Here is the new Pioneer Avic-X920BT installed in my 00 Platinum with high quality pictures as promised (not the horrible cell phone pics or no pics at all posts we are all used to on this forum lol;-)) The install went smoothly and the unit is excellent. Very responsive touchscreen, very quick response time, and best of all unit start time is literally under 5 seconds. I am pretty impressed with how it looks as is. I thought it would look awkward without the wood in that area but so far im diggin it as is. I already ordered wood to make a trim plate but I might just scrape that whole plan and leave it as is. Here are some pics I just took tonight. Enjoy!

James

 

Looking good... like it belongs there. IMO I like trim... (pause) but it looks real clean as-is. The lit up buttons/soft keys/LEDs on the left side of the unit show up nice in low light or even night time.

How is the unit secured to the dash beneath the molding?

 

Looks good! How much did it all run you if you don't mind my asking, and any background noise?

 

Thats f'in clean! Looks very good.

I'm getting tired of our flip out in our ES. Your making me want to up grade. The ES is the only car we don't have double din navi in, and I think YOU just made me change that!

 

I wanted to post some pics of the progress of my wood trim panel. The good news is I am impressed with how it looks even without the wood and just the black double din kit so even if this doesnt work out I will just scrape the idea and leave it as is.

I received the bird's eye maple veneer sheets yesterday and its basically an exact match for the OEM bird's eye maple so I was pleasantly surprised to see that. The other good thing is its very thin and easy to work with so cutting this stuff is simple with scissors or an exacto knife. I spent the morning making templates and cutting my first piece. I test fit it and it fits like a glove. I will be attaching this veneer sheet to a thin piece of plastic for rigidity then mounting that to the dash kit. After that really all I need to do is stain it and put a lot of clear coat on it to match the rest of the OEM wood. So far this is lookin pretty good. I have a lot of this wood over 20 sheets of it. If it turns out I would be more than happy to make more for people if there would be a demand.

Here are some pics I took so far.

 

Great work James!

All these Navi threads make me want to get one too! Maybe time to upgrade the speakers?!?

Btw, did you maybe try to get a vinyl overlay prior to going the real-wood route? I know they sell them in sheets as there was one member selling the black wood on here a while back.

In either case, can't wait to see it!

Cheers,
Mike

 

No I didnt really think of that because I didnt know they sell them in sheets. Had I known I would have looked into that more and seen if I could find the exact wood pattern and stain. I will do some searching and see what I can come up with.

James

Well after a quick search on ebay I found this. Its an 18x12 sheet of vinyl maple adhesive backed film. That picture shows to be a pretty damn close match in wood texture and color to the OEM wood. Since its so cheap I might as well buy that to and make multiple plates and whichever turns out best I will use. I like that because I dont have to worry about staining and clearning it. It even says high gloss so who knows this could be a very close match to the color, texture, and glossy finish of the OEM wood. I will buy it now and let you all know when it arrives.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

Do you have a list of everything I would need to do this, and possibly have a link to a diy? It looks fantastic. How much did everything come out to?

 

Looks good James. The only concern I had with doing a thin sheet was if it warped or cracked from the heat and sun. A good coating of stains and polyurethane should help prevent that though.

Mine should be done this weekend too. Should be interesting to compare how ours came out. What're you using for stain? I found Miniwax (225 Red cherry I think) to be the closest match.

 

I will be mounting the wood sheet on a thin layer of plastic to help with rigidity so that won't be an issue. As for stain I plan on going to a local paint shop where they actually hand match the stain for me. So I will go there with an actual interior piece for them to match to. Then I will also tell them it needs a thick layer of clear just like the originals as well and see what they recommend.

 

The fitment is insane... I can't wait to see the final result.

 

You think youll ever put a diy <3

 

Just wanted to give everyone an update on the progress on my custom double din wood trim plate bezels. Its taking a lot longer than I thought to match the stains. Multiple coats, dry time, sanding, clear coat etc etc. I made multiple plates using different types of stains. Sorry I dont have a picture of any of the OEM wood to reference but I will say they are turning out VERY nicely. Neither of these have been clear coated yet so when I am done its going to like glass, however I am currently still trying to get the finish as close as possible to original (I am very picky!)

In these pictures you see the first plate I made which is the dark one. The color is very close to OEM however it turned out just a hair too red so I started a second plate using different stains that I purchased. That plate is still very light in color since it only has one coat of stain on it. It will eventually become much darker. Anyway, here they are as you can see these bird's eye maple sheets are basically dead on to the original.

Check back later for more updates.

James

 

Its looking beautiful as always coming from you. Always an excellent job!!

 

Lookin good James, gonna add a nice touch to your Avic.