2DIN deck install in a 97

[urban yan]

Everybody sells scosche adapters (ebay, amazon, local audio shops);
Having the skills to produce something presentable.... well that's another story.

 

[P1atinum]

can you give us a link as to where to get the double din adapter kit you mentioned using? I wonder if you couldn't do this on an exchange basis, I'm sure you could find plenty of them used at JY etc but I would a much easier project for the DIY guy if he knew it would be done in a few hours and that the worst part is cutting the inside of the hole out.

You can get the kit on Ebay or at a local shop/Best Buy. They are all about the same price, everyone's trying to get there 35 points even on Ebay these days.

The more I think about this the more I am looking at production options... Stay tuned....

 

[Stallacrew]

I dont want one since I have older Jeeps and this wont fit my application.

BUT, I was going to suggest that if you do go into producing them, you might look at fiberglassing them. I don't know much about working with thermoplastics and the blow-molds for them, but you might can do a fiberglass one more easily.

Just a thought.

 

[casm]

BUT, I was going to suggest that if you do go into producing them, you might look at fiberglassing them. I don't know much about working with thermoplastics and the blow-molds for them, but you might can do a fiberglass one more easily.

And if you could do one with fake wood for us guys with Limiteds, that would be a huge plus. Sure, you'd probably only find homes for about four of them, but I'd be first in line

 

[GrimmJeeper]

I dont want one since I have older Jeeps and this wont fit my application.

BUT, I was going to suggest that if you do go into producing them, you might look at fiberglassing them. I don't know much about working with thermoplastics and the blow-molds for them, but you might can do a fiberglass one more easily.

Just a thought.

once a mold is made its as simple as pushing a button on a machine. That's why they arent fiberglass from the factory, glass is more durable but is much more involved to produce a high number of.

Very nice work, it looks factory.

 

[Stallacrew]

once a mold is made its as simple as pushing a button on a machine. That's why they arent fiberglass from the factory, glass is more durable but is much more involved to produce a high number of.

Very nice work, it looks factory.

I was just thinking the setup cost would be lower for glass than plastic, and I wouldnt imagine him selling more than a few hundred ever, thats why I suggested it.

 

[urban yan]

The more I think about this the more I am looking at production options... Stay tuned....

You should also consider the TJ market. Their center bezels are similar to ours, and those guys usually have more money than common sense. They'll buy anything - there's no reason why you couldn't make some money off of them.

 

[73pontiac]

you dont happen to have any pics of the top of the jetta kit attached to the factory jeep trim with out any body filler on it do you? i just want to see the lines of it is all. obviously in the finished pics one can see its flat across the top. anyways nice work!

 

[P1atinum]

I was just thinking the setup cost would be lower for glass than plastic, and I wouldnt imagine him selling more than a few hundred ever, thats why I suggested it.

The way the Bezel is formed it's not a candidate for a fiberglass mold, too many complex cutouts and posts. Also with glass you still have to finish and paint the bezel

You should also consider the TJ market. Their center bezels are similar to ours, and those guys usually have more money than common sense. They'll buy anything - there's no reason why you couldn't make some money off of them.

The TJ market would be where the money can be made, Many, many more TJ's that can be addapted then XJ's. I do need to see how much room is behind the TJ bezel, if I remember correctly it's pretty close to the XJ behind there.

you dont happen to have any pics of the top of the jetta kit attached to the factory jeep trim with out any body filler on it do you? i just want to see the lines of it is all. obviously in the finished pics one can see its flat across the top. anyways nice work!

Sorry no pics of the top lines of the Jetta kit, it is flat all the way to the back and needs some triming to fit to the kit to the bezel lines but it pretty obvious how much needs to be trimmed down once you start to fit the kit.

 

[73pontiac]

copy that.. just bought the kit. hopefully i dont screw it all up lol. so for the back of the jetta kit, when you fitted it up, you pretty much had to start contourin' it to the xj part? is there alot of material to be removed? when i get it on there, i want it to be pretty much level with the part that is the bottom of the vents (hence it being level up to the vents themselves)? once i get that, then i can trim the opening of the factory peice to fit my deck? sorry for all the questions, but tryin to reverse engineer someones work is more than just slappin the install kit onto the XJ trim LOL. just tryin to see (in my mind) how to approach this.

 

[P1atinum]

copy that.. just bought the kit. hopefully i dont screw it all up lol. so for the back of the jetta kit, when you fitted it up, you pretty much had to start contourin' it to the xj part? is there alot of material to be removed? when i get it on there, i want it to be pretty much level with the part that is the bottom of the vents (hence it being level up to the vents themselves)? once i get that, then i can trim the opening of the factory peice to fit my deck? sorry for all the questions, but tryin to reverse engineer someones work is more than just slappin the install kit onto the XJ trim LOL. just tryin to see (in my mind) how to approach this.

You’re on the right track!
The Jetta kit itself is not that deep, so depending on how much you want the kit to stick out, will determine how much you shave off the kit. I think mine sticks out past the vents about 1/4 inch but I haven't measured it. I shaved about an 1/8 to a 1/4 off the top and sides. Take your time here you can’t put material back
You will also need to contour the sides down.
Two things I would change with mine

1) Make the top of the Jetta kit the same level as the vent shelf, This will drop the over deck about 1/16 of an inch but give you more headroom above the deck to clear the vent tubes. Mine is very tight here. This also means you will need to cut a portion of the vent shelf back to fit in the top of the Jetta kit opposed to shaving down the kit all the way, you don’t want to shave to much off the kit as on the top as it will degrade the integrity of the kit and possible break.

