Thought I would put a few pics up of my new head unit installed.
Is a pure Android based 1024X600 quad core running Android 4.4.4. The dash needed to be hacked out pretty good to fit the hieght and a little off the manual air diverter mech. And to get it to fit for depth I angled the faceplate on the head unit chassis a bit. Given how much room is behind the center gauge I would have opted to angle more and cut less of the control. But everything works as it should and stereo fits nice and flush to the rest of the controls.




And a few pics of what's inside and how much I angled the face, I could have went much further on it very easy since there's not much in there.

 

Nice job! Looks clean and flush against the downtubes. Is that the Joying GPS model?

 

Thanks, yeah it sits pretty much exactly where the stock head unit sits.

It's this guy here, I got my wife to get that one since it states it will connect to the OBD2 port, has all the features the others have plus Quad core and 1024X600 screen. It's a really nice display and plays HD movies etc (if your into that) without any issues at all. She got it for $250

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quad-Core-HD...-/331542562427

 

Absolutely fantastic, Fin! I had no idea something like this was possible in the Gen 1s. What part(s) of the dash did you end up cutting away?

 

Yah, as a guy with a flip out double din, I gotta say this is awesome.

I think.... Did you lower the other controls? It looks so natural, yet - I know the double din at stock location covers at least 2-3" of the cluster.

 

Thanks. This is kind of extreme but it worked well. Once you get the stereo, and lower controls out as well as the center gauge there is a top self that separates the head unit from the gauge. I cut that out completely, then I cut the bottom section of the control panel off just above the bottom of the head unit bottom mount. After that it's just making a mount for the sides to drop it down, I had to dop it 1.5" and used 1/8" aluminum angle. Still very sturdy and gave plenty of room once I cut the one leg of the manual air diverter mount, also a few other pieces off the air box that were used to stop the stock head unit from moving. If I had of known I could get away with a larger angle on the head unit I would have most likely left the air diverter alone. The head unit wasn't here until after I had started making room .
This is the only pic I have of in progress, it was just a rough in to see where everything was going to end up and if I had dropped the controls far enough.




Yep 1.5" is what I had to drop them, limits the cup holder space now but they are pretty much useless anyway.

 

Tell you what, if I hadn't already done my H/K swap-out for a Pioneer single-din HU, I'd be all over this. I did a ton of research, including pop-out screens, but I never considered double-din; that it would even fit. I was jealous that other car owners were able to fabricate their Nexus 7s into a functioning in-car screen. I even rooted mine with Timur's kernel for that capability (which I don't use, but I do use the Torque 2 app).

I see that you moved the controls and switches to get it done. I love me some metal-cutting fabrication, especially when it comes out so nice.

Respect!

 

Another Nexus 7 user! If you don't mind it mounted off to the side, a $20 Arkon mount with the swivel and you can run it along the passenger side downtube, and then add all the necessary hardware to connect it to the current headunit.

I think the N7 might be a bit too wide to mount it within the tubes, I've seen a few that mount it right on it though.

 

Yeah, I didn't mean to say that I was trying to get the N7 to mount in that hole, only that others had done it in other vehicles. My research in rooting the N7 is how I discovered that people were using the tablet as an entertainment control source. I'm still a little fascinated by that.

I might have done the pop-out screen thing if the screen wouldn't block the fuel and temp center gauges. And I won't lie: last night I checked online prices and reviews on Fin's "Joying" Android HU. Even though I just finished my Pioneer install and am pretty happy with it, I'm reeeeeeealy tempted to do this mod...

 

Oh, I've thought about what it would take to mount in that spot.

The "Joying" headunit, or least that style has definitely gotten better over the last few years and now with Android Auto becoming an option, it's definitely interesting to see what works best.

Back to Finhead's clean double-din install!

 

That's the reason I went with the double din, couldn't see driving with a screen covering half my gauges.
It's actually pretty cool to use, has the same functions as any Android device and no hacking anything besides the HU chassis. It even chimes in when I get new emails (downloads auto) when it connects to Wifi, I don't have hotspoting active since in Canada we get hosed on data big time.

 

That looks good!!! Now I got an idea of what Im going to do with mine...

 

The ebay listing is expired.
Do you have the brand name and model number of this radio?
Would you still recommend it? or would you suggest another.
I'd like something with OBD integration that works.

 

Hi I was wondering if you used a cage to install the unit? Where did you get the face plate for it as I'm planning to install in my R53.