Cover

[niteone]

has anyone out there made a cover for AVIC-Z1 out of ABS?

my installation has the unit stick out a little where you could possible fit a cover over it, if you could find on make one....something like a lens cover, but it would fit the whole unit and it would just pop on and pop off...

anyone thought about doing that, to kinda hide the unit some? Or, anyone know where I could have that made out of ABS?

[Cirbirus]

That's a great idea but how could you make a cover that would fit correctly for all cars?

I know in my car I have a very tiny amount of space on the top of the unit and a huge gaping hole beneath it. Others have even larger holes and others have holes so small they can barely fit the Z1. And of course we all have different angles versus our dash boards or center consoles.

I'm not saying it's a bad idea though; in fact it's a pretty good one. If you could design something that is easily trimmable to the correct size for multiple systems you'd have your own gold mine.

That being said plastics molding equipment is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination so prototyping something will be expensive. You could get your own prototyping laser "printer" like a (Link -> ) [url=http://www.ulsinc.com/versalaser/english/index.html]VersaLaser system[/url] ( <- Link) but you're still talking around $8,000 USD.

....

It was just pointed out to me that you're probably talking about a Dremel and a chunk of ABS type of McGillicutty and that I'm over thinking it. ;) In that case you just need a Dremel and a cutting guide. Don't EVER think you can accurately guide a Dremel; they're like angry, drunken women... loud, difficult to handle, and you'll usually end up going in the wrong hole.

[campinfamily]

Here is my entry in the cover category...

I used the trim piece that came with the Z1, added some plastic tabs to slide in between the Z1 and the dash to hold it in place....put a piece of cloth on one side of the trim piece, a peice of plastic on the other, than wrapped the plastice side in Carbon Fiber Vinyl "sticker", and the cloth side faces the Z1 for protection.

[twill]

I bought a factory am/fm radio for my 05 ford fouce off ebay for $2.50. I took the face plate off it and with a little sanding and glueing the buttons back in it fit right over my Z1. You really have to look to tell it sticks out just a little to far. I also put the antennas under the back package shelf with no noticeable loss in signal. Nothing show to give away the fact that I have this radio in my car. This really sets my mind at ease.

[niteone]

[quote name="twill"]I bought a factory am/fm radio for my 05 ford fouce off ebay for $2.50. I took the face plate off it and with a little sanding and glueing the buttons back in it fit right over my Z1. You really have to look to tell it sticks out just a little to far. I also put the antennas under the back package shelf with no noticeable loss in signal. Nothing show to give away the fact that I have this radio in my car. This really sets my mind at ease.[/quote]

I'm thinking about doing something like that...I have the oem stereo from my 2003 exploer, but I don't want to screw with that in case I sell the vehicle, I'll put that back in, but I was wondering if I got a oem stereo for a 2003 Ford Explorer, I would do the same thing you did.

where did you put the antenna? Mine is on the drivers side roof, and I was thinking about taking it off there and putting it somewhere inside the vehicle, like on the drivers side column or on the dash hidden somewhere.

[twill]

I also have a ford ranger which has a dash like your car and I think you could do this to it also. I got this am\fm because I to wanted to save the one that came out of my car. Am\Fm radios are something no one wants they are cheap and not worth stealing. You may be able to pick one up at a junk yard, you don't care if it works or not. I got mine off e-bay for $2.50 and $10.00 shipping and it took about 2 hours to make it fit. I put the antennas under the shelf below the back glass with no metal between them and the outside world. I say them because I have xm also. You could not do that on your car but I read some where a man with a truck put them under the cover below the passangers side winshield wiper. He said the cover came off with little work. If anyone would like to see this I can take some pics and post. Other ideas of covering it with cloth I think is a good idea but think it might make some one wonder what has he got under there. With this a look inside and they are off looking for a better radio.