Custom Mounted Alpine X009-U 9″ AV Head Unit In A 2003 Ford F350

My absolute favorite thing about my day job is installing 12-volt electronics where they do not easily fit and making it look like they came that way from the automobile manufacturer. In this case, it was installing the new Alpine X009-U 9″ head unit into the dash of a 2003 Ford F-350. As you can see in the images below, the X009-U is virtually the same height as the Ford double DIN radio and climate controls combined… and quite a bit wider!

Since the X009-U will need to be custom installed into pretty much every vehicle out there, Alpine graciously supplies a trim ring that can be molded into the dash. This makes it a tad bit easier on the installer and gives him/her a nice starting point. Said trim ring can be seen in the previous two images.

First thing is to cut a VERY large opening in the dash panel to house this behemoth of a head unit’s trim ring. I then like to hold the ring in place with superglue, in a few key places. This will hold the ring in place while I permanently glue it in place with Norton Speed Grip 2-part plastic epoxy:

Once the epoxy is set up, I then grind/sand any extra off that squeezed through to the front. I make sure to maintain the shape of the trim ring to the front of the OEM dash panel. In the next image, you will notice that I had to build up a section under the head unit buttons to make for a seamless transition from the Alpine trim ring to the OEM dash panel. For this I use Evercoat Fiber Tech, which is a Kevlar reinforced filler. I then use Evercoat Rage Gold for any “fine tuning”:

Once I was happy with shape of everything and filled any little pin holes etc., I sprayed the entire panel with several light coats of texture to get back to the OEM textured finish. For this texture I like to use SEM Satin Black Chip Guard:

Once the texture coat dried, I applied a OEM matching top coat to give its final finish:

Now that the dash panel was basically finished until final install, it was time to find a good place for the climate controls. Luckily there is a pocket below the dash panel that is of little use. Although the pocket itself isn’t near large enough to house the climate control, the surrounding area is:

The first thing to do was hack the pocket out of there with an air saw:

It was immediately clear that I was going to need to build this area out a little to make room for the climate controls to be rear mounted. So I made a perfect frame out of a solid piece of 1/4″ ABS. This would give me a framed-in area to rear mount the climate control and also give me a place to build onto to get the shape I want for that area of the panel. A quick test fit before trimming it a little on the corners and then tacking it in place with super glue:

Just like the head unit trim ring, I used the Norton Speed Grip to permanently bond it in place:

Again, I rough sanded the Norton Speed Grip and then used the Evercoat Fiber Tech to build up the transitions to the OEM panel. This is after rough sanding and using some more Evercoat Rage Gold filler for the finishing work:

A quick coat of texture in the modified area, some sanding to blend to the panel, just to check to make sure my shaping was good etc:

I then used the same 1/4″ ABS and Norton Speed Grip to make mounts for the climate controls to screw to the backside:

A quick test fit of the climate control:

A complete texture coating of the panel:

And finally the OEM matching color and mounting of the climate control:

Now that all the panels were finished, it was time for what I consider the hardest part… securely mounting the head unit in the dash. This is typically very time-consuming since there isn’t really any mounting points for the new radio. It needs to be EXACT so that when the dash panel is secured back onto the dash, the head unit sits perfectly into the opening I just created. The first thing is to cut out supports that are in the way etc. The new head unit is huge, so it needs space! Then it’s a matter of coming up with a mounting system that I can attach into the dash and is adjustable so I can fine tune the fitment as I go. So there is a lot of putting the dash panel on, take it back off, adjust the head unit a little, but the dash back on, take it back off, adjust again, put the dash panel back on…. you get the idea. I did not take any pictures of this as it’s behind the scenes and boring. So you will just need to take my word for it when I say this thing isn’t budging.

Installed images:

S13 JDM Window Switch Assemblies Retrofitted Into S13 USDM Window Switch Plates.

Well, this job was slightly unexpected for me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s right up my alley. However, the cost for me to do something this tedious is not cheap… and for what most onlookers would refer to as a waste of money. With that being said, I completely understand the customer’s reasoning. Hell, I do the same sort of thing all the time… spend tons of money or time on things that will go unnoticed by most.

So down to it! This customer had a set of S13 JDM window switch plates/switches that he wanted in his S13 USDM vehicle. Seems easy enough, just unsnap/unscrew the switch assemblies from the back of the JDM plates and attach them to the back of the USDM plates. WRONG! The switch assemblies are of completely different design from the JDM to the USDM version. Not only that, the window switch plates have the opposite curve to them since the plates are obviously on opposite sides of the car in JDM land. If you take a look at the images below, comparing the JDM and USDM, it quickly becomes apparent the differences. The switches themselves are also different. The USDM switches(not pictured)are a simple push forward and push back. Whereas the JDM switches are a pull up and a push down style. Which means there also needs to be a “cup’ formed in the plastic in front of the switch. That way your finger doesn’t just poke through when you are trying to pull up on the switch. In the following images, the USDM plates are the ones without the actual switches in them.

