Matt Warnock said:
has anyone successfully installed an LCD screen in a WRX in the console?
I'm looking for instructions, suggestions or pictures of their installations
so I can do the same. Thanks guys!
I did. I installed a 7" touchscreen kit from
www.digitalww.com into the
double-din space where the radio normally goes. I also got the Subaru Gauge
housing that replaces the clock on the top of the dash, which happens to be
a single-DIN space, and mounted my head unit there. The touchscreen is
driven by a laptop under the seat with GPS, bluetooth, and WLAN connectivity
(for the obvious applications), and is also connected to the serial port of
the UTEC engine computer for logging and map editing. The laptop is also
connected to the aux in of the headunit, and I use MediaEngine
(
www.mp3car.com,
www.mediaengine.org) to control music and such.
I strongly recommend the
www.mp3car.com forums as a good place to start. I
don't have any detailed instructions or pictures available (I have been
meaning to take some), but the install wasn't particularly complicated. I
have an STi and didn't get the radio, so I had the radio mounting brackets
with a silver "Subaru" plate and a cubby hole. I attached those two items
farther back on the mounting brackets so they were recessed by about 1/2"
from the face of the console panel (the silver thing with the A/C controls
on it). Then I placed the screen electronics in the cubby hole and dremeled
out an opening for the cords to fit through, and double-sided taped the
screen to the subaru plate. Putting this back in the dash and putting the
console back over it results in s apretty clean look. Unfortunately, my
screen was slightly narrower than the opening, so I had to use some ghetto
silver poster-board construction paper to "frame" it. It looked good
initially (it matched the silver of the console), but now, after a couple
months, the paper is kind of bent up in places so you can tell it's there.
I'll get some silver ABS or carbon fiber sheets someday to re-frame it, but
I'm lazy
Also, if you're only interested in a screen for video, and not a computer,
there's a guy on NASIOC who installs them. He's usually got an auction on
Ebay for his services. Pretty cheap if I remember right, and very
professional looking.
