custom install with head unit!!
 

finally it's done, but not without problems... first here's what i have

diamond audio components front and back
2 10 " diamond audio subs
2 PPI amps
AlpineCVA 1005 head unit and changer

pic2

pic3

pic w/ unit in

pic5

amps with subs

another

as you can see my center dash piece was fabricated painted to look like the shiny black plastic around the factory radio and on the doors.... it makes the install look factory.... my friend did it for me and i think he did a great job, even better than others that i've seen where the piece was covered with vinyl.... i'm sure he'd be willing to do it again if anyone's interested


ok, i do have a problem, here it is:

for some reason now, the A/C controls and the red dash display are not working....
- we unplugged the battery to try and reset, didn't work
- we unwired the head unit and rewired back to the stock radio, but A/C controls still didn't work...

the only two wires pulled from the factory radio were the ignition wires and the always hot wire.... any ideas about what to do?

nice setup but are you using the stock system? if not why not just mount it there?

Also in the custom fab pieace which looks awesome are there holes for the center channel

not using the stock radio..... i dont have the bose system with the center channel... if i did, i'm sure it wouldn't have been a problem to cut around it or something.... the head unit is the radio and runs everything..... before the head unit was installed, everything ran through the stock radio... it sounds much better now.... the HU has a subwoofer control too...

I like the top center dash piece, some better pics would probably make me like it better. I think if and when I do mine I am just going to put a monitor there and run from a carputer or dvd player and keep my stock head and use overload's aux in. What did that center piece alone run you if I can ask.

Very nice. Clean. Impressive. :D

Most likely you've got the wrong plugs in the wrong holes in the back of the head unit. You wouldn't think that'd be possible, but it is. As I recall, there are 2 down by the HVAC controls, and 3 more on the back of the head unit.

Try what Omicron said first... recheck your connections to be sure that they aren't mixed up.

I am curious if power to the stock HU is need for the red LED and/or HVAC.

Oh.. BTW the RMagic piece has a cut for the center speaker... it's shown in the magazine pics (not those posted).

Props to your friend for an original design and what looks like a flawless execution! I esp. like how it matches the gauge cluster 'bubble'. Very nice.

Looking at that design a second time now... I have to agree with shawrf1... that's a pretty cool design. I dunno about the "piano black" color, but otherwise a very nice install!

Looks very impressive! I would like to find out on the price of one of those. Does the monitor intrude through the dash? I mean it looks really tight and I would like it a lot better if the whole thing tucks away without going into the dash board.

he coulda made the piece anyway i wanted, but i wanted it to look factory... the piano black looks just like the other pieces in the car.... the bubble at the top matches the rest of the dash.... he could of done it straight across the top and wrapped it in grey vinyl, but i think this looks alot better....

Where is your friend's shop? Hopefully So Cali :)

Yeah I really like that insall too...great job

I was wondering how realistic it would be to have a similiar dash piece fabricated but instead of house a 1DIN how about raising it up a little and have it house a 7" VGA monitor (roughly the size of a 2DIN)? Something similiar to the stock NAV but permanently open and with a smoother look...much like yours

I prefer not having a head unit stick out and just have the monitor permanently installed as opposed to the motorized. I know security would be an issue but for now I'm not worried (my suburban neighborhood is pretty safe).

Again...great job and good luck getting the red display working again.

I have PM'd kidcas about this and it requires moding of the original piece just for everybodies information. I do not want to pay to have my stock piece modified and I dont want to have to buy another piece in the future so I will wait until somebody makes a complete replacement piece. It does look really slick though.

he took my original piece and made it from that.... if i ever want to sell the car and return it to normal, i can buy the piece from the mazda dealer and put it on... i guess i could of bought the extra piece and had him mod that one and keep my original, but that would of meant more money spent now instead of later, and i didnt have it.... either way it works out the same, but i keep cars for a while, my last car was a 93 acura intergra, bought new in 93.... i plan on keeping this 8 for a while too, if it holds up as well as my integra

This is the problem i ran into during test fitting and fabrication of the center panel replacement...power to the stock stereo MUST be kept due to the circuit board that controls the HVAC is located in the stock stereo (just the stereo part), currently I have had to postpone fabrication due to time limitations but the easiest solution I can think of is if you do not have NAV then the stock radio will house in the top of the center dash..but you will have to jump off the feed to power your aftermarket HU NOT fully remove power from the stock stereo...that's the key..

How did you solved the power problem to the AC. I disconected my head unit to do the wireing and it doesn't turn on now. Does the head unit need to be re-programed? How?

i'm having someone look at it tomorrow to see, if they can't figure it out i have an appointment with the dealer on friday.... will let you know what happens.... its been suggested to me by some of the guys on here, that the stock radio was not re-installed correctly, the plugs were not put back in the proper place.....


BTW, the car absolutely rocks now..... the HU runnning everything sounds 1000x better than the stock radio.... next up for is installing a starter button and a game cube or dvd!! not sure which one yet, maybe i should start thread asking......

Xero,

Ah, it's as I suspected then. You DO need to keep power as well for the LED to work. What a PIA!


glxyjones,

Not a bad idea at all! I vote this one second to using the stock nav dash panel. Have you tried to get a used stock nav dash panel from someplace like http://www.mazmart.com ?