2) When you fit the Jetta kit, tilt it at about an 87/88 Degree slope, mine is flat and I really have to tilt my screen to see it. I am pretty tall so that has a lot to do with it, but it won’t hurt to do this when you attach the kit as well.

Both of these mean you will need to cut some additional depth into the bottom two side shelves, the ones behind the bezel in the dash, there is plenty of room there.
I worked a little backwards when I first did this. First I cut the back behind the bezel, then cut the bezel then attached the kit and trimmed any excess. All this was to make sure the fitment would work.

If you want to flush the top of the kit to the vent shelf, you will need to cut the bezel at the same time you fit the kit, I would overlay the kit and mark where the bezel needs to be cut, make sure your centered as well. Make your first cuts and test fit. Just be careful not to take too much off the sides where the Bezel adhere to the jetta kit.
.

 

[multmigs]

You’re on the right track!
The Jetta kit itself is not that deep, so depending on how much you want the kit to stick out, will determine how much you shave off the kit. I think mine sticks out past the vents about 1/4 inch but I haven't measured it. I shaved about an 1/8 to a 1/4 off the top and sides. Take your time here you can’t put material back
You will also need to contour the sides down.
Two things I would change with mine

1) Make the top of the Jetta kit the same level as the vent shelf, This will drop the over deck about 1/16 of an inch but give you more headroom above the deck to clear the vent tubes. Mine is very tight here. This also means you will need to cut a portion of the vent shelf back to fit in the top of the Jetta kit opposed to shaving down the kit all the way, you don’t want to shave to much off the kit as on the top as it will degrade the integrity of the kit and possible break.

2) When you fit the Jetta kit, tilt it at about an 87/88 Degree slope, mine is flat and I really have to tilt my screen to see it. I am pretty tall so that has a lot to do with it, but it won’t hurt to do this when you attach the kit as well.

Both of these mean you will need to cut some additional depth into the bottom two side shelves, the ones behind the bezel in the dash, there is plenty of room there.
I worked a little backwards when I first did this. First I cut the back behind the bezel, then cut the bezel then attached the kit and trimmed any excess. All this was to make sure the fitment would work.

If you want to flush the top of the kit to the vent shelf, you will need to cut the bezel at the same time you fit the kit, I would overlay the kit and mark where the bezel needs to be cut, make sure your centered as well. Make your first cuts and test fit. Just be careful not to take too much off the sides where the Bezel adhere to the jetta kit.
.

^^ this is exactly why I fear tryin this myself.... I have no idea what you are doing as you describe this and I'm sure I would F it up along the way, possibly trashing my trim piece and the radio adapter. And this is why I and I'm sure several other guys would gladly pay $100? for say just the molded in 2DIN trim piece. I'm faily confident I can figure out the areas to cut out the rear of the radio cavity, I know I can do the wiring etc so if I had the ready to use "holder" for the radio it would be a couple hour project at the most.

 

[P1atinum]

^^ this is exactly why I fear tryin this myself.... I have no idea what you are doing as you describe this and I'm sure I would F it up along the way, possibly trashing my trim piece and the radio adapter. And this is why I and I'm sure several other guys would gladly pay $100? for say just the molded in 2DIN trim piece. I'm faily confident I can figure out the areas to cut out the rear of the radio cavity, I know I can do the wiring etc so if I had the ready to use "holder" for the radio it would be a couple hour project at the most.

Just an FYI, I am looking at what it will take to reproduce these bezels, if not Mass production I am thinking I am going to do some by hand.

I also have a couple other things in mind.........

 

[Mugless]

What kind of filler did you use for conturing?

 

[P1atinum]

What kind of filler did you use for conturing?

I used a cheap 3M filler from the autoparts store, after some research I bought some Evercoat Fibertech to fill and Evercoat polyflex to finish these adhere better to plastic.

 

[Mugless]

Thanks for the info and posting up this modifiaction. This 2DIN mod is on my to-do list and your post let me see that what I envisioned is doable.

 

[P1atinum]

I was looking into producing these using injection molds.... BUT that's not going to happen until I win the Lotery..... $25,000 to $30,000 for a mold that will reproduce what I want.

Holy Crap!

 

[Stallacrew]

Yeah I had no real solid idea on price, but I knew it would be waaaaay up there. "Just make the mold and press the button" isnt really how that stuff works.

Maybe fiberglass afterall?

 

[wolfpackjeeper]

Lay that thing down flat on the counter, build a box around it, spray it with some sort of non-adhesive spray, then fill the box with silicone caulking compound. Let it set, then flip it over and pull it apart. Now you have a negative that you can cast your positive mold out of. Bondo works pretty well for positive molds if you are careful, bake it in the oven, to cure it, but open all the windows first, it is gonna stink.

Dad used to build his patterns for green sand casting this way.

 

[P1atinum]

Lay that thing down flat on the counter, build a box around it, spray it with some sort of non-adhesive spray, then fill the box with silicone caulking compound. Let it set, then flip it over and pull it apart. Now you have a negative that you can cast your positive mold out of. Bondo works pretty well for positive molds if you are careful, bake it in the oven, to cure it, but open all the windows first, it is gonna stink.

Dad used to build his patterns for green sand casting this way.

The issue with that is it only gives you a mold of one side, I still have to account for all the mounting posts on the backside and the posts to mount both the air vents, that is where the High dollar cost comes in.

To do a injection mold of for just the front is only about $3,000 to $4,000