First off, I really want to thank everyone on the forum who helped me out with this job... for the inspiration, the tips, the troubleshooting, the technical info, etc. Without you guys I would have been wandering in the dark for a long time on this job. Uforic C5, Bill McDonald, Fourtrax250, scott_fx, RstyNutz, DeeGee, LV_2_XLR8, I know I've probably forgotten a few names... but you all ROCK!

So here's some pics from the journey and some tips to help anyone else thinking of doing the same mod.

First, before cutting the radio bezel temporarly glue a few stright sticks to the back, nice and flush with the edges of the radio and HVAC surrunds (just a drop of glue at the top and bottom works fine -- you don't want to glue the middle bars that you'll be moving). This will make it easy to accurately position the bar when you move it down.



Next, painter's tape is a great way to create a rough mold on the front of the bezel. I used lots of 7-minute plastic epoxy to reposition the pieces and fill gaps. (I didn't use any "sludge" at all). The epoxy mixes up fast, dries rock-solid in 24 hours, and I didn't have any issues with bubbles.



Once you get the shape you want, sand, sand, and sand some more. I used a dremel tool for the big stuff and lots of hand sanding for the detail work. I sanded like mad, and I could have/probably should have done more.

You can't see it in the pics, but under the HVAC controls I salvaged the lighter/ashtray area by building up the sides where the door hinges orginally mounted. I also modified it so that the ashtray could be slid in from the back. I reversed the spring in the ashtray door so that the pressure keeps it closed, not open. Since I lost the big door to the ashtray area, this solution preserves a little bit of enclosed storage space and the lighter.



For finish, I used a couple coats of Dupli-color vinyl paint, then a light coat of Krylon Wrinkle Finish, and then a topcoat of a matt-finish clearcoat. It matches the stock interior texture and color VERY well.

One thing I suggest is doing some trial-and-error painting on a spare bit of plastic. In my case i used the old console door which I was not going to use. Doing so helps you get an idea on how the paints layer up, how much "wrinke" you'll get from the texture coat, and how fast the paint dries. Take your time with the painting. It's worth it.




Overall, I did a lot of trial and error with the mounting to get it to sit good and secure (I basically ended up fabricating my own brackets for the front and removing/cutting/and flipping the original radio bracket that fits underneath. The HVAC controls were moved down about 1/2 inch from stock. I tapped into the the yellow wire on the HVAC harness to control the HU's dimmer feature. The GPS and Sirius antennas are mounted on the metal bar under the rear bumper and they seem to get decent reception -- and the exterior of the car says nice and clean.



If anyone has any questions, please PM me... I hope I can return the help that I got here on the forum!

Oh, and please no grief about the dust on the dash... I'm headed out to clean it off right now!

 

Hey man, the dash is dusty

Good looking job I like the stick idea to keep things lined up

 

I plan on doing this as soon as I get off my lazy ***

 

Looks great.
That's a dream mod for me.
Your re-work of the console looks really good.

 

I have an Avic-D1 on the way to me, so I appreciate the info. I like your finished product very much. It looks stock. How did you build up the sides of the opening? Did you just layer epoxy and did you start with any form of ABS backing therE?

 

nice work, did you just sit in your car and stare at the console while listening to music for the first couple days after doing it?

 

Looks great! Why did you go with the D1? Does the N2 not fit well in the c5 dash?

 

Looks Awesome! What kind of modifications behind the console to move the HVAC controls down and mount the AVIC?

 

Actually, I had the stereo installed and working for about a week before I got the console finished... so I was driving around without an armrest and center console all that time. For entertainment I kept trying to confuse the nav system, but it always managed to find it's destinations. Very cool!

 

I simply tacked a few strips of cheap plastic to the back of the bezel to define the edges, and then I built up the sides with 2 or 3 applications of epoxy. Once I had more than enough depth I just sanded them to shape with a dremel. Then i carefully peeled the cheap plastic off the back.

Good luck with your install. You're going to love the unit.

 

rcs-- great job man, congrats! U'll love the D1. I will have pics of my install this weekend. good luck with it!!!!!!!!!!!

 

To answer the other questions, I went with the D1 becuase I really don't care for the look of the single DIN N2 and the way it motors out and up... to me that seems like just one more thing to break.

Once you take out the stock head unit there are two aluminum brackets under there that need to be removed. One I flipped over, trimmed a bit and reused to support the D1; the other (which originally went under the HVAC control) I just tossed. I drilled new mounting holes for the HVAC just below the existing ones and it seems more than sturdy. You also end upp with a decent amond of room under there for all the wires. Also, there are two small metal tabs in the top of the space that need to be bent and torn out. It's not too difficult once you swallow hard and resign yourself to taking powertools to your C5's internals...

 

Awesome fit

Congratulations

 

FIRST...let me thank you for the recognition on inspiration to you.

MOST of all man you did an awesome job on the retrofit. It takes time and patients to do a job you did. I just don't have the patients
But if I ever convince myself I can do it your way I will have your notes to go by..they are the simples of all the ones I've seen. I holding on to someone coming out with a custom bezel for the AVIC-D1. Someone will read these and see what us C5 owners are doing to install and do custom bezel to make it damn near factor install look.
Congrats again GREAT JOB!!!

 

 

nice work!

 

Great job, my friend. That's what's great about this board. We all build on each other's ideas and eventually we have the ultimate set up. I have to give you credit. It takes guts to tear into one of these cars, but the rewards are obvious.

I've always said, they made a quarter of a million C5's. At my age, they'll probably never appreciate significantly in my lifetime. So, I'm going to enjoy the car and do what ever I want to it without consideration of the investment consequences. I'll let my heirs worry about that.

 

That is and awesome job congrats.

 

awesome dude.. been wanting to do this for ovr 2 yrs now... guess i better get my *** into gear did you stay with the stock bose amp or go with an aftermarket amp? scott_fx was my originial hero now u have bumped him off the pedestal sorry scott

 

No, man, I Scott_FX and a couple other guys lifted me up there with all their help on the install...

To answer your question, I used the GM-CRV1 adapter (or whatever it was called, I forget) from Soundgate and kept the bose speakers. I'm not 100% thrilled with the sound quality, but I think I need to get back under the dash and adjust the gain on the soundgate -- that might improve things. If I were to do it all over again (and had the money and courage) I would probably go the new speakers and amp route.