I have been interested in an upgraded HU for quite some time and tossed around weather to go with the RNSE for the more factory look (that I prefer) and straight forward install or the feature rich Pioneer Avic D3 with touch screen, IPod integration, and more. Based on cost and features I choose the Avic and decided I could fab a factory look.
One of the BIGGEST disadvantages is the fitment of these units and the dash kits. They are a 2 piece design and the finish is far from a factory look. This shows the outer piece sanded and the separate inner piece still stock.
I missed a few pics because my hands had glue and body filler on them but the first thing I did was JB Weld the majority (for a long hold) and superglue (for a quick hold) the corners because they stuck out far from flush. This is after the first coat of body filler.
Although it looks pretty good here its nowhere near ready for paint. The final product would look worse than it did before I started.
I went with a buildable primer because last time I worked with plastic and body filler everything looked good but when I layed the final coat of paint you could see the lines where the body filler was because it was not 100% level.
I put down a light coat as a guide that was mostly sanded down then 2 heavier coats to cover the places where it was hard to get enough filler coverage due to working space. All said and done its probably about 1 - 1.5 coats after sanding. You can see there are some places where you can see through which is ok.
I now have a smooth surface to lay my final finish.
*** I will update with more pics as I proceed. I am working on a fitted mounting bracket that will attach to the unit and the car so there is NO play in the HU once its installed.
The other huge challange is to cram all the extra wire you now have behind the unit. You can see in the photo I had to hold the face plate in with a twig. Yes... a twig, found it on the gound.
Here it is with everything pulled out and you can see ALL the harness draped over the cup holder that is supposed to fit behind the Avic
Yup, that big mess of wires by the ebrake.
I had to start from the gound up remove both the climate control and ashtray. Then worked with the factory wires and moved around then replaced both units to get to here.
First wire removed from harness. Ues a tiny prick. (Yes I said prick and yes my nails are long. Dont worry I cut the nails. BUT they were used for this project ;D)
These are some of the extra RCA wires that I was trying to cram behind the unit.
After all the extra RCA wires are removed and the factory wires below are moved into a good place then this is what remains... Plenty of room for the AVIC D3, no stuffing needed. And this makes me a happy Man. One step closer, now I just need to find the finish for the front of the faceplate.
I mounted the XM tuner behind the glove box.
And one antenna is still in this location the other is up on the dash, wires hidden, with the antena pushed against the glass.
I 1st tried plasti dip but that did not come out good at all. Cool thing is that it peals off.
2nd try with fabric this time. It looks better in person but still not what Im looking for. Its a houndstooth material but it has too much pop.
Round 3 on the trim.
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Originally Posted by green a6
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