plasmadis
11-07-2005, 05:17 AM
Well, hope I don't get in trouble for starting another thread so soon, but I thought I'd just throw in my two cents about what I've done with my interior so far. I just got my 3G a month ago, so it isn't a whole lot, but perhaps some of you might find it interesting.
http://members.dslextreme.com/~plasmadis/3gaccord/interior.jpg
The green canister is a "California Scents" air freshener. It's a strong little sucker, much better than the various rear view hanging things. It can be found for around 2 bucks at drug stores and gas stations. I highly recommend it, though be sure to go with any flavor except coconut. Ugh.
My head unit is an Alpine CDA-9851. I really love this stereo. It looks sweet, is very easy to use, and puts out clean strong sound with just its built-in amp. I also got it because it offers iPod control, with the KCA-420i iPod adapter. It's a small box that connects to the CD changer port, that you can see it under the dash. I ran the cable from this box along the tranny hump, under the housing for the shifter, and through the opening for the emergency brake. And what do you know, right next to the e-brake is a flat empty area that's perfect for my iPod mini to sit in. I made a holder for the iPod from the belt clip it came with, just by snapping off the clip, Dremeling down the plastic that was left, and sticking it to the console with strong double sided tape. Then the cable runs right from the iPod, down into the e-brake hole. It's real professional looking.
The Alpine deck offers full control of the iPod, allowing me to flip through albums, artists, or playlists, and displaying all the info on its screen. If you have to be a 3G enthusiast that's also got an iPod, IHMO this is the best way to go.
Next you probably noticed my LED light tubes. They aren't bright enough to be distracting, they just cast a nice soft glow, that creates a cool ambience for night driving. They are somewhat purple in color, and actually cast UV light, like black lights. You may notice what I got in the cigarette socket is also glowing, because the clear plastic used for its holder is UV reactive. This device is a blue LED map light, which is illuminating the center of the floor. This device also has a red LED on the front of it, which stays on while the car is off, so it serves as my "fake car alarm" light. :)
Now, here is the portion which some of you may actually find useful, how to hook up some extra illumination like I did. The best place to tap into the power for this is the ashtray light. When you tap into this, your lights will go on and off with the rest of the lights, when you turn your headlights or parking lights on and off. The nice thing about this wiring is that you can do it without tearing any of the dash itself apart.
First, slide out the ashtray, by pulling it all the way out, then pushing the spring loaded top part down. Then, look under the dash, and you'll see the ashtray light is mounted in a metal piece held to the dash with 3 screws. Undo these 3 screws, take the metal piece out, then you can get to the light. Now, you could just cut off this light, and connect your lights right to this lead, but I prefer leaving the light there. The more lights, the merrier. :) You'll notice there is this flexible fabric material around the wire to this light, I believe this is some kind of heat protection, I guess to keep your hot cigs in the ashtray from melting the wire, but since I don't smoke I'm not going to worry about it. I snipped most of it off to get at the wire. Then, I got these "tap splices" from the hardware store. These are the red ones, for 18-22 AWG wire. What they allow you do to is just snap them around a wire to add another wire to the connection, without having to do any cutting or soldering. I added a pair of wires to the ashtray light, which I then ran to connect my LED lights to. Leave some slack in the wire, so you could add more lights later!
Let me know what you think.
http://members.dslextreme.com/~plasmadis/3gaccord/interior.jpg
The green canister is a "California Scents" air freshener. It's a strong little sucker, much better than the various rear view hanging things. It can be found for around 2 bucks at drug stores and gas stations. I highly recommend it, though be sure to go with any flavor except coconut. Ugh.
My head unit is an Alpine CDA-9851. I really love this stereo. It looks sweet, is very easy to use, and puts out clean strong sound with just its built-in amp. I also got it because it offers iPod control, with the KCA-420i iPod adapter. It's a small box that connects to the CD changer port, that you can see it under the dash. I ran the cable from this box along the tranny hump, under the housing for the shifter, and through the opening for the emergency brake. And what do you know, right next to the e-brake is a flat empty area that's perfect for my iPod mini to sit in. I made a holder for the iPod from the belt clip it came with, just by snapping off the clip, Dremeling down the plastic that was left, and sticking it to the console with strong double sided tape. Then the cable runs right from the iPod, down into the e-brake hole. It's real professional looking.
The Alpine deck offers full control of the iPod, allowing me to flip through albums, artists, or playlists, and displaying all the info on its screen. If you have to be a 3G enthusiast that's also got an iPod, IHMO this is the best way to go.
Next you probably noticed my LED light tubes. They aren't bright enough to be distracting, they just cast a nice soft glow, that creates a cool ambience for night driving. They are somewhat purple in color, and actually cast UV light, like black lights. You may notice what I got in the cigarette socket is also glowing, because the clear plastic used for its holder is UV reactive. This device is a blue LED map light, which is illuminating the center of the floor. This device also has a red LED on the front of it, which stays on while the car is off, so it serves as my "fake car alarm" light. :)
Now, here is the portion which some of you may actually find useful, how to hook up some extra illumination like I did. The best place to tap into the power for this is the ashtray light. When you tap into this, your lights will go on and off with the rest of the lights, when you turn your headlights or parking lights on and off. The nice thing about this wiring is that you can do it without tearing any of the dash itself apart.
First, slide out the ashtray, by pulling it all the way out, then pushing the spring loaded top part down. Then, look under the dash, and you'll see the ashtray light is mounted in a metal piece held to the dash with 3 screws. Undo these 3 screws, take the metal piece out, then you can get to the light. Now, you could just cut off this light, and connect your lights right to this lead, but I prefer leaving the light there. The more lights, the merrier. :) You'll notice there is this flexible fabric material around the wire to this light, I believe this is some kind of heat protection, I guess to keep your hot cigs in the ashtray from melting the wire, but since I don't smoke I'm not going to worry about it. I snipped most of it off to get at the wire. Then, I got these "tap splices" from the hardware store. These are the red ones, for 18-22 AWG wire. What they allow you do to is just snap them around a wire to add another wire to the connection, without having to do any cutting or soldering. I added a pair of wires to the ashtray light, which I then ran to connect my LED lights to. Leave some slack in the wire, so you could add more lights later!
Let me know what you think.