Radar Detector Installed into Speedo Gauge
12-25-2001, 01:00 AM
#1
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Radar Detector Installed into Speedo Gauge
Here is an install I just completed in my car. I thought I would post a picture (see below) to give all other members a suggestion of what you can do to your own cars. The detector is a Whistler 3300. Look closely in the speedo gauge, you will see it - the unit also has a voltage gauge as one of its display options when the detector is not going off - a NiCE feature!! The "C2" that you also see in the display is one of the filter modes, in this case one that elimates all X band readings - cops dont use those guns anymore, in most places, and thats also what causes 90% of all false readings, like when you drive by a bank, or supermarket electronic door opener for example ).
The kit starts out as a "remote" meaning the detector head mounts behind the grill, the laser detector eye comes with a suction cup to mount inside on windshield (it cant mount behind grill because it needs to 'see' in order to work, and road dirt, rain would quickly stop it), and a small control module that has a digital display and switches for on/off, volume, mute, etc, which you are supposed to attach to the dash with velcro.
Now for the project: I disassembled the unit, and carefully mounted the display into an opening i cut in the speedo gauge. This is trickey for a variety of reasons because it will just fit between the '60' and '100' mph markings, but you will have to file down the digital display's circuit board to make it fit. The display is then connected to the under dash module (which you can now stash out of sight behind the dash) with ribbon wire (you can use a spare IDE hard drive cable for this). BIG TIP here, which i learned by trial and error, be SURE to cover the wire with metal foil tape (you can buy it at the home center - they sell it to use on furnace ducts - though this is NOT the same as run of the mill duct tape) as a shielding otherwise your detector will go off everytime you blow the car horn as the wire will pick up the signal coming off the horn data cable.
The radar detector switches have also been remoted to a spot on the dash to the lower left corner of the gauge assembly. This is a great spot I chose after much testing because you can reach it easily with your left hand to hit the 'mute' button for example while driving without taking you eyes off the road. You could probably modify and use the switches that came with the detector, although i used some that i pulled off a non-working Sony home receiver since the color is a perfect match. The unit actually comes with 4 switches but you can see I only used three. This is for two reasons: the fourth switch is a display dimmer that you will never need, and more importantly, despite outward appearances, there is very little space where these switches get mounted, so the 4th switch simply wont fit. Lastly, the speaker is mounted just inside the left air vent. You hear it just fine, and its completely hidden. Note that you will need tons of hot glue for this project! Thats what mounts the different parts inside the dash. Forget using epoxy, its just too messy to use here and the hot glue will hold fine. I did a similar install on a different car 5 years ago and everything held tight. One last thing, the laser eye is mounted with velco to the bottom of the rear view mirror. Just put it as low as possible since the window tinting at the top of the glass will block the 'view' of the eye.
There are a few other tricks you will need to know, like painting all around the display with black paint from an auto touch up bottle with a brush, otherwise the dash lighting will come through around the edges of the display at night.
If all of this sounds a bit complicated, it is, but I though I would share the entirety of the project just in case you wanted to give it a stab.
feel free to PM me with any questions you may have.
The kit starts out as a "remote" meaning the detector head mounts behind the grill, the laser detector eye comes with a suction cup to mount inside on windshield (it cant mount behind grill because it needs to 'see' in order to work, and road dirt, rain would quickly stop it), and a small control module that has a digital display and switches for on/off, volume, mute, etc, which you are supposed to attach to the dash with velcro.
Now for the project: I disassembled the unit, and carefully mounted the display into an opening i cut in the speedo gauge. This is trickey for a variety of reasons because it will just fit between the '60' and '100' mph markings, but you will have to file down the digital display's circuit board to make it fit. The display is then connected to the under dash module (which you can now stash out of sight behind the dash) with ribbon wire (you can use a spare IDE hard drive cable for this). BIG TIP here, which i learned by trial and error, be SURE to cover the wire with metal foil tape (you can buy it at the home center - they sell it to use on furnace ducts - though this is NOT the same as run of the mill duct tape) as a shielding otherwise your detector will go off everytime you blow the car horn as the wire will pick up the signal coming off the horn data cable.
The radar detector switches have also been remoted to a spot on the dash to the lower left corner of the gauge assembly. This is a great spot I chose after much testing because you can reach it easily with your left hand to hit the 'mute' button for example while driving without taking you eyes off the road. You could probably modify and use the switches that came with the detector, although i used some that i pulled off a non-working Sony home receiver since the color is a perfect match. The unit actually comes with 4 switches but you can see I only used three. This is for two reasons: the fourth switch is a display dimmer that you will never need, and more importantly, despite outward appearances, there is very little space where these switches get mounted, so the 4th switch simply wont fit. Lastly, the speaker is mounted just inside the left air vent. You hear it just fine, and its completely hidden. Note that you will need tons of hot glue for this project! Thats what mounts the different parts inside the dash. Forget using epoxy, its just too messy to use here and the hot glue will hold fine. I did a similar install on a different car 5 years ago and everything held tight. One last thing, the laser eye is mounted with velco to the bottom of the rear view mirror. Just put it as low as possible since the window tinting at the top of the glass will block the 'view' of the eye.
