NSFW Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 I just put in an MP3 unit last weekend and am hoping to recycle stock unit in much the same way, except that I want to put a CarPC screen up there. I haven't even started taking apart the stocker yet, so you're way ahead of me. Are you going to try to make room for a single-DIN aftermarket unit, or are you going for double-DIN? I have barely started disassembling the stocker but I'm hoping it will go something like this: 1) cut the display board roughly even with the existing ribbon cables for the HVAC knobs, 2) connect all of the traces between the two halves with a ribbon cable (or just a bunch of wires), 3) mount the top half of the display board underneath the CD changer box (fold it back and maybe flip it over), 4) remove most of the contents of the CD changer box, 5) keep the PCB on the bottom of the box right where it is, 6) ??? 7) mount LCD where the top half of the PCB was 6) ??? 7) CarPC! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravisS Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el scorcho Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 so are both zones going to be controlled by one knob? that's cool...I always set both temps to be the same anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PimpFro Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Pure Adrenaline Attached... To A License Plate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 so are both zones going to be controlled by one knob? that's cool...I always set both temps to be the same anyway... Huh? Why? That's the USDM dual zone controls... two knobs. He's just removing the radio from the faceplate. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socalsleeper Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Very earger to see results!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSFW Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 The thread from the first guy who tried this, for reference: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48531 I spent some time this evening staring at the board and pondering where to cut it. I've attached an image for the sake of discussion... The area just above the angled IC looks like the hardest part, I'm not too sure about it. There are traces on the front of the board right in the area I want to cut there, but I don't see a simpler way. If you look at the way 072 did it, he left a long 'finger' attached to the upper part of the PCB on the left side (as viewed from the back). Any guesses as to why he did that? I think it might be possible to accomplish the "radio delete" by relocating the entire front PCB, and running wires back to the faceplate to for the lower VFD, the HVAC switches, and the knobs. A second main PCB would be useful, just to hold the VFD and switch contacts. Most of the traces on the 2nd PCB would simply be cut, to effectively disable it, electrically speaking. Just run wires from the VFD pins on each board, and run wires between the through-holes next to each of the switch contacts. That approach would require a whole second radio unit just to get that extra PCB, but if this approach is easier, it might justify the extra cost. I need to think on this some more. Thanks for the larger-than-life high-res pictures, by the way. I have an easier time looking at those images than at the circuit board itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puzzled Posted June 25, 2007 Author Share Posted June 25, 2007 Sorry guys... Had to travel out of town. I should be cutting my board sometime this week. I will keep you updated with the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
072 Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 The thread from the first guy who tried this, for reference: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48531 I spent some time this evening staring at the board and pondering where to cut it. I've attached an image for the sake of discussion... The area just above the angled IC looks like the hardest part, I'm not too sure about it. There are traces on the front of the board right in the area I want to cut there, but I don't see a simpler way. If you look at the way 072 did it, he left a long 'finger' attached to the upper part of the PCB on the left side (as viewed from the back). Any guesses as to why he did that? I think it might be possible to accomplish the "radio delete" by relocating the entire front PCB, and running wires back to the faceplate to for the lower VFD, the HVAC switches, and the knobs. A second main PCB would be useful, just to hold the VFD and switch contacts. Most of the traces on the 2nd PCB would simply be cut, to effectively disable it, electrically speaking. Just run wires from the VFD pins on each board, and run wires between the through-holes next to each of the switch contacts. That approach would require a whole second radio unit just to get that extra PCB, but if this approach is easier, it might justify the extra cost. I need to think on this some more. Thanks for the larger-than-life high-res pictures, by the way. I have an easier time looking at those images than at the circuit board itself. Hey guys, The long finger I left was an effort to leave the traces long enough to solder to, but I had to be very carefull to not cut into the display behind them. I really did'nt need to leave the finger after I started to use the through holes, which was easier. But it did make it easier to trace traces back when I was ready to mate up the quick disconnects. I thought about your idea of using 2 radio PCBs while I was doing mine, but I was so far into the way I did it I decided to plug along. I did count up the connections you would have to make to do the 2 PCBs and it was about the same as the way I did it, about 50 connections. Good Luck everyone Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVXdc Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 I have been looking for part numbers or places to purchase some of the wire harness connections. So far I have been able to source the following: ...CN701 - SCOSCHE SU03B - (Female 14p located on back of Radio)SCOSCHE SU03RB - (Male 14p - Factory Wire harness connector) Don't use the Scosche harnesses. They only have 13 wires and you need all 14 for the radio and A/C control illumination to work. If you've already purchased these, e-mail me for a fix. If not, see my homepage link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legacy2005 Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 wow. good luck man. if anybody can figure it out i know you will. guess you gotta do something to keep yourself busy up there in PA since your to much of a slacker to drive down for autox. Work hard. Play even harder. My Garage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mccorry Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Good luck, Denis! