Well, it took a couple of weeks, and I still need to re-do part of it, but I have installed my V1 radar detector.

The first thing that I needed was a bracket.
I decided to use a LoBoy from Pro Fit International (http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/loboy/)

I then took the V1 visor mount, removed the metal clip, and sanded off all the rough parts from the top.


I then used epoxy to mount this to the LoBoy swivel mount.
http://www.nickandang.com/V1/V1Installation02.jpg



This is what the V1 looks like mounted inside the car.
Driver's view:

Rear View:


I have also installed the remote audio controls:


I have installed the remote display inside the "this is not an ashtray" compartment next to the power adapter:


I will post more later on the wiring to make all of this work.

-=Nick=-

EDIT: Keywords for searching.
valentine radar detector hardware hardwire permanent bracket mount

 

Those pics look pretty good. You've utilized space quite well.

If you would be able to share how to wire lines, it would be wonderful.

Thanks.

 

Okay, to cover the wiring VERY quickly...

The wiring starts at the V1.

I removed the center console (with the moonroof button) - thanks to need4spd for sending me the manual.
The cable tucks between the windshield and the ceiling very easily - I cable-tied it to another cable in the center mount so that it would not move too far.

The cable continues across the top of the windshield to the A-pillar in the corner.
I pulled the rubber moulding off around the door and discovered that there was a nice gap in there you can run a cable down. I'm a little concerned with the way that the cable crosses the air bag, and I'll probably re-do it so that it runs underneath.
Anyway, the cable runs down the A-pillar and behind the dash.

The bottom of the dash (with the VSA switch) is easy to pull off. (There's one screw underneath near the center console.)
The cable continues down behind the dash, where it gets cable-tied again, and then plugs into the remote volume control.

A new cable then comes out of the remote volume control and into the V1 hardwire bracket. I have the hardwire bracket stuck (with the supplied velcro) to the back of the flat metal panel in the dash. There was lots of space here, and it was easy to do.

The last cable goes from the hardwire kit, under the steering column (more cable ties to tie the cable to existing cable bundles) and into the center console.
I took the center console apart, and drilled a hold in the back of the bottom ash-tray. I installed a rubber gromet in the hold, and then fed the cable through. The cable then plugs into the remote display, which is stuck to the rubber mat using velcro.

I used one 25' black telephone cable for the entire project and crimped my own telephone ends onto the cable.

Pulling the various panels in the car off was fairly easy, and I was very impressed that all the electrical connectors were very easy to remove, and they all had a locking clip to keep them in place.

I will try to document more later; I need to re-do the remote audio controls, but that is a complete b!tch to play with.

-=Nick=-

 

Looks nice, it now gives me some incentive to do the same.

 

The install looks great! Did you have any reservations mounting it inside the tint strip? I've heard that reduces the chances of laser alerts...

It Looks great! Any way I can pay you to do mine?

 

Hey Satman - thanks.
The sticky circular part is attached to the shaded area behind the rear view mirror. The detector itself is just below the tint strip which you can see from the picture with the brake light in it.

There are plenty of ways that you can pay me to do yours. But I wouldn't recommend it as I'm VERY espensive.
I'd be more than willing to help, advise, etc. - just for a slice of pizza.

(Feel free to PM me if you want to ask any direct questions.)

-=Nick=-

 

Dam, far trip to NC, but come on. I'll even buy a whole pizza. Oh, I need the new TL also.

 

Nick,

Great job on the V1 install! I look forward to replicating it in my TL. Whenever you have more time to post detailed info on the wiring scheme I would greatly appreciate hearing more. I have a few questions, if you don't mind...

Should I order the service manual to assist in dismantling the trim pieces necessary to do the job? How difficult was it to take apart the center console? I've done this on our MDX and Accords we've owned before and it wasn't too difficult.

Do you think it would be feasible to mount the remote display on top of the steering wheel column? It looks like there'd be adequate space to mount it there without obscuring the view to the gauges. Mounting the remote in that spot might be difficult, however, as the portion behind the steering wheel is curved. I had the remote display mounted similarly in my 330i and it worked great. Never had to take my eyes off the road to monitor the remote display. With the way you did it, mounted next to the 12V DC outlet in the center console, it looks like you'd have to look down to see the display, briefly taking your eyes off the road. How's it work for you in practice? Your approach does provide a nice clean look, however, and mounting the remote behind the steering wheel would probably look a little kludgy.

