2006 Cadillac CTS Install

**smeesseman** · 03-30-2007, 11:05 PM

Hello all,

I just started my installation ~ 10 days ago aafter years of planning. I am a long time Centrafuse user, but new to posting on the boards. I have actually been day by day posting this installation on the Flux Media Forum, but figured I'd copy it over here since this seems to be more of a fit for this.

I'm posting my install because I appreciate all you guys out there who have done the same and shared your experiences, many of them were very helpful in planning my own install.

Just wanted to start the thread and list my current hardware components:

Hardware:
VEHICLE: 2006 Cadillac CTS, black
VIA EPIA SP13000 Motherboard
512MB RAM
Hitachi 80GB Hard Drive
Lilliput 7" Touchscreen display
Slimline slot-loading CD drive and InfoSafe USB enclosure
2 DLink 4-port USB Hubs
Linksys 802.11G USB Adaptor
Belkin F8T012 Bluetooth Dongle
BU-353 GPS Receiver
Qwerty miniature keyboard

Software:
Windows XP
Flux Centrafuse Front End
iGuidance GPS
PowerDVD

- Scott

Day 1, Radio Faceplate Fabrication

Details of removal of radio from the CTS can be found here:
CTS-CTS-V FAQ: How do I take out the radio (remove the radio bezel)

I used a dremel tool to cut out the area where the cd player slot was located, in order to place a 7" Lilliput touchscreen panel. I bought this tool specifically for this project, what a great investment! This tool is great!

**smeesseman** · 03-30-2007, 11:23 PM

Days of bondo, spot putty, sanding and painting am I am almost to the point where I can install the LCD...

I matched the interior paint at a small shop called Automotive Color Supply, thanks guys!

Note the plastic coating on the radio bezel was very sensitive, I tried to keep my sanding off of this, but in the lower left corner where I molded the LCD bezel in place I sanded a piece of it and it gummed up, the more I tried to remove the gummed up coating, the worse it got. If you're working on a Cadi, be warned!

**smeesseman** · 03-30-2007, 11:41 PM

Mounting the PCB's back into the housing, after inserting LCD into it's molded-in bezel...

Microphone Placement...

Accessible USB Port... Here you can really notice too what I was talking about in Post #2, the surface getting gummed up and me having to paint past where I wanted too. You can really see it around the USB port. :Unhappy: To be honest though you can barely tell inside the car where it's not open lighting....

Assembled Radio/LCD Bezel...

**smeesseman** · 03-31-2007, 12:09 AM

Placement of Radio/LCD screen back into car...

Ran into some issues here, including LCD going "over range" after being powered for an hour, and noticed that my "Band" button on the radio is not working well, I have to really press it hard to get it to work. Have to take back apart and fix these issues, installation into vehicle to resume tomorrow.

**Emo** · 03-31-2007, 11:05 AM

lol that's crazy.. I would not mess with a CTS if I had one... I think they're great as it is... of course what you're doing is awesome so keep it up.. but that's just me...

**smeesseman** · 03-31-2007, 06:16 PM

Installed new LCD screen, this seems to have fixed the issue with the "Over Range" problem. Not sure if it was the lcd itself, or somewhere in the PCB, don't care much, it works now

. Here are some photos I quickly snapped, the car's still a mess and I still have odds and ends to do like mounting the CD player. I'll post final photos within a few days...

**daclothe** · 03-31-2007, 08:17 PM

looks good to me, keep up the good work

**afterdigital** · 04-15-2007, 02:32 PM

sweet install !!!! i also have a CTS and did the same thing. I'm curious about the audio:

PAC GM-12 Auxilliary Audio Switch $60
Ampie PC Enclosure $80

are these good? how do you install them into the factory radio?

BTW, i like your write up on money wasted! that's funny you admit to that... i too spent a lot of money making mistakes but well worth it...

**smeesseman** · 04-17-2007, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by afterdigital

sweet install !!!! i also have a CTS and did the same thing. I'm curious about the audio:

PAC GM-12 Auxilliary Audio Switch $60
Ampie PC Enclosure $80

are these good? how do you install them into the factory radio?

BTW, i like your write up on money wasted! that's funny you admit to that... i too spent a lot of money making mistakes but well worth it...

Hey there, so funny, I read your writeup on your install a few months back - I had to laugh at the part where you mentioned that you waited a year before you installed - I did the exact same thing. Too scared to rip it up at first, but once that "new car" feeling was gone, I was right into it. Anyway, thanks for the comments.
The audio i used the PAC switch, it ties into the line-out's of the XM module. So I turn my BAND on the head unit to XM, and with the simple flick of a switch I can change the audio source from XM to PC to Naviplay (for streamin ipod audio). What's good about it too is that OnStar audio and vehicale chimes are still enabled as when it needs to speak, the PAC part will auto-mute the source and let the OnStar/chimes through...
The Ampie enclosure is just the miniitx enclosure that I have, nothing to do with the audio.
Hey, I also noticed you installed your pc into the radio housing. How did that go? I was too scared to do that, seeing that it gets to 0 degree temp around here in the winter, if the pc ever goes, I want it easily accessible...

Have a good one and talk to you again I am sure...

**nastymigui** · 04-30-2007, 09:09 PM

There are some projects like that. I saw the projects by Mbai and Afterdigital and they were doing what I thought about so I decided to go into my own project.
I finished the job a couple of months ago and I'm posting the result at:

Cadillac Cts 2004 - Carputer Project

I'm currently using CENTRAFUSE but I have modified a skin for the ICT just in case CF expired (too expensive if they keep their current prices policy).