lcd dash project

I am about to order a Garmin 7200 GPS system for my 2005 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab Z71. I would like to mount it in a way that looks factory. The unit has a 7" LCD with inputs for other video devices and a built in FM modulator to play the audio through the factory stereo. I also have a 12VDC to 120VAC power inverter that I want flush mounted on the same panel, as well as a 1/2 DIN DVD Player and RCA inputs for a video game system. The GPS unit will need to be easily removable for map updates. It comes with a cradle that could be permanantly mounted to the new panel.

There is a panel with two pockets in the lower half of the dashboard/center console that would be a perfect place for this. Here are pics of the factory panel and a schematic of what I want done. The schematic is basically to scale. The circle is the 12VDC cigarrete ligher plug, the Sqaure is the plug from the 120VAC pwere inverter, and the three colored circles are the RCA inputs for the video game system. I will also put in a rocker switch to turn the inverter on and off. I measured the opening of the panel to be about 10" x 7", so everything should fit.

5150azn did almost this exact same thing in his 2005 Tahoe, using the same panel I am talking about. However, his pics are no longer available (all of them show up in the thread as broken links). If you are still reading this forum 5150azn, would you please repost your pics?

I think the best way to go would be fiberglass. I think I can make the MDF skeleton wihtout a problem. My problem is that the hole I am trying to fill is not flat, and I am not experiened with either fiberglass or ABS. The left side of the hole sticks out farther than the right. See the pics for details. The other thing I thought of was ABS, but I don't know how to use ABS. Any pointers? My truck is a bone-stock daily driver and I want to keep everything looking factory.

if you want it looking stock, i'd take that original panel with all the crap on it, take out all said crap, and make a nice convex dome surface that extrudes in teh center by bout an inch. from there, i'd let that dry, build a frame work behind it, and start cutting out spaces for the screen and other.

take the peices apart... the screen for instance, take off the front face plate, hotglue it in place, or better yet, epoxy. bondo, sand, clean, same for the other peices. the outlet i'd rewire from the box... ie - keep the unit away from teh dash, and run a wire to make the outlet itself remote. saves space behind hte screen... and keeps things from getting hot. as for your gps, you could go big nuts on it, take a plaster of paris molding of the case size itself, and fiberglass a cradele for the unit. i don't know how its shaped so i can't really say past that...

uhm, yeah. the rest i'm sure you can figure out using that approach.

Epoxy, fiberglass and MDF is your friend. abs is the suck.

oh. wait. the unit itself has to be removable and it is hte screen. scratch that. uhm. ...

nope. no ideas. buy a 100 $ lcd screen and pump the video from your gps unit to that. you make things like that removable and some punk will remove it for you, after busting out your window.

I'm actually trying to do a similar install with an Alpine 7" screen in my '04 Silverado. I'm going to go the fiberglass route. I got a spare shelf-unit insert and I'm going to tear that one up with my experiment and keep my stock one intact. Keep posting pics of your progress. I'll do the same, maybe we can share some tips and tricks.

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Trying to mount a 20" CRT in a '73 Ford Pinto