Thread: 2003 Nissan Xtrail - Direct DoubleDIN replacement using VIA Pico ITX

Top work might use some ideas for mine as I am looking to do in dash as well.

Originally Posted by DodgeCharger

- Did u do this with the screen removed. I bought my double din case with the screen mounted on ebay.
- was the plastic all u had to cut? i see there is a metal panel on the back of the screen. did u alter that? im assuming no.

- I bought the doubleDIN housing separate from the screen and because my screen was not an original Lillyput or Xenarc I had to make a special mounting plate for all the circuit boards before assembling them all together. So yes, I did not have the screen in the housing when I cut the plastic.
- Yes, only the plastic DoubleDIN adapter housing top and bottom lips were cut. No mods to the screen or touchpanel were needed. Have a close look at my pics of the touchpanel and screen mounted into the modified housing on the 2nd page of this thread.

@stretch4x4
Feel free to post any questions regarding my equipment or assembly you might have. When you have your own worklog I can help out with your stuff in there.

Cheers mate,

Greatly appreciated!
Currently looking over all the different amps that are on that ebay store getting lots of funny ideas
Have you found out how hot yours get?

Haven't had them all closed up in the dash with the screen on yet but running continuous for 10 mins at full volume in open air I did not feel much heat on the outside at all.
Since the whole case of the amp is one-piece metal it is a big heatsink.
I am planning on having a small hole in the airconditioning duct behind to help with cooling of the computer board in summer

Sounds reasonably promising.
I had also thought about doing that although I was worried about what happens in winter when you are trying to warm up a frozen car and you then have the hottest air possible going on to it for a while..
Almost need a manual flap on it so that it is only open when the thermostat is set to coldest..

That is where climate controlled aircon comes in handy.
In winter when the car is cold it only directs the airflow to the floor vents and nothing to the dash vents until the cabin temp almost reaches the setpoint

Sneaky.
I don't have that luxury.. But I do have a rather open dash so might just try to suck some air through with soem fans..

I too am planning a double DIN PC, and the case/tray that you fabricated looks great. Any tips on making one of my own? I would like to sneak a nano-ITX board, PSU, and amplifier board behind a touchscreen.

Beautiful work there!

Thanks for the compliments aindfan.

Tips about making the trays ... measure, measure, measure!
Here are the steps I took...
1. Get your OEM headunit and look at its mounting brackets to determine if you can reuse them or need to make your own.
2. Measure the width between them to know what space you have to use for your amps on one tray and CPU+PS on the other.
3. Refit the dash surround without the headunit inplace to measure the maximum depth from front of surround to back of cavity (usually the firewall).
4. Measure the depth of the screen and add 25mm for clearance - subtract that distance from the cavity depth measurement and that is the maximum length of the trays and the space you have available for the CPU with any connectors sticking out.
5. Use some thick Aluminium (Aluminum for you US readers) as it is easier to drill, bend and file, is rust-proof and light. Make sure it is thick enough not to bend with your hands so that it will support the weight of the gear.
6. When you bolt everything together, use thread-locker on the nuts because you won't want to pull it all apart if vibrations loosen something off after a few months.