There are a few other tricks you will need to know, like painting all around the display with black paint from an auto touch up bottle with a brush, otherwise the dash lighting will come through around the edges of the display at night.
If all of this sounds a bit complicated, it is, but I though I would share the entirety of the project just in case you wanted to give it a stab.
feel free to PM me with any questions you may have.
Last edited by Jonesi; 11-26-2009 at 02:04 PM.
12-25-2001, 09:06 AM
#3
Three Wheelin'
That is so tight OMG I can't breath
How did you color match the buttons?
Did you mount the radar display in between the gauge overlay and the circuit board behind it?
How did you color match the buttons?
Did you mount the radar display in between the gauge overlay and the circuit board behind it?
12-25-2001, 12:46 PM
#4
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
You have to cut through the entire clear plastic of the gauge, you cant just cut out the overlay and mount behind it. The reason for this is because when the dash lights are on the light filters throughout the plastic giving it that even glow that you see from the front. There are really only 2 bulbs behind there. If you were to mount the radar's digital display from behind the clear plastic, the display would get washed out when the lighting is on.
Its actually not very difficult to cut through, just work slowly and take your time. you will need to pull the gauge cluster out, and then remove the speedo gauge. I would suggest separating the overlay from the gauge to work on it. This will require that you pull the needle off (there is a trick is figured out for calibrating it when you have to put ithe needle back on - you have to leave the front clear plastic panel of the cluster off, connect the gauge cluster back into the dash wiring and turn on the ignition. The gauge will zero out when you do that, at which time you push the needle back on at the zero postion. Turn the key back off and take the gauge cluster back out and finish assembling it .)
Back to the cutting out of the guages: the overlay will come off by carefully pelling it back. Its attached with thin double sided film right at the center area where the needle comes through. When putting it back on, i just removed the film and used fresh (you can get 3M brand double sided scotch tape at Staples or OfficeMax). I cut out the plastic by carefully drilling several small holes next to each other, enlargening them with an xacto knife, and filing. I did the same thing for the overlay. you could use a dremel tool for this but as much as i love using mine, i think it would make too much plastic dust and i wanted to keep the gauge as dust free as possible. Filing doesnt make as much of a mess. To finish, I used 1000 & 1500 grit sandpapers at the edges of the overlay to finish the edge.
Its actually not very difficult to cut through, just work slowly and take your time. you will need to pull the gauge cluster out, and then remove the speedo gauge. I would suggest separating the overlay from the gauge to work on it. This will require that you pull the needle off (there is a trick is figured out for calibrating it when you have to put ithe needle back on - you have to leave the front clear plastic panel of the cluster off, connect the gauge cluster back into the dash wiring and turn on the ignition. The gauge will zero out when you do that, at which time you push the needle back on at the zero postion. Turn the key back off and take the gauge cluster back out and finish assembling it .)
Back to the cutting out of the guages: the overlay will come off by carefully pelling it back. Its attached with thin double sided film right at the center area where the needle comes through. When putting it back on, i just removed the film and used fresh (you can get 3M brand double sided scotch tape at Staples or OfficeMax). I cut out the plastic by carefully drilling several small holes next to each other, enlargening them with an xacto knife, and filing. I did the same thing for the overlay. you could use a dremel tool for this but as much as i love using mine, i think it would make too much plastic dust and i wanted to keep the gauge as dust free as possible. Filing doesnt make as much of a mess. To finish, I used 1000 & 1500 grit sandpapers at the edges of the overlay to finish the edge.
12-25-2001, 12:53 PM
#5
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
As far as the switches, you might be able to use something off an old car stereo. You can use the switch buttons that come with the Whistler control panel, which are black and would probably look ok, but the switches themselves are soldered to the whister circuitboard so you'd have to remove them and solder them to a small piece of breadboard. I happen to have pulled apart a Sony home reciever (i think it was a 311) for parts a few months back. The color was identical. you cant buy these kind of switch buttons anywhere; you have to scavenge them off a stereo, etc. Perhaps you can order these particular ones from Sony parts department but you would have to know what the part number is. It was actually part of a larger group of 16 switches and i just removed the few i needed. The switches are in 2 parts. A series of plastic "buttons" and then a circuit board to which the actual momentary contact switches are soldered. Again, i just cut off the part i needed.
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12-28-2001, 12:14 PM
#11
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Thanks for the many compliments on the completed install. I was an installer for more than 10 years before moving on to other work, and customizing stuff to a factory appearance was always my strong point. As I indicated when i first posted this install, I'd be happy to help guide any of you that now wants to pull off a similar job on your TLs. If you have a steady hand and have an eye for detail, its not that hard to do. Lemme know. 
12-28-2001, 01:28 PM
#13
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Originally posted by wiggingboy
damn!! that look like it came from the factory... i would love to have that in my car with the way i drive everyday? could you do that with a V1??
damn!! that look like it came from the factory... i would love to have that in my car with the way i drive everyday? could you do that with a V1??
You could pretty easily take the remote unit for the V1 and pull it apart and mount it there. I saw someone on the web mounted the remote display in the rear view mirror. Very stealthy.
