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So I spent the best part of today fitting an Alpine IXA-407EBT head unit complete with a miniature 170deg RCA camera and iPod connection.
The head unit is a Double DIN 7" Touch Screen unit so requires removal of the factory head unit and the pocket above it.
This is what I started with:
Removal of the factory Eurovox head unit requires the use of rare and expensive specialist tools which I could not be bothered buying so I made these out of an old wire coat hanger:
After slotting the removal tools into the holes either side of the unit and pushing them right in past the initial resistance point (hmm, sounds like my first girlfriend!) the unit can be pulled out by putting your fingers in the cassette slot and giving it a gentle pull.
Then you get the umbilical cord that is the wiring loom. Pulling this out revealed that the harness actually has a standard ISO connector in it, so the best thing is to get a head unit to ISO adaptor if you can then it would be a very simple swap over. I wanted to buy one but could not get any confirmation of which connectors I would need. The ISO connector is the big black plug in this pic:
The factory head unit frame is held in at each side so to remove it you need to bend the side in at the middle, with a bit of fiddling it does come out. Then to remove the pocket is easy, just pinch the top and bottom in the middle and the pull, it is held at the sides and at the back with a plug type connector shown here:
Everything removed:
Then it is just a case of mounting the frame for the new unit using the tabs at the sides to hold it in, connect the wiring (I had to connect up all the wires as I did not have an adaptor) and slide the new unit in place.
The result:
This unit comes with an iPod cable so I ran that down and into the ashtray where my iPod Nano fits quite well, wanted to have it in the arm rest but it was just too much work to remove all the trim!
It also has input for a reversing camera and having had one on a previous car I know how great it is and with the poor visibility out of the back of a Bora I think it is essential. Got a really good quality miniature RCA camera from eBay, 170deg angle and works down to 0.2lux without IR, fully waterproof and in a metal casing. Ran the RCA cable and switch line down the passenger side following the route of the CD changer cable that I was removing at the same time. Found the wiring loom going to the rear lights just at the side of the rear seat and was able to splice into the reversing light wire to provide the switch signal to the head unit.
Forgot to take photos of this part of the install, was too busy and getting tired!
The camera is mounted under the rear bar in the centre and the wire goes up through an existing rubber grommet in the boot floor. Took power from the reverse light wire at the back of the light cluster (so the cam only comes on when reverse is selected) and earthed it to one of the light unit mounting bolts with an extra nut.
Although it sounds much better than the factory unit I think a speaker upgrade will be next.
Adam
The head unit is a Double DIN 7" Touch Screen unit so requires removal of the factory head unit and the pocket above it.
This is what I started with:
Removal of the factory Eurovox head unit requires the use of rare and expensive specialist tools which I could not be bothered buying so I made these out of an old wire coat hanger:
After slotting the removal tools into the holes either side of the unit and pushing them right in past the initial resistance point (hmm, sounds like my first girlfriend!) the unit can be pulled out by putting your fingers in the cassette slot and giving it a gentle pull.
Then you get the umbilical cord that is the wiring loom. Pulling this out revealed that the harness actually has a standard ISO connector in it, so the best thing is to get a head unit to ISO adaptor if you can then it would be a very simple swap over. I wanted to buy one but could not get any confirmation of which connectors I would need. The ISO connector is the big black plug in this pic:
The factory head unit frame is held in at each side so to remove it you need to bend the side in at the middle, with a bit of fiddling it does come out. Then to remove the pocket is easy, just pinch the top and bottom in the middle and the pull, it is held at the sides and at the back with a plug type connector shown here:
Everything removed:
Then it is just a case of mounting the frame for the new unit using the tabs at the sides to hold it in, connect the wiring (I had to connect up all the wires as I did not have an adaptor) and slide the new unit in place.
The result:
This unit comes with an iPod cable so I ran that down and into the ashtray where my iPod Nano fits quite well, wanted to have it in the arm rest but it was just too much work to remove all the trim!
It also has input for a reversing camera and having had one on a previous car I know how great it is and with the poor visibility out of the back of a Bora I think it is essential. Got a really good quality miniature RCA camera from eBay, 170deg angle and works down to 0.2lux without IR, fully waterproof and in a metal casing. Ran the RCA cable and switch line down the passenger side following the route of the CD changer cable that I was removing at the same time. Found the wiring loom going to the rear lights just at the side of the rear seat and was able to splice into the reversing light wire to provide the switch signal to the head unit.
Forgot to take photos of this part of the install, was too busy and getting tired!
The camera is mounted under the rear bar in the centre and the wire goes up through an existing rubber grommet in the boot floor. Took power from the reverse light wire at the back of the light cluster (so the cam only comes on when reverse is selected) and earthed it to one of the light unit mounting bolts with an extra nut.
Although it sounds much better than the factory unit I think a speaker upgrade will be next.
Adam
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