So the only way to properly do this was to cut out the section that has the JDM button openings, thus retaining the original JDM button mounting setup on the back. Then hack out a similar size opening in the USDM plates and retrofit the JDM assemblies into them:

The cut out JDM assembly on the right needing to go into the USDM plate on the left:

USDM plate ready for the transplant:

Test fit to make sure I am still on course:

Same with the passenger side:

Next it was time to bond these permanently into place with one of my favorite products… Norton Speed Grip 2-part adhesive. Note: just to get setup with this stuff it will cost a minimum of $100. The glue is very expensive and it takes a special applicator gun to apply it. But it’s so worth it if you need to bond plastic.

At this point it’s time to get it looking good. A lot of rough sanding, shaping, forming, a tad bit of Evercoat Fiber Tech filler, some primer and here you go. Well, some of those steps need to be done numerous times!

My customer also requested a white LED to be mounted in the driver side switch:

Last but not least, some SEM Satin Black Color Coat:

Customer’s S13 Radio Trim w/(4) AEM 52mm Gauges & Greddy TT

Finally had a customer request molding something into the radio trim bezel of a S13. The customer wanted the four AEM 52mm gauges flush mounted in the double din area where the radio/pocket normally reside. However, the gauges will not really fit in that opening… especially flushing them in. So I enlarged the area and bonded a 3/4″ piece of MDF into the opening. I went ahead and marked/routed out the gauge locations prior to bonding. At this time I also cut the opening to flush in the Greddy turbo timer. Once the MDF plate was bonded/cured, I took a couple different sanders and sanded down the MDF plate to match the contour of the S13 trim panel. At first glance it simply looks flat across the entire thing… but it’s not. And since the bottom gauges extend down so far, it gets into to the curved area right before where the shifter opening is.

All bonded and shaped:

Next I used a thin coat of body filler to fill in any imperfections. Sanded that all down then hit the panel with several coats of high build primer. Once that fully cured I wet sanded it with 500 grit:

Several coats of SEM Landau black and we have a finished product. Note: I also coat the back with several coats to prevent the MDF from absorbing any moisture at all.

Custom S14 Climate Control/Vent Trim Panel Part 4

I finished the trim panel right before the weekend…. I am really happy with the finished results. As stated in part 3, the only thing left to do was some final finishing work, texture and final paint. I had few tiny holes to fill around where the SAFC plates mount to the trim panel. I sanded that back down and shot it with the final SEM texture coat. Once I was happy with that, I finished it off with several coats of SEM Satin Black

I then used “yellow” hot glue to hold everything in place. This is what some OE manufacturers use to hold things like hard foam on the back side of door cards. The yellow will withstand higher temperatures compared to black or white hot glue. It can then be pealed off with a little effort if something needs to be removed down the road.

Finished results:

My customer also wanted me to freshen up a lot of his smaller trim panels and whatnot. Here are some before and afters:

A shot of some mass painted parts:

My customer and I also wanted to texture/paint the radio trim and shifter trim since they would be in direct contact with the piece I just fabricated. That way the finish would all match.

Recap # 1: Defi Gauge Cluster, Center Vent Pod and HUD 6/6/2007 Part 3

Part 3:  Vent Gauges

Since I could only fit four gauges comfortably into the cluster, I had to find a place for the remaining three.  I am generally not a fan of A-pillar setups, especially on the S13, as they have skinny A-pillar trim.  I also don’t like them below the radio.  They just look too crowded and they are too low in my opinion.  Never mind the fact that I have a double DIN radio there.  So the only logical place was the center vent area.  Now this wasn’t some cool, new Broadfield idea.  It’s been done a hundred times, but for good reason:  it’s a great place to put gauges.  I don’t mind doing the same thing as others have done before if it works for me.  I don’t believe in doing something different just for the sake of being different…… it has to look good and fit the theme of the car most importantly.  So in the vents they are going.  However, I wanted to make sure it didn’t look like I simply threw some gauges in there.  So even though it was going to be similar to others, it had to have just a tad of my attention to detail.

I don’t have build pics of the vent gauges at all, but will add some in when I do the setup for Daoud Sangwa.  I plan to take a ton of pics of the entire cluster, HUD, center console fuel gauge and center vent pod.

