Has anyone looked into doing this? I have seen the picture where they made a new piece for top triangular dash piece and put a single din in there. That is one way to do it.

But I was thinking that perhaps the top triangular dash piece for the Nav could be ordered as a part from Mazda, and then a bracket and trim piece configured to put a single din headunit in there. If it flips up and down like the Nav, so much the better as the car would look better without two headunits (ie, the stock and the din on the top of the dash). Anyone looked into something like this?

 

I just checked with my dealer today. The want $2700 for the center console alone--it comes with the lcd screen and not without. If you order the center part without the navi, its only $150. I think if you do it this way, you can have someone fabricate a flip up mount that looks like the navi system. Why, oh why didn't Mazda make all the 8s with this flip up storage space and put the lcd in the ones with the navi? Why, Why, I ask. oh well, maybe in '05 it'll be standard and then we can all order the part for $150.

 

$2700 is crazy, as you can get the nav from the factory for $2,000.

I heard $1,500 or so from OverLOAD.... he was thinking of using it for his car computer. And now I like the stock looking idea of mounting the screen just like the stock nav... not at a 1DIN flip-out on top or in the stock radio position.

 

This sounds like what you are looking for. I didn't build the unit in the picture but I am working on a copy of it.

 

But why fabricate a large piece of the dash, if you could get the NAV dash piece directly from Mazda? Guaranteed to be a color/texture match for the rest of the dash, and it seems like it would be easier to modify that piece than to make a new one.

 

The piece I am making will have room to mount a din sized unit. The factory Mazda nav panel is not set up for this use.

 

>> The piece I am making will have room to mount a din sized unit. The factory Mazda nav panel is not set up for this use. <<

Yes, but wouldn't it be reasonabe to modify the factory Nav panel to hold a standard DIN unit? There appears to be room for it. And then you would be making an for an existing panel, rather than making an entire panel.

 

No it isn't reasonable. Read the "Aftermarket LCD" thread. The difference in materials when you cut and bond stuff together, especially for a heat magnet like a dash, will cause the fiberglass to crack as the different materials will expand at different rates and temperatures.

The piece rotarygod is working will NOT cost you a ridiculous $2,700 PLUS modification.

I'm looking at a solution as well... see this thread...https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=25612