12-28-2001, 01:38 PM
#14
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
In the old days [mid-1980's for me] before there were good remote radars to base a custom install from, I used to remote the original Escort Radar detector, which was just a dash mount unit. You would take the front and back off the unit, install a piece of Lexan over the openings, sealing with silicone, and run a long ribbon cable to the inside of the car, where you would then connect it to the front panel with the controls that you would mount somewhere in the dash. The controller was pretty big, but so were car interiors. Mounting the controls inside the ashtray was a typical stealth install on a Bimmer for example.
Now I have not physically seen a Valentine 1 so i cant say for sure, but i would be you could probably do something similar. You'd probably want to skip the ribbon cable however, and opt for a shielded multistranded wire cable. You can probably get this from a place like Digikey.com or maybe even MCM or partsexpress.com. Again, having not seen the V1 i dont know how many strands the wire has to be to connect the two. You'd need a nice place to mount the controls too.
Alternatively, you could do the install with the Whister 3300 as i did. Its been a really good detector and i say that after using it for a few years. I absolutely WOULD NOT use a Bel remote for this. I had one fully remoted in my last car, and hated it so much (it falsed all the time, low volume) that after less than 6 months i actually bought a new speedo gauge, tossed out the Bel, and started the whole job over with the Whistler.
(In fact, this IS the Whistler from my other car, that i carefully removed and reused on this application after my other car (an Intrepid ES) was crushed by a runaway moving truck! I was a little surprised myself that i was able to remove the digital display and switches and be able to use them again, but it only took 10 minutes to get it out. OK, OK,... i admit its a little easier to remove electronics from a car when you can just literally rip the dash apart without worrying about destroying it!!! The car was a total so by then this rough treatment was not going to diminish its value one bit!)
Now I have not physically seen a Valentine 1 so i cant say for sure, but i would be you could probably do something similar. You'd probably want to skip the ribbon cable however, and opt for a shielded multistranded wire cable. You can probably get this from a place like Digikey.com or maybe even MCM or partsexpress.com. Again, having not seen the V1 i dont know how many strands the wire has to be to connect the two. You'd need a nice place to mount the controls too.
Alternatively, you could do the install with the Whister 3300 as i did. Its been a really good detector and i say that after using it for a few years. I absolutely WOULD NOT use a Bel remote for this. I had one fully remoted in my last car, and hated it so much (it falsed all the time, low volume) that after less than 6 months i actually bought a new speedo gauge, tossed out the Bel, and started the whole job over with the Whistler.
(In fact, this IS the Whistler from my other car, that i carefully removed and reused on this application after my other car (an Intrepid ES) was crushed by a runaway moving truck! I was a little surprised myself that i was able to remove the digital display and switches and be able to use them again, but it only took 10 minutes to get it out. OK, OK,... i admit its a little easier to remove electronics from a car when you can just literally rip the dash apart without worrying about destroying it!!! The car was a total so by then this rough treatment was not going to diminish its value one bit!)
12-30-2001, 02:29 AM
#19
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
the detector was about $250 when i bought it, but you can probably find it on the 'net even cheaper. For example, I came across this just now for your reference:
http://www.radar-guys.com/whistler/wh3300.htm#order
http://dealtimeshopping.com/DT_b17/whistler_3300.htm
Also figure about $15-$20 in assorted parts.
http://www.radar-guys.com/whistler/wh3300.htm#order
http://dealtimeshopping.com/DT_b17/whistler_3300.htm
Also figure about $15-$20 in assorted parts.
12-30-2001, 12:34 PM
#21
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
The laser sensor is mounted behind the rear view mirror facing forward. The radar sensor is mounted behind the from grill. The picture of the sensor shows its location while the grill was still off the car. The sensor is attached with a bracket and shares a bolt with the hood latch. There is a plastic cover around the latch mechanism that you will have to trim to fit back on around the detector and its bracket.
Note that Whistler also sells a second sensor you can mount at the back of the car for extra rear protection. The detector display would then tell you whether the rear or front display is picking up the reading. I dont have the rear sensor so I cant tell you where it would go exactly. If you wanted to add it, it would have to be mounted just under the rear bumper some how. you couldnt mount is behind the bumper cover, because the metallic paint would reflect the signals and they would not rear the detector in time. Radar is reflected by metal (ie. metallic paint too).
Note that Whistler also sells a second sensor you can mount at the back of the car for extra rear protection. The detector display would then tell you whether the rear or front display is picking up the reading. I dont have the rear sensor so I cant tell you where it would go exactly. If you wanted to add it, it would have to be mounted just under the rear bumper some how. you couldnt mount is behind the bumper cover, because the metallic paint would reflect the signals and they would not rear the detector in time. Radar is reflected by metal (ie. metallic paint too).
12-30-2001, 07:04 PM
#24
Three Wheelin'
Thread Starter
Originally posted by NighthawkBlack
What about mounting it where the High mount stop light is. Would that work behind the rear windsheild at near trunk level?
What about mounting it where the High mount stop light is. Would that work behind the rear windsheild at near trunk level?
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