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admrl Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 How is everyone elses progress going so far? I cut my board today. Up until today i spent more time figuring out the mounting, etc. I got the metal cage the radio has cut down to fit the revised board and size, etc. Cutting the board was a bigger PITA than i thought it was going to be. I ended up taking a dremel tool with a very fine drill bit and routing several passes to make the cuts. I ran over some traces i had marked to miss, which sucks. Now comes about two weeks of tedious soldering. I wonder if itll ever work again, LOL... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admrl Posted July 2, 2007 Share Posted July 2, 2007 This circuit board is a complete slut. Im starting to think mine is going in the garbage can in the not too distant future, lol. Its a shame, too. The cage and mounting hardware came out very nice. Im going to keep plugging away until its finished, its just friggin trying my patience. Ive been soldering for years and years, but always much larger stuff. This is insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 any nooz? did ya trash it? "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puzzled Posted July 17, 2007 Author Share Posted July 17, 2007 Have not trashed it yet. I have my board cut, but am in the process of moving, so i have been set back a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzymt Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Good luck guys. I cut up a radio about a month ago & started soldering traces - got about 10 done and haven't had a chance to look at it since. Suffice to say - it is much, much harder than it looks. I don't see how doing this for other people could possibly be a good use of time unless it was worth an assload of dough... I expect to put 25-35 hours in mine before I'm done ...and that's just on the electricals. Then you get to play with fiberglass, bondo & paint... [CENTER][URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18504"]Subaru Plug & Play Aux-in Mod[/URL][/CENTER] [CENTER][URL="http://www.jazzyengineering.com"]www.jazzyengineering.com[/URL][/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSFW Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 I ain't done squat about this. The project is starting to intimidate me. Instead I'm trying to find ways not to do this, and yet not have a useless bunch of junk on my dash after I put in a carpc. Like, leave the stock head unit's electronics in place, but remove the VFD and buttons and just mount a couple of small LCD (text-only) screens in the same location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fweasel Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 IInstead I'm trying to find ways not to do this, and yet not have a useless bunch of junk on my dash after I put in a carpc. Like, leave the stock head unit's electronics in place, but remove the VFD and buttons and just mount a couple of small LCD (text-only) screens in the same location. :lol: Just last week I had a similar idea. My latest plan is to take an LCD based boost gauge and install it behind the display of the OEM radio. I figure taking the boost gauge apart to just the circuit board should make it slim enough to fit into the radio with no modification. ignore him, he'll go away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 well, I for one would like to encourage those of you who know what you're doing to keep at it lol I'm annoyed daily that I am stuck with a radio that will probablly fail one day as stockers do, doesn't sound anywhere NEAR as good as my sennheiser 280 headphones, and I CANNOT REPLACE IT.. I'm not one to say "there aught to be a law" but.. damnit.. there aught to be a law that if they try to lock you in like this that they have to give you a way out. Its just.. rude! the jdm accessory that works for this purpose is made by subaru right? I assume subaru will not turn over their a/c control rights of production to any 3rd party companies to make a stand alone a/c control unit (some brands I wouldn't want messing with my a/c controls anyway) but the fact that they made it this way is all the more reason they should do SOMETHING! perhaps if we all wrote a huge angry letter to soa.. we'd get ignored quicker. "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzymt Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 Well you guys inspired me to make some more forward progress today. Here's where I'm at so far... I worked about 6 hours on it previously - laying out the area to cut, cutting it & fixing a few traces from the cut. I spent about 2 hours on it tonight, most of it you can't see (prep work for soldering wires later), but it's progress nonetheless. You can see in the pic with the Exacto knife how small this work is...even with a magnifying glass it's small & tedious. Doing all this tedious prep & soldering - I think there may be a quicker way to solder the two halfs back together using "piggyback" pre-made circuit boards, sorta how some Xbox & PS2 mod chips work, but it would still take a lot of prep & some seriously accurate measurements... [CENTER][URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18504"]Subaru Plug & Play Aux-in Mod[/URL][/CENTER] [CENTER][URL="http://www.jazzyengineering.com"]www.jazzyengineering.com[/URL][/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerboa113 Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 wow.... just.. wow..its too bad we cant just bend the board over 90 degrees above the a/c controls and the traces and all jsut bend with it After seeing that, I'm thinking jazzy that you're probablly not going to offer this as a service due to the time and cost of the units? "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." - Plato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzymt Posted July 18, 2007 Share Posted July 18, 2007 After seeing that, I'm thinking jazzy that you're probablly not going to offer this as a service due to the time and cost of the units?As much as some of us want to replace the radio - I just don't think it is a practical approach...unless I can figure out some way to make it dramatically more efficient...and reliable. All these tiny wires & solders directly onto traces make a potent recipe for a broken radio/HVAC. Plus - in the end, all you achieve is a hole in your dash! You still have to buy something to put in it! [CENTER][URL="http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18504"]Subaru Plug & Play Aux-in Mod[/URL][/CENTER] [CENTER][URL="http://www.jazzyengineering.com"]www.jazzyengineering.com[/URL][/CENTER] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admrl Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 any nooz? did ya trash it? Im still slowly working on mine. I have a few leads soldered down on it already... Yeah, its much worse than it looks. Im very happy with everything i did to the assembly already, but now i kind of want to get a second board to cut up and start over. Ive had a few struggles with the current board already, that make me not want to keep fussing with it. Ill try to post some pics soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05LeGacY_GT Posted April 7, 2008 Share Posted April 7, 2008 subscribed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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