Development study: JDM bezel conversion.

I'm hoping this comes out right before I get my car.

im hoping this comes out before i get sick of my CS and dump my whole system

^ But don't you think that would cut down on the price it would cost them to get stock radios?

I am thinking like a $50-100 rebate or something....

The JDM bezel piece they are working on does not require cores.. the part comes straight from Japan as a "replacement" to your stock radio/HVAC.

Unless I missed something where they would need to bastardize both your stock radio and the JDM piece to make it work?

Lots of ideas on how it will work. One is using both units. Our best idea would be to manufacturer our own bezel (small qty 3d printing or P-CNC'ing), and embed the JDM controller into it. The quality of our bezel will be identical to the factory. We would paint them inhouse though, to avoid paint errors. All of this still depends on the cracking of the JDM setup... which is still in process .

Our goal would be to provide a full kit, no core needed. You can then sell your stocker on eBay for $100 and use it towards our kit. Or keep it and install it in the garage for some tunes.

No updates of yet. Will be posted when there is.

Thanks everyone,

The folks @ HCA

Lots of ideas on how it will work. One is using both units. Our best idea would be to manufacturer our own bezel (small qty 3d printing or P-CNC'ing), and embed the JDM controller into it. The quality of our bezel will be identical to the factory. We would paint them inhouse though, to avoid paint errors. All of this still depends on the cracking of the JDM setup... which is still in process .

 

Our goal would be to provide a full kit, no core needed. You can then sell your stocker on eBay for $100 and use it towards our kit. Or keep it and install it in the garage for some tunes.

 

No updates of yet. Will be posted when there is.

 

Thanks everyone,

 

The folks @ HCA

Rich - please also consider my previous request. For those of us who already have navi, perhaps you can rig up a new nav bezel to accommodate the replacement screens offered through Kenwood, that way we can gain access to more features (get rid of the push buttons on the nav currently).

tdogg - Was already considered. Let me know what kind of screen and when you want it done. Only a week or so wait for that mod. Do it now, or do it later. Same price either way.

Thanks,

Rich @ HCA

eek! It was already down to page 4 lol

How is everything for this project?

Highline, I am completely new to this discussion, and am fairly

deeply confused, and a moron at heart. Could you (or someone)

please take the time to explain more clearly, minimizing the

jargon and abbreviations ?

Here's what I understand ... The 2006 2.5i Limited (that I'm soon

to buy) has the "automatic" climate controls, meaning there are

separate knobs to control temp for driver and passenger. If I pull

the "radio" out, it's actually climate controls and radio plus CD

changer all integrated into one massive cluster-f*ck of a unit. So

there's no way to put a standard DIN head unit in. (I gather this

is the same as the Legacy GT usually discussed here).

Hoping I'm clear so far ... Put simply, you modify the thing so that

I can put a single- or double-DIN radio of my choice in, and the

climate controls still work, and the thing looks great. How

exactly do you do this ?

What is all this talk about a "core" ? I thought the whole point was

to be able to put ANY DIN radio in ?!?

How is the whole procedure done, and what is the price ? I pull

out the whole stereo/HVAC unit and send it to you ? You simply

fab something and send it to me, and then send you the unit I pull

out of my car (perhaps this is the "core" being discussed) ?

Sorry to be dense. Might be worth putting up a FAQ for folks like me.

Thanks.

If you're buying 2.5i and NOT a 2.5 GT, you're all set and have no need of this mod. You can just buy a dash kit and install the aftermarket deck of your choice. Your model does not have automatic climate controls, instead it has manual controls.

Not true. He said he has a Limited, same HVAC as GT/XT.

Highline, I am completely new to this discussion, and am fairly

deeply confused, and a moron at heart. Could you (or someone)

please take the time to explain more clearly, minimizing the

jargon and abbreviations ?

 

Here's what I understand ... The 2006 2.5i Limited (that I'm soon

to buy) has the "automatic" climate controls, meaning there are

separate knobs to control temp for driver and passenger. If I pull

the "radio" out, it's actually climate controls and radio plus CD

changer all integrated into one massive cluster-f*ck of a unit. So

there's no way to put a standard DIN head unit in. (I gather this

is the same as the Legacy GT usually discussed here).

 

Hoping I'm clear so far ... Put simply, you modify the thing so that

I can put a single- or double-DIN radio of my choice in, and the

climate controls still work, and the thing looks great. How

exactly do you do this ?

 

What is all this talk about a "core" ? I thought the whole point was

to be able to put ANY DIN radio in ?!?

 

How is the whole procedure done, and what is the price ? I pull

out the whole stereo/HVAC unit and send it to you ? You simply

fab something and send it to me, and then send you the unit I pull

out of my car (perhaps this is the "core" being discussed) ?

 

Sorry to be dense. Might be worth putting up a FAQ for folks like me.

Thanks.

John,

don't worry, we ALL had to start somewhere, some sooner than others and no one should be punished for it, just IMHO.

like easton said, you have the same pricidimate that all of us GT owners find ourselves in when wanting to get a aftermarket Head Unit. The Controls route and have some cercitry in the radio itself for the automatic control.

There are options for most, you can get mounting kits to mount a single din above the clock. but for LGT's like mine with the STI guage pack, it is just not possible.

You have it right, the "core" is the core exchange, which HCA has hinted to possibly not needing to do in this thread.

As for price, they haven't said anything about it yet, but it will not likely be cheep. The part they are getting from Japan to do this normally runs ~$300, + r&d + fabrication. Unless Japanparts.com gives them a smashing deal on a lot of them, I wouldn't expect to see them for at least $400 or more.

As for price, they haven't said anything about it yet, but it will not likely be cheep. The part they are getting from Japan to do this normally runs ~$300, + r&d + fabrication. Unless Japanparts.com gives them a smashing deal on a lot of them, I wouldn't expect to see them for at least $400 or more.

I called, and was quoted $950. That's just too much. I guess I'll get

an old iPod (not into walking around with headphones anyhow) and

use FM modulator. I've heard good things about this one:

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=390447

At least I won't have to burn and carry around a bunch of CDs (with MP3s

burned onto them).