UPDATE: Here is the link to his album, NOTE:  there are multiple pages.  Broadfield Gauge Package Build Pics

I started off with a sheet of ABS plastic that I rough cut.  I then cut, filed and sanded until it fit absolutely perfect.  Perfection takes a tremendous amount of time and patience…… and to think I was only going to throw away this piece anyway.  I then transferred this shape to a piece of 1/8″thick piece of aluminum.  I marked the holes for the gauges then cut those out with a hole saw.  I decided I wanted the gauges to be angled towards the driver…. easier to see and to give the panel a little character.  I found some ABS angled gauge trim rings from Summit…. they even come in a pack of three!  They are only $10 and almost ready to use out of the package.  I sanded them a little to knock off some of the mold edges…. I’m picky!

Test fitting the gauges with the rings presented the issue that a round gauge inserted at an angle, does not fit through a round hole.  So I simply used a file to make the round holes a little oblong.  Also, the silver U shaped mounting clamps pictured above had to be modified for these particular gauges.  The posts were too long and needed an angle cut on them also.  Once these were all modified, I assembled everything for a test fit.  Next up was the task of figuring out how I was going to mount this plate into the vent opening.  I wanted it to be mega secure and suck up into the hole.  Luckily, once the vent is removed, there is a little lip that the plate rests on.  However, there is no way for it to secure in there.  I think some people simply glue it in or try to use some double stick tape.  I didn’t see either of these options as good ones.  So I drilled out the center of each U shape mount to insert a threaded stud.  I drilled the hole so it was perpendicular with the plate.  I then tapped them out and inserted a short piece of threaded stud…. about 1 – 2 inches.  Next I made three strips of  aluminum about 3 inches longs that were 3/4″ wide.  These were to serve as “washers” on the back side. Back to the mounting in a bit.

Now we are ready for paint.  First though I wanted to give everything a texture.  I like to use a SEM product called Texture Coat, part # 39853.  Comes in an easy aerosol can.  So with everything disassembled, I textured the rings and back plate separately.  I then sprayed them with a final finish coat of SEM Landau Black, part # 15013.  It is the perfect black paint for interiors and many other uses.  Literally dries to the touch in minutes.  I then assembled everything and used some yellow OEM hot glue on the backside of the gauges to keep them from spinning on the plate.  All that’s left it to mount this sucker into the dash.  I removed the climate control so I could have easy access to the back of the vent area.  Simply stick the plate into the hole from the front and put the custom “washers” over the threaded studs on the backside.  Then take wing nuts and thread those bad boys on nice and snug.  The “washers” will keep the plate assembly from falling out the front, and the lip on the dash keeps it from obviously falling into the dash.  So essentially you are sandwiching everything together.  You could pretty much hang on this thing.  I also want to add, that for obvious reasons,  I blocked off the vent tube behind the gauge plate.  A lot of people ask what the heat and A/C are like with the main center vent blocked off.  Really it’s not that noticeable.  Because it essentially forces more air through the vents that are still left.  Done!  As stated earlier, I will come back and add build pics within a month or so.

Recap # 1: Defi Gauge Cluster, Center Vent Pod and HUD 6/6/2007 Part 2

Part 2:  HUD

As stated in part 1, Defi doesn’t make a speedometer.  So I ordered up the new Defi-Link VSD X HUD.  This unit displays an image on a piece of plexi that is angled off the backside.   It is simply meant to be mounted on top of your dash.  My intention was to ditch the plexi and display it on the windshield.  I bought a piece of film from the old original Defi HUD VSD setup.  The old Defi HUD setup was basically the same as the new one, only it displayed on the windshield.  This was going to be perfect because I had sourced an OEM S13 HUD pod for the top of the dash.  My plan was to retrofit the Defi unit into the OEM pod.  Well, come to find out, there was no way I could get the angle correct to display on the windshield.  So I quickly came up with the idea to mold it into the top of the steering wheel shroud.  I felt it would be perfect for a couple of reasons:  1) The plexi is obviously clear, so I would still be able to see the main gauges in the cluster through it. 2) The top of the shroud has a natural notch in it where it comes up to the cluster.  So I would be able to simply extend the backside up to make room for the HUD module….. all the while keeping the overall OEM shape of the shroud.

