okay guys well there have been numerous threads posted by me regarding all the problems i've had with my new Valor 301 ITS d head unit. but, after about a weeks worth of work, nights in the teen degree temperatures in the car, getting frustrated, losing screws in the dashboard, dead batteries, and a WORLD of other problems, it is now done. here is the complete story of my single DIN install in the SC.

this was xmas morning.


this was the first problem i encountered. i had to order an install kit since i searched around and NOBODY had one in stock that fit the SC.
in fact, i believe this is the only kit for an SC single DIN am i right? anyways, the Metra Kit was too SMALL to fit the new head unit. the front frame was not wide enough by about 1/8th of an inch.

the remedy for this at this point i thought would be to chop off the sides of the kit and use the bottom and top individually.

here starts the install, keep in mind this is 9 at night and its BITTERLY cold out. i'm impulsive and had to do it asap though.

oh and yes i am aware that my climate control is shot. it makes me

this was deep into the installation process. everything was gone, and we had massive problems with dropping screws and such and then my key was being stubborn and not coming out of the ignition. i made a thread about that and it turned out that even tho the gauge cluster said it was in park, it needed to be jammed harder in and the key let go. we re-connected everything back to stock to see if the car was mad at us for that or not before thinking of the park release...anyways, i'm only 19 and my buddy here is 18 so we were quite scared when we saw the mass of wires and jungle inside the dash of an SC. here you go,


now, a couple days later when we realized we NEEDED the aftermarket wiring harness, we decided to go at it again. in the cold. this is a picture of my buddy using a saw for PVC pipe to chop up and be destructive in the modding of the metra install kit.


at this point we had the entire dash and center console apart, i found 30 cents at the bottom of the transmission area , and we encountered the shifter problem. nothing i did could get the shifter to disengage the lock and switch gears from N to P. the button would only go halfway down with the key on ACC...so i decided to try starting the car, and it started up, the shifter moved right into park no problem. weird...anyways, i'm really frustrated that i snapped a little piece of the shifter off. the tan square sleeve that you slide down to access the 2 screws, got a chip taken out of the top left corner... i'll be in the market for one of those, shouldn't be too expensive off a totalled SC or something.


this was our final creation. we took out the climate and everything and took it inside to try to construct this custom dash. this is how it came out, the head unit had its own frame, so thats why it was too wide for the install kit. heres how it looks


here is the back of the head unit and the crimping we did to the wires. as you can see it has many features. has iPod integration, external mic for bluetooth, back up camera, video outs and ins, so my xbox 360 could go in the car with me


and, we have all been waiting for it! here it is! all in there and fully functional! it fits like a glove, you can't even tell we did a custom cut job, and its bolted in there tightly! the iPod is routed directly to the pocket in there for easy access, the iPod is controlled on the screen or via remote so no need to touch the iPod at all. i'll probly grab a rubber square mat to put in there so my cell phone won't slip around on the plastic. the sound is incredibly clear, tight, no rattles, and crisp. however theres one BIG problem which will be explained later in the thread. heres the finished product

here are the previews to the movie flight of the phoenix. did i say movie? yep i did. its a fully functional home theater system with DVD capabilities.
the surround sound in the car is incredible for movies.

here is where i mounted the external mic for the bluetooth hands free calling and answering program. it had about 6 feet of wire to put it anywhere, but the clip was so small that it couldn't clip to the top of the sun visor. anyways, this spot will do. it should hear my voice fine. the callers voice will be projected through the speakers of the car and i can just drive like normal but have a phone conversation.


and the finale, here is what happens when you have an SC off the road since august for college, and you have too much fun with your new audio system that took a week to install.


now, that BIG problem i mentioned earlier, is that the factory sub doesn't work with the head unit. there was no way to connect the sub, and i'm not sure how or if its possible to do it without going the hard way.
i guess this gives me good reason to buy a new, more powerful amp and power the sub like that. the new head unit has an RCA output to a sub, but the factory sub has its own amp i think and connected to the stock nak through a bajillion wires and one of the 4 harnesses...so this route might be out the door. time for a new amp and more bass poundage!

well ladies and gentleman, i hope you enjoyed my write up on this project. i'm thrilled its complete and glad i can sit inside and relax now instead of get frustrated in the cold. please let me know all your thoughts and opinions! thanks again

Derek

 

sweet dam I gotta do that to mine lol

 

ok you see were the mic is for the bluetooth, dont leave it rite there, put it in the lil box with the lines through it, rite there by the ignition.

 

Looks good! But gah no bass!

 

i know parker i know...= (

and clean thats a great idea thank you!

 

Install an amp and sub and you'll be golden.

 

or just bring out the potential of the Nak sub with a new amp?

 

my stock sub stopped working when i got my headunit installed.i believe its because of the bypass..

 

Sticks out a wee bit don'tcha think? Mount the cage for the radio in the back of the kit with hot glue, epoxy, whatever.... flush the head unit in with a dremel.

 

you can wire up the stock sub by using these instructions
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...b-working.html
the sub wont be loud but it brings back a little thump

 

Or use this link to rewire everything in the rear or to be able to tap into the original factory wiring. No more guesses. Good luck!

http://www.lextreme.com/misc.htm

 

do you remember what aftermarket wiring harness you used?

 

Here is a link to that wiring harness. This is the one I used: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product.

 

Looks awesome Derek... I want to see more mods on this one than your BMW hehehehee

 

I want to see how your new BMW turns out. The SC was sick so I'd expect the BMW to be just as good.