[RWADE434]

Hey just wanted to share my Thursday night project, we all know the metra dash kit is a terrible idea and there is no other way to have navigation in a spot where you dont have to take your eyes off the road unless its factory or hanging on a suction cup on your windshield. Well with a couple hours of work and basic supplies I came up with an option. I started with a tomtom go 730. First I removed the top center dash pad where the a/c vents are.

Here is a picture of the home dock for the tomtom

So first i started by cutting out the space where the dock would be mounted
and after I had it positioned two tubes of quick steel set it in place perfectly. I used the left over quick steel to form a ridge around the unit covering any spaces and making it look molded and flush into the dash

Next step was to sand down the quick steel (which I will probably be re doing at another time to make it perfect.

Next up is paint, at 10 pm on a Thursday night paint selection was not stellar. I picked up a can of low gloss black engine enamel (figuring it would go best on the quick steel base) I have said it once and I'll say it again, tape, tape, tape. Use as much tape as you can to prevent over spray. I taped and put the top dash piece in a t shirt just to make sure everything was covered.

Next up, the exciting part, waiting for paint to dry!!!

As always make sure you have all the proper tools for the job

I was happy with how the paint came out, wish i had sanded a little more but hey nothing is ever perfect the first time around right?

As far as the wiring goes I purchased a cigarette lighter that I hard wired in to plug in the unit as it has a regulator built in to the plug. Only snag was the home base which I molded in comes pre-made with a usb cable. So next up I spliced the usb cable into the car charger that came with the unit. Very cut and dry, 4 wires on usb cable, 3 on charger, use red, green, and white cable and just tape off the green wire from the usb side. So here is a pic of the top dash installed!

The tomtom unit unlike my last does not power up when it senses voltage which I am trying to find a way around but it does power down 10 seconds after losing power which is nice.

Next for a finishing touches I downloaded the original Honda navigation splash screen.

So here is the finished result

 

[rafael73]

nice

 

[Milan]

Good effort!

 

[03exl]

I didn't know there was a way to replace the splash screen. Is this something that anybody can do? Is it just a matter of replacing a file? I have a Magellan, so the process might be different, or altogether impossible. Thanks!

 

[A&Fbro28]

That is nice but don't you think u should have angled it to be more bias'd to the driver? It's clean either way. Not being critical at ALL. Great work.

 

[RWADE434]

you can usually change any splash screen on any gps, its usually saved as splash.bmp, you just have to make sure the one your uploading is sized correctly

 

[lebomb]

Great effort............but the quality of finish? aranoid:

 

[RWADE434]

Great effort............but the quality of finish? aranoid:

Well I dont think it came out terrible for now but i am going to sand it down again and see what i can find for paint that matches a little closer. This was a 3 hour experiment and not fully prepared but this is just a rough draft.

 

[lebomb]

Well I dont think it came out terrible for now but i am going to sand it down again and see what i can find for paint that matches a little closer. This was a 3 hour experiment and not fully prepared but this is just a rough draft.

Its just the ridge around the opening. If you can smooth it down a bit. :thmsup:

 

[daenosx]

PIMP man good job....wish I could do it on my 8th Gen but dont have space

 

[Joe818]

dude i think it looks awesome ... i cant tell you how long i have been sitting with my friends trying to figure out a way to get a navi in this car ... also i think if you could of you should of tilted it to the drivers side. all in all sexy the bitch part is the detail good luck let me know what paint and how you get it to match just in case for future interior dash work

 

[RWADE434]

well i work for a salvage yard and of pleanty of those covers kicking around so maybe ill configure another. But the paint from advance was not too far off, i mean obviously not perfect but not bad. To anyone that does this just make sure you make the mount deep enough so the tomtom logo does not show, ( had to re do mine )

 

[warz2k4]

it looks awesome..but...can't anyone just break into your car, and rip that GPS out of your car?

 

[Accordriver]

it looks awesome..but...can't anyone just break into your car, and rip that GPS out of your car?

Well yeah if you have it docked, but if you look you can still take the GPS unit out if you want.

 

[RWADE434]

The goal here was to get something that wasnt hanging on my windshield that looked nice and that i could tuck away without having to unplug anything. It sits perfectly secure in the dock, no vibrations. And not very noticeable when its out to make someone break into your car and look for a gps

 

[evident]

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Portab...Navigators/dp/B000LRMS66/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1244836633&sr=8-1

this is whwat i use for my GPS. :dunno:

 

[MRROLO150]

I like it a lot man !! Props..

 

[listen to remix]

I would be proud of that install! The sanding and molding could have been a lot cleaner, but when the GPS is inside, it looks beautiful.

 

[ilikemyhonda]

mad prop to OP ... looks like one of those pop up nav screen like the one in infinity g35..

 

[Journey]

Nice job,

For a first time job, it looks very good.

Did you put anything under it to reinforce the stand so it does not fall out due to the dash expanding or contracting with the weater?