Nick, I GREATLY appreciate your efforts here!!! I'm powering my V1 right now with the coiled 12V DC power cord, but this is a temporary solution, at best.

Regards,

Tom

 

Hey Tom, thanks for the kind words.
The manual certainly showed me how to take stuff out cleanly. There are certainly people on this board who would copy a few pages for you, but at ~$80, it's certainly a good inventment. Difficulty was about a 4 out of 10.

Yeah, you can't mount in in the guages because of the curve. However, the steering column between you and the guages is a good spot... I tried to mount it on top of the streering column first. It's really easy to mount it there with the supplied velcro.
However, I could never get the steering wheel adjusted right. I like to be able to see all the guages through the steering wheel, and with the remote in the center of the steering column, it just tended to block the bottom of the center guage which shows things like headlights and cruise control status.

Yeah, don't you hate the fit of the V1 power adapter in the front 12V socket. Acura could have given us a little more room down there...

-=Nick=-

 

Thanks for the info Nick. I checked for the service manual at the publisher's site (helminc.com). Looks like you can order from them for $69. I'll probably order a copy today. Hope this link works (it's really long). If not, go to www.helminc.com and search - it's pretty easy to find:

http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2...ETSE7674NL8XN8

 

Very nice work

 

Nice job.. Here's where I mounted my unit..

 

Here are the pictures of the fuse box that I promised.

Firstly, here is the fusebox cover, which shows that positions #29, #31 & #33 are available locations. #29 & #31 are switched with the ignition.


Here is a picture of the "Add A Circuit" adapter that I used.


And here is a picture of it installed in the fusebox.
(It seemed to work better with both fuses installed.)


Lastly, here is the back of the packaging, in case someone cannot find it in the store.


-=Nick=-

 

I hardwired mine into the sunroof power wire (inside the overhead console). V1 comes with a snap to do this. seems much easier. As long as you do not mind the V1 staying on even when the key is out of the ignition. The detector turns off when you open a door. no big deal for me.

Took ten minutes to hard wire. Mounted next to rearview mirror.

 

Nickpoore

Just wondering if you remove the V1 when you park in a public place? I tend to remove it from the window and hide it when parked in the winter. In the summer I put it in a pelican case and bring it inside because the interior of the car gets so hot.

I'm also curious if you think the tint stripe will reduce laser alerts. I put it under my rear view mirror, but not sure how I'd hard wire it this way (I guess run phone cord around the rear mirror base).

Great install. Like the volume control and stealth/night display installs.

Look forward to the wiring detail.

Doh - Looks like you've already sent the wiring/fuse, etc. Thanks

Outstanding job!

 

Nick,

Did you take out the ash-tray alltogether? I'm just wondering if there's enough room to place the remote device under the ashtray so you can still use the coin holder there.. (I have a 02 TL-S, not sure if the 04 is the same design?)

I'm just thinking it would be nice to open the coin tray to conceal the remote..

Awesome picts though!! Well done.. Anxious to see more!!

 

Hey guys.

The detector is NOT bothered by the tint strip. It is mounted so that the entire detector is below the tint stip. You can see this in my picture that shows the rear brake light.

I very rarely remove my detector. Yes in LA the car gets hot. I only remove it when I'm parked in a dodgey area, but usually I just forget about it.

In the 2004 TL there are two ash-trays. The top one is deeper. The bottom one is less deep, has a power port, and a rubber mat.
I decided to mount in the bottom one as I would be wasting less space. I do not know if they are removeable (well, ANYTHING is removeable when you have a dremel...)
My solution was to simply put velcro stuff on the rubber mat and mount the remote to the mat. Oh, I did take apart about half the dash to get access to the rear of the ash-tray, and simply drilled a hole in the rear corner of the ash tray to feed the cable through.
As to a coin holder - the 2004 does not have one that goes here; however the 2004 does have flip-doors on the front, and I can close the door to hide the display.

-=Nick=-

 

Excellent!!! One more thing, did the volume control come with the remote display for the V1 or was it seperate from the V1 shipping?

