I just noticed this on ebay, have any of you guys ever seen one of these. It looks like apexi might make it (it looks cast into the face plate). Here is a link http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT what do you think? anyone ever seen one or done the conversion?

 

Apexi doesn't make it, LOL.

That's a very cool product that takes some soldering skill to use. Basically you have to disassemble the Commander and rewire it and reassemble it to fit the DIN face plate.

That product looks great.

 

looks really bitch

 

Not that bad, I like it.

 

almost looks like there's enough room to put a pod in there also. if you can squeeze everything over, the waste of space is killin me

 

As I tried to post earlier (but keep on getting that bad gateway error msg ) it'll def. take a good bit of know-how and skill to do it right. But def. very doable. Notice that the guy changed the backlighting of the Commander to red. There have been a cpl of threads about attempting to do so, but nothing has become of them. So chances are, this guy def. knows what he's doing

Oh and while the mod LOOKS nice, from such an angle (flush in line w/ the DIN panel), I'd think visibility would be minimal, since you'd get considerable glare... You'd want the screen tilted toward you to see it properly. Also, I'd hate to see the frustration a tuner would go thru while having to be leaning forward the whole time to play w/ the maps...vs. just having it mobile and handy in your hand...

 

PFC original color is light green.

 

Yeah yeah...I just dropped the project for the moment.

And yes...great observation...the original IS green.


That is a pretty damn nice product. Too bad it's al. If it can be made with ABS or something, that would be nice as it would fit with the dash better (styling wise). It would be definietely be more readable if that polarity was reversed. That's the main point in what I was trying to do. The color change seems to be pretty easy, but getting film (as you can't remove the existing film) seems to be the trick, or no one wants to do that.

 

Rotaryplus, thanks for the astute observation That's why I pointed out this guy changed the background color...

Christian, I wasn't in any way trying to call you out lol. In fact, I forgot it was you who was workin on that. I just never heard about it again, so I figured whoever it was gave up on it...or had more important things to worry about - the FD will always leave ya w/ such worries, won't it?

Re: reversing the polarity, you mean so the background is black, and the lettering is red? If so, I think that would def. stand out VERY well. If I'm way off, plz explain

~Ramy

 

Thats a cool idea for an alternate PFC mounting location. It reminds me of what Jayspec7 did to his FD by mounting the buttons flush next to the shifter and placing the screen on the steering column.

Also, as xxxtodxxx said, the extra space is just annoying. I wish they either shifte everything over and made room for another gauge or atleast evened everything out. Still cool idea though

 

Looks good for a vesion 1. I've always wanted to see one in that location. Like others, I'd like to see a gauge pod next to it or maybe the WI controls.

 

I know...I was just mentioning that lightly.

Exactly. Most LCDs I've played with has a loose piece of polarized film. In this case, it's bonded to the display. This is somewhat unfortunate as I'd have to add another piece of film which may degrade the quality of the display a bit. I'm sure there's a way around it, but I haven't thought about that part too much as I've been figuring out how I want to do the color change.

 

looks 10x better than having the commander hanging off to the side....I just bought the Power FC and the issue of where to mount the commander was a major concern, I don't like gauges and crap just hanging all over the car (RICE)

someone on the forum should volunteer to convert our Power FCs for a reasonable fee

 

if I can figure out how to do it easily enough, I'll be happy to take your mon...er...do it.

 

Newb suggestion, since I don't know what it entails really. If the issue is that the film is stuck to the display, and you can't really separate them, can't you just replace the display itself? I'd think that these displays are generic in the sense that all built on the same technology...kinda like the display on a TI-85 calculator etc. Swap or get another display, and then just insert a diff film...

 

If you don't use your cig lighter, that is an excellent location to mount the Commander. It is highly visible, easily reachable, only blocks a few of the idiot lights, is very secure there, and is stealthy from outside of the car. Also requires no permanent alteration to the interior.

 

Just to echo what everyone has said. The din plate is easy enough. I would probably just contact Akiratdk, and have him make me a custom one.

However, the real fun is going to be taking apart your commander and rewiring to work in the Din.

 

Its definately an improvement over the commander flying around or the crude velcro(that came with the it) that i'm using.
I do however agree that there is wasted space and the angle would most likely suck. And forget about having decent access to the head unit....i have to go around the stick myself and thats with the head on top where he relocated the commander.

Id like to see something else...

 

I like the idea and have bought the panel. I just want to know if anyone has actually done it. I will be attempting the task myself and would appreciate any tips.

The 'no wire' clean look outweighs the visibility issues for me. Tuning would be done with the datalogit too.

When the panel arrives I will see if I can fit the Coolingmist flow lights will fit in there.

It really is a shame that a gauge can't fit in there too though! Knowing my luck he will probably make a version 2 that does just that!

 

I dont think you can add another piece of film, 2 polarizing filters together will be black. just peel off the old film and removed the glue.

 

You may be right. I haven't played with that for a while. But removing it is going to damage the glass I'm afraid. I mean it's REALLY bonded on there.

[off topic] Have you dropped your price on the LED tails? [/off topic]

 

no I like it the way that it is. Adding an additional gauge would look cluttered IMO

 

Are there any writeups on the disassembly / soldering? Was thinking of doing something like this in the fall but not too sure how involved it is and if I want to hack up my commander.