity antenna that's integrated into the rear defroster. That said, I don't have the 12v lead to the euro antenna adapter hooked up as my reception was as good as factory without it connected, so I never bothered with it.

And as far as the project goes, I've got the stereo in the car (and have pictures of this), but I blew up my primary desktop a week ago now, so I've been concentrating on that. All that's left to put the pc in the car is to wire up the shutdown controller.

boomintrac · 03-24-2008, 03:41 PM

Hows it comin Nick???????

MP3DUB · 03-25-2008, 10:50 AM

It stalled out a bit, like I mentioned before, got the stereo in the car and then had my main pc die. It's been fixed for a week or two now, but I haven't had time to wire up the shutdown controller, which is all that's keeping me from putting the pc in the car. Hopefully I get time in the next few days to break out the soldering iron and get things wired. I do however have pictures of the stereo installed (now that I have a computer with photoshop on it again).

Blank faceplate with IR receiver installed, stereo connected and working.

Glove box reinstalled with the stereo working. Red 8ga is a fused run off the distro rail in the fuse box under the hood. Black 8ga spool is grounded to the dash rebar, yellow 16ga is the trigger lead from the C2R-VW.

Nola111 · 04-21-2008, 06:40 PM

Hey Nick, do you have anything in your trunk at all that's grounded. I had a hell of a time finding a good ground point in the trunk (crazy as that sounds) and finally settled with the cargo hook located on the left side inside lip of the back of the trunk. I still want to find a better place though.