 

The volume control was ripped from the Remote Audio control - which is a sperate unit that Valentine sell.
It was a complete b!tch to setup and I have to re-do it. I will probably start a new post when I re-do it, and will have more pictures.
(Can you tell I like photography?)

-=Nick=-

 

Nickpoore,

How about the location where you have the volume controle. How did you get behind that? Took apart alot of the dash?

Thanks. Looks awesome. Please do upload more pics if you redo anything. Great job.

 

The volume controls were difficult to do, but VERY easy to access. The panel under the steering wheel which as the VSA/Mirror/Blank switches is the first panel you remove when removing any of the dash stuf.

To remove this panel, just sit in the drivers seat and pull it towards the driver (away from the dash). There is one locking thing on the underneath on the right.
Start pulling on the left hand side.
You will have to remove electrical connectors as you go, but they are pretty easy to remove.

 

Awesome. Thanks

 

FYI, I found the "add a circuit" at AutoZone. It was $6.99 and included some mini fuses as well.

 

Hey.... where did you get the switch for the remote volume control? Also, can you turn off the V1 completely with that same switch?

I want to do the same install, and have the remote display in the ashtray area so I can close it up if I am pulled over by a cop... and I would like to be able to simply turn it off with a seperate switch.

Thanks

 

Hi vikrampatel.
The volume control is the standard V1 remote volume control, which I hacked to pieces.
I later removed it, as it was not working well for me.

With the V1 plugged into an accessory fuse outlet, the V1 automatically turns off when the ignition is off.

Bottom line is that when you are running along, the V1 is completely dark.
If a cop comes up behind you with his radar on, your remote display will light up (hopefully not too late) and the V1 on the windshield will start beeping. However, the V1 on the windshield will not light up, and nobody behind you will be able to see the lights.

If the cop pulls you over and you want to hide it, you can simply close the flap on the ashtray - this will hide the remote display.
When you turn off your ignition, then the V1 goes silent, and the cop will not hear it.

When you turn everything back on, the V1 will light up, as will the remote display. This will be visible from behind, but hopefully you are pulling away by then. If you are ultra paraniod about this, you could turn off the V1, with the pretense of adjusting your rear view mirror.

Lastly, if you really, really, really want the V1 remote audio control, then simply mount it on top of the V1 remote dispaly. The whole dismantling it, and custom mounting it was way too hard, and was just not worth my time.

If you're intersted I have a spare V1 remote audio control, that I was going to dismantle, but never got around to it. I'll be glad to sell it to you; PM me if you are interested.

Thanks.

-=Ncik=-

 

Are the pics working for anyone else. All I see are red "X"s.
thanks

 

Hi RS808,

I get the same broken link stuff you get. It's probably because of the original dates in this thread (Jan). People tend to remove the sources after a few months or so.

Anyone willing to re-post these pics? I just ordered my V1 today and I want to do a custom install as well.

Anyone?

Thanks,

 

Theres a very similar post like this, search and look for it. its got pix in it aswell.

 

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83364

Here u go

 

You da man, Intox - thanks for stepping in.

David

 

Glad to help ! V1 is a great choice for radar detectors. Have fun hardwiring it.

 

I cant see any pictures can someone please provide me with the link to them ?

 

From the 3G Garage:

I-025: DIY: V1 Hardware Install
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68622
https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/new-movie-trailers-check-them-out-83364/
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106550


I-028: DIY: V1 Hardware Install into Gauge
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106799
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111792


I-034: DIY: V1 remote display installation
https://acurazine.com/forums/car-parts-sale-361/fs-adr-valkyries-2-setsonly-m5-replicas-18x7-5-%24490-87747/


I-037: DIY: Valentine 1 Hardwire, remote display + Extra Mute button install
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99523



My thread has some information here: https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...52#post1162452

 

all of these pics are not avaliable to view.... is anybody eles having the same issue??

 

The pics probably are no longer on the server. You can follow this guide here:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83364

or I did one for the RL (not the best) but it is identical to the TL:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...ight=valentine

For the remote display in the guages:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106799
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111792

 

thanks again and again vp911.... Where are you from?

 

Michigan

 

sorry to have brought an ancient thread back to life but for the original poster, you wouldn't happend to have the pictures still available on your install of the V1 would you? Ive searched but the links that I found doesn't even work anymore and the pictures doesn't show up. Thank you