I don’t really have any pictures of the process.  Since I do this type of stuff for a living, I usually just rock through it as fast as I can and don’t bother with pictures.  Although I am trying to get better about taking pictures of all of my custom work.  So I will try to briefly describe how I did it.  I wanted to keep the profile as low as possible, so I ditched the bottom plastic casing of the unit.  Here is a picture of the unit in it’s stock form for reference,

I then hacked a rectangular hole in the top of the shroud where I wanted the unit.  I took the guts out of the top half of the plastic casing, including the thin plastic film that the image shines through on the top.  The piece of plexi was simply bolted to the back of the casing.  I then super glued the top plastic casing onto the top of the shroud exactly where I wanted it.  I roughed up all of the surrounding plastic(the shroud and plastic casing) with some 36 grit sandpaper.  This would allow the bondo to adhere better.  I then simply slapped a bunch of kitty hair(bondo with fiber glass strands) onto the sides and front to build up the shape I wanted leading up to the plastic casing.  I basically faded the front edge of the shroud all the way to the front edge of the plastic casing.  Then filled in the sides and sanded it to have a natural curvature and OEM look to it.  Next up is a texture coat.  I love a product called SEM Texture Coating.  I use it on projects at work all of the time.  Depending how far away you spray the project, it will yield different textures…. big, small etc.  After that it’s time for a final finish coat.  I chose SEM Landau Black.  It is a very OEM’ish black.  Not too glossy and not too flat.  Simply reassembling the guts and reattaching the plexi to the back was all that was left.  As you can see I chose to do without the black rubber edging on the plexi.  I realize this writeup is very vague, but custom work is hard to put into words.  Some finished pics from different angles,

Stay tuned for part 3:  The center vent gauges and the digital fuel gauge in the center console area.

Recap # 1: Defi Gauge Cluster, Center Vent Pod and HUD 6/6/2007 Part 1

Preview of the end result,

Part 1:  Gauge Cluster

This project was a fairly quick one I did back in the middle of 2007.  I simply wanted something cooler than the OEM 240sx gauge cluster.  I had no idea at the time that it would garner so much attention from not only 240 owners, but I have also seen it posted on many other automobile forums.  So I am greatly humbled that others appreciate my hard work.  With all of the customization I do, whether it’s for my car or for my job, I like the OEM’ish look.  I want someone who knows nothing about cars to think nothing was done in my interior…. or maybe think that it’s an upgraded OEM option.  So onto the cluster.  First off the gauges:  I chose the brand Defi because, well, they are Defi!  They are of the utmost quality, they are the exact look I like, I have used them in previous cars, I like how the gauges are all linked together to a central control unit and I really like the brushed aluminum trim ring they use.  Another plus was that they came in various sizes:  52mm, 60mm, 80mm and 115mm.  Of course there are only a couple different ones that come in the two larger sizes….. so I was limited to what I got to choose for my two larger gauges.  I went with the black face because of my tradition of holding to the OEM’ish look….. especially since they had green illumination.   Blue illumination or white face gauges would of just looked out of place.  The only downfall to this entire gauge cluster idea is that Defi does not make a speedometer.  And since this car is daily driven in everything but snow and salt, I needed a speedometer.  I could of crammed a digital one in with only a small rectangular window to display the speed, but then it would of looked crammed in there.  I wanted a nice simple but not overly bare cluster.  So I got a hair-brain idea to use the Defi HUD and retrofit it into the OEM HUD housing.  I was able to find the OEM HUD housing for next to nothing… cool!  So I ordered everything up only to find out that the Defi HUD that displays on the windshield had been discontinued….not cool!  However, there was a new one that displayed onto its own back plate made of simple plexi-glass.  Sweet, I’ll take it and simply buy the old HUD film and display it on the windshield like I originally planned.  Well, not so fast…… more on this in part 2

Building the cluster was pretty straight forward.  I simply hacked up an old cluster to begin with.  I wanted to maintain the OEM mounts, black interior surround and the OEM clear plastic front.  The only part of the OEM cluster that had to be cut to perfection was the black surround, as this was going to be butt up against the back plate.  So in order for it to look as good as OEM , it had to be perfect.  Once that was cut, I made a back plate out of 1/4″ hardboard.  I cut the holes for the gauges and turn signals.  The gauges were to be flushed in to give a smoother look…. so those holes also had to be perfect.  To be perfectly honest with you, I HAD to flush them in.  The two big 80mm gauges would of hit the clear plastic OEM face had I not flushed them in.  So sometimes things just work out for the better even when you don’t plan on it.   For the turn signals I took the OEM arrow and mounted it underneath a piece of PVC to form the housing,  I then hacked out the white plastic area that the OEM bulbs twist into.  I glued these onto the back of the PVC and I instantly had turn signal housings where the bulb could be easily replaced.

The white housing back of the cluster just had to be hacked up good enough to clear for the back of the new gauges.  It didn’t need to be pretty.

The new plate that the gauges are mounted in needed to be finished in an OEM look.  So I used two of my favorite products.  I used SEM Texture Coat to get the texture I wanted.  Depending on how far away you spray it, you can get varied results with the amount of texture.  For the finishing coat, I used SEM Landau Black.

All that’s left is to glue the plate in, snap the back white housing on and attach the OEM clear front plastic.  Part 2:  HUD, coming soon!