You already saw the trunk, here's what we did to replace the stock HU. I know devoid has posted a lot of pics and advice about things, but we just couldn't find as much room behind the stock HU faceplate as he seemed to. So, here are some pics of where the circuitry for the stock HU was relocated to, as well as the Rockford Fosgate capacitor I had installed. The buttons from the stock HU are all still functional, which really only means that I can reset the clock if I need to.

 

Here are pics of the new dash piece I had fab'd to hold my Alpine HU and EDFC controller, with the stock HVAC controls molded into it. As you can see, the LED screen with the HVAC readout and clock is still fully functional.

 

And, last and kinda least, the remote "eye" for the IceLED Zen controller for the interior lighting. devoid, I definitely stole this idea from you! :D And, since I'm uploading pics, there's also one of the AutoEXE hood shocks that I finally got to install last night after I brought my baby home from the audio shop. I know they are neither interior, audio or electronic, but I still think they're cool.

 

Looks good Scud! Hey where did you get your autoexe hood shocks from & how much? It looks nice.

 

The only place I've found them yet is Vivid. They were like $260 or $270 if I remember correctly.

 

Oh I see, I knew that had it but thought there's another place that has it too.So was it hard to install it & how long it took you? It's a really clean look!

 

You mean the hood shocks? Took 15 minutes. You unbolt the hood from the hinges, insert the base plates for the shocks, rebolt. Then there are two bolts in the frame of the car that you remove, screw in the mounts for the hood shocks, and attach. Very easy.

 

What is that white thing under the indash screen and what does it do?

How much and how long did it take them to fiberglass that mold?

Looks great!

 

Ever think of making some more of that face plate to fit single-DIN radios? I'm sure alot of members will pay decent money for them... like me. :-)

 

that is a face plate that fits single-din. All aftermarket decks are single-din size...well, majority of them.

 

The face plate was fab'd to fit a single-din deck. The extra piece in the pics below my Alpine is my EDFC controller.

 

how much did all that cost? and what shop did it for you?

 

Between the headunit work and the trunk enclosure, total labor cost for my setup was around "a lot." PM me for exact numbers. It was all done by Performance Mobile Installs of Pensacola, FL. Their fiberglass guy, Shane, is absolutely amazing.

 

Absolutely beautiful job. Best that I have seen yet. Two questions:

>> The buttons from the stock HU are all still functional, which really only means that I can reset the clock if I need to. <<

How do you press the buttons, since the stock HU faceplate itself is out of the car?

For the hazard button, I guess you removed the button from the stock faceplate, and used it with the new faceplate? Could you have done that with the other two buttons?

 

dang... nice job on the HU... :D

 

man i love your autoexe strut bar! did you get the rear as well? Where and how much did you pay for it?

 

To my knowledge, I could not have done that with the other two buttons, because they are hard wired to the giant circuit board. The hazard light switch was a separate piece. As for how to press the buttons, if you look closely at the pictures of the relocated HU, you can see all of the little black switches. The buttons on the faceplate simply pressed down on those switches to activate their particular function. So, the switches are still accessible, just no longer labeled.

 

I got the front and rear struts from http://www.polepositionproducts.com. Their current price is $565 plus shipping, which beat any other place I could find. When I ordered, he actually had them in stock, so I had them in my hands in less than five days. The fact that my pretty rear strut is now hidden is the only real negative about my trunk setup, but I figure it was worth it. :D

 

Hey scud, you'll have to check out page 4 of my pics. I added the faceplate and the upper counsel. https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-multimedia-photo-gallery-6/devoids-near-complete-build-54460/page4/