Loud & Low 8th Gen Civic - Time to say good bye to her.

[scooter99]

Thanks guys.

Yeah Adam, like right down to the 1/16th of an inch width wise. Would've been a biotch had the light been any smaller.

I think in looking at it, btw party number one is done and party number two is in a little more than 4 hours, but looking at it, the inside of that is going to be a pain to sand down well. It's going to have to be ALL hand sanding I believe and it's going to be tedious and suck! But when it's done, I think it's going to be bad ass!

Now I have to think about switching, and lights. I'm a little hesitant to put the other fixture in and cut another hole in the ceiling. So I may put the sunroof switch in right at the opposite side of face plate. I'll go take a look at things and let you all know what I think. Also have to think about lights, and I think I can get some small LED lights to take care of that and get it all in this thing. I'm a bit worried about glare on the head unit though if I do put it in there. So we'll see what I can do. Suggestions are welcome guys! Thanks!

[Trey_Dog650]

Some damn good ideas and I can't wait to see them!

Also wanted to let you know I got the tweets. Holy shit. Biggest tweets ever. Bigger than my

Mids. Heavy as fuuuuu!!!!

[HatersGonnaHate]

If you can do a little in car mock up so I can see what you're talking about with switches and lights and all that good stuff, it'll be easier for me to throw out ideas. LED's are the way to go though. They are space savers compared to standard bulbs, they're bright as hell, and last long as well.

[scooter99]

Sorry man, been busy all weekend. I actually am going to just use led strips to do the lights. I saved the two light holders from the unit from when I got it. I could use those, or one of those, I have enough room. But there wouldn't be any way to defuse it unless I put some kind of plexi in there some how. I'll think on it more when I'm not so tired. I'm also working on some other stuff too.

Going to order up some parts and get things testing!

Right now, I'm off to bed! LIke I said, LONNNNGGGGG weekend!

[scooter99]

Ok so I tried to do a few things last night and it just wasn't my night. On top of being sick, we went out and got a christmas tree. But then when we got home and the wife started dinner while I started my daughters baths, I was able to sneak out thinking I could do a couple things here and there, while all that went on.

So I last left off with this,

Last night i trimmed it up a little bit and started sanding the upper transition. Remember this is the main portion that I was worried about looking good and getting pretty much finished before I get the front put on.

Came out pretty smooth. I picked up some body filler at Depot while we were out, and I'll get that on there and smoothed out and completed, with exception of the paint. Then I can put the outer frame on, and then start finishing it all together.

So I needed to make sure that the tablet still fit in there ok. Looks damn good, I think!

This is about as far down as I could get it, but I'm perfectly ok with this. I think when it's done, it'll look very good and not stick out like a sore thumb! I can see it in my head, I just have to show you guys in the physical!

As you could see from that last picture I need to trim up all the edges, and get those squared away so I can start the finishing process.

I've been working via one of those yellow shop lights outside, and I left it on and came in side to get all this tapped up and ready to trim.

So the top of the blue tape on the bottom, is the line I'm going to cut with the dremel. This will give me a definitive line to smooth from and not ruin the raised areas for the HVAC controls.

Then the outside, left, of this tape line, is where the dash over the steering wheel ties into this dash piece . So I have to get it nice and straight and square so it sits in there smooth and nice!

HOWEVER, when I went back outside to trim this up, the light was dead! That was the third one that's gone out now. SO, now I have to go and get replacements tonight. Why am I doing this outside you ask? Well cause I don't want fiberglass dust all over everything. So I was trying to do it out there to keep things clean. So I'll get the light replacements tonight, and get them back in and get back to work.

If I don't work on that, I may work on getting the face plate extension tested, before I get too much further with the mount on it. Cause if it won't work, I have a new idea for it!

I did get another part yesterday btw. I got a new center console piece that will, at this point, house my volt meters, temp meters, and switches. If I can get it to fit, I'll do the head unit brain as well, but I think I'm going to be limited on space behind it. But, we'll see!!

I CANNOT WAIT, to get in my new house and in my new shop! It's going to be so nice! I'm going to put a shit ton of lights in there so I have plenty of light to work with!

So that's all for now! More tonight I hope!

[scooter99]

Ok so I got the lights fixed tonight and got a couple little things done on the tablet build.

First I taped up the connector. If I get anything in that, might as well scrap the whole deal! So that has to be protected!

Next I trimmed off everything I was going to do last night.

Sanded the plastic of the dock.

And did a quick sand job on the resin etc.

Time to do some filling. Some of the spots I wanted to get filled before the face frame goes on are the gaps between the dock and the back panel, and the back panel and the dash bezel on top. Then also there's a big dip on the left side upper and side that I wanted to get some filler on. But I wanted to do all this and get it finished so that I could not have to fight it after the face panel goes on.

So, filler, spreaders, putty knife, gloves, and an old cutting board for mixing. Here we go!

Left side

Now then, the bottom needs sanding as well, to blend it in, and smooth down where I cut the line at. But that will all wait until I'm ready for the face frame. More tomorrow I hope! Thanks for checking in!

[Brettward]

Damn this is gunna loook soo sick! Stoked to see what it turns out like

[IBleedMusick]

NOICE!!!!

[scooter99]

I wish I had more than just a limited amount of time each night! I think you'll start seeing more better progress coming up!

[scooter99]

I hit a HUGE snag tonight with the face plate project. The problem is, basically, I have no room to solder these wires on the brain part of the unit.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about,

this is the front of the plug

That this, the board on the rear of the black front panel of the cage, plugs into.

this is the back of the first plug I showed you, see all the pins.

Now, to give you an idea of the size of these things, here a shot with the wire next to them. This is CAT 5 wire btw (orange on the left).

This is the Cat 5 wire and my soldering iron tip next to them

And for those of you saying, flip it over and solder to the back side of the board, this is what that looks like

Those solder blobs about a half inch up front the edge of the board, is where the pins are, but they are not where all the blobs are. It doesn't mesh up or match. I can't quite figure it out.

So I'm pissed, frustrated, irritated, tired, and wanna throw something right now.

My thought at this point is this. If I can get a doaner unit, just the brain part is fine, and can get that board off the front black panel with the plug on it, I can solder to those joints. Then I can plug into the unit, and run the wires up to the face plate. Sounds complicated but it's really not. I just need a doaner unit to get the plate. Pac Parts doesn't sell this piece I need.

My other option is finding a new solder tip that will be like needle point. I don't know how to solder that well so that could be an issue trying to do these small tabs.

My last option, is to just scrap it and go to a different method of volume control, I already had planned out, or use this and not do the ceiling mount. I'm really pissed cause I really want to do that. Time to back away and let it be for tonight.

Anyone have any suggestions, I'm all ears!