Custom iPad Mini Dash Install

Hey Fellas! First, just wanted to say never posted on ephatch but have been a member for awhile. I've always read posts and found the information that I needed. So just wanted to say Thanks to all the members. Great ep forum.

My current mods are K24A2 swap, header, downpipe, Apexi WS2 catback, injectors, fuel rail, fuel pump, intake, kpro, and other stuff.

So what I just started working on was an iPad mini dash install. For a few months I have been running a headphone jack to RCA's to my amp. I have not had a head unit for sometime. Mainly because I dont want one anymore and my iPhone has everything I need as far as media. I don't listen to the radio. So awhile back I followed Soundman Car Audio on their iPad dash installs. They now install iPad mini's in dash's and make a prefabricated float mount pan. You can find that here: https://shop.soundmanca.com/ipad-min...-pending/dp/16

Pretty pricey but I have to vouch for them it is a really good product. This type of mount does not allow for lighting connector or access to the headphone jack. It is a quick release mount so the passenger can pop out the IPad and so I can easily take it with me. So I will be using a bluetooth to rca module which you can find here: https://shop.soundmanca.com/bluetooth-to-rca/dp/33

You'll see a buddy of mine in a few of these pics who's helping me out and knows a lot more about fiberglass work than I do.

Attachment 6554

First we laid the pan on the dash piece to see how the spacing would work. We first saw that the climate control knobs had to move. Then we saw they could fit right overtop where the shifter is now. So we cut the 3 A/C, rear defroster buttons and decided to move those to the left of the iPad. I will like that better now actually because they will be closer to me (which is not show in this pic). It will be farther to the left and we will be moving the hazard button to the right port hole. As most of you know that dash piece is actually two pieces. So we are fiberglassing both of those together into one to make it all work. I'm also working on the 3 A/C, rear defroster buttons because they will all be vertical now instead of horizontal. WIth the letter on them it will look goofy so I'm figuring out what to do with those. If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Attachment 6555

Then we reinforced the dash piece and tacked cross braces because the area we are dealing with is so small and there are some small, thin plastic pieces after all the cutting. Then we wrapped the dash piece in fleece and began fiberglassing.

We now have the fiberglass complete and almost finished the sanding. So now we can start on body work. Then primer, paint, and clear the thing. We have a pretty cool paint idea planned too. So just wanted to share guys. I WILL be posting up more pics soon. We should have it all done this weekend.

I'm also working with another friend of mine on my iPad. Were working on jailbreaking the iPad and installing some backend software so I can get kpro installed on my iPad. I don't have too many details at this point because he is the guru on that. Which this is one of the main reasons I wanted to this install. I want to be able to at least have live datalogging on my iPad from my kpro because next I'm going turbo. The K24 is hungry and waiting. Its just a challenge because I still want my iPad to fully operate so I can stream music, navigation, web browsing and all that shit in my car.

Stay tuned!!

cool!

I look forward to seeing how this plays out. I will be doing a ipad Mini setup also but not the same way. Good luck.

Subscribed!

Thanks guys! I'll be posting up more pics in a few days. Should be finished this weekend.

Damn! Very Interested!

This looks awesome. where in va are you? I have 2 friends with ep3 in Richmond. Were going to east coast Honda meet together.do u want to ride with us?

Blackep: Hell yeah I'll roll. Im in Northern VA. About 2 hours north of richmond. But I'll make the trip! I'm always looking for meets. Shoot me the details or let me know where I can find them. Thanks!

And thanks for the interest guys. Sorry no updated pics. Haven't had time this week to work on the build. But gonna work my tail off to get it done this weekend. More soon!

Pm me your phone number and I'll hit nu up with details.

Blackep: Tried to pm you. It said your pm box was full and I wasn't able to send my number.

Its been a busy day guys but we got quite a bit finished. So we ended up seeing that using the fleece with the fiberglass was a bad idea. What we were thinking is similar to when your building a sub box. It creates a smooth surface. When we started sanding the fleece was coming off in places and just being a pain in the ass. We removed what we could and started re-fiberglassing everything. We just used larger fiber glass sheets to fill the spaces. So we had the whole center piece fiberglassed and we started figuring out where to put the pan. Then we used the original ports for the climate control knobs and buttons to place them. Then began cutting. Then we fiberglassed in all of those pieces and we have what you see in the pic below.

First all, sorry for the blurry pic. I didn't focus with my cell phone and it's been a tiring day. It's beginning to be a love hate relationship with this project.

Attachment 6556

This also shows a little bondo on it which is what we are starting now.

The challenges we are seeing is the structural integrity of the piece. The original center piece isn't the most sturdiest in the world and cutting the shit out of it makes it a whole helluva lot worse. And I'm gonna be popping an iPad in and out quite often so it has to be able to stand pressure. So the better part of the day was making sure the fiberglass is strong in the places it needs to be because I really dont want this thing cracking.

Next, bluetooth. So I changed my mind on the bluetooth receiver. I ended up ordering this: http://aluratek.com/istream-universa...audio-receiver

It is so much cheaper than the one on Soundman that I originally posted. I am happy with the cheaper one. I currently have all 4 speakers wired to a two channel amp. As I originally posted, I have been running a a 3.5mm headphone jack to a split RCA to the amp. So The Aluratek Bluetooth receiver keeps a 12 hour charge (came with usb charger) and has a 3.5mm headphone jack output. Shown below.

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...psb8f34e68.jpg
http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...psdbb93e77.jpg


I used to use an iPhone dock that had a hardwired charger. This was attached to my dash. Its gone now but I'm going to use the hardwired charger. The dock had a 30 pin dock connector for the iPhone and a USB cable going to a module which was then hardwired. Even though the Aluratek keeps a 12 hour charges I wanted it hardwired. Terrible picture of the USB module shown below. But you see my dash right now which is just a beaut.

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...psd9a06b36.jpg

So I mounted the charging module behind the dash and mounted the USB module in my glovebox. I used an adhesive and placed it on the back. The RCA's and charging cable are all behind the glove box. So it looks pretty clean. I'll get a pic of that up soon so you can see it. It sounds really well and wont lose a charge. I also wanted to be able to access the bluetooth module in case I want to pair another device or a friends phone while there in my car.

Next, Finish. So we were toying around with a few ideas in the beginning. Wrapping it in 3M Carbon Fiber Wrap, Wrapping it in fabric, or Paint. We were toying around today and nailed it. We went and picked up Primer, Black, Red, and Clear paint and a few different pieces of fabric with patterns. We got it and I love it. I'm gonna do quite a few interior pieces when I'm finished with this. Everyone probably knows the Silver pieces on the door pull handles. We used those as test pieces. We primered them and laid a red base. Wrapped them in fabric then sprayed black, then clear. This is what we will be doing the dash piece in tomorrow when finished.

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6cc4717e.jpg
http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/...psf4aa6c95.jpg


So thats where were at boys!! Sorry for how I posted up some pics. I dont know whats going on with my phone. Some pics upload and some don't on the forum. So I had to use photo bucket.

I'm still trying to figure out the jailbreaking on the iPad. But I have to be honest it's not a priority right now. I want this thing done and in my car because I'm anxious as a mofo for it right now.

Tomorrow she will be all finished and I'll be posting up finish pics.

Yea it wouldn't let me send anything even afternincleared it. 8047200832 hit me up with your username so in know who it is. I got another eph member gonna text me to.

This is awesome! I totally wanted to do this. It's the reason I got a double din touch screen...

I came across this thread and I'm really interested to see how it came out

Update!

we demand an update! xD