I've been waiting for this post for a long time. :) The light at the end of the tunnel is finally visable.

I've finally started installing the DVD player and the monitor.

The first part of the process was to replace the dash. My old dash had a crack in it, so I started with a new dash and did the dvd player install before the dash was in the car (that was in update #3). The dash needed to be cut to fit the monitor, but I didn't want to comprimise the strength during installation, so I decided to cut it after it was mounted.

Anyway... out with the old dash:

Look at the pic and notice the big air duct in the middle. This is what supplied air to the center vents. For the first time since I owned this car, I was actually impressed with the way GM designed something. 4 bolts and that air duct was gone. In the next pic you can see the plate I built to block off the opening left when the air duct was removed:

Once the dash was all bolted in, I cut the holes for the lcd monitor housing to fit. Since I really didn't want to make a mistake, I actually cut up the old dash on my workbench first. Once I was happy with the fit, I transferred the measurements to the dash in the car, and made nice clean cuts that required minimal trimming.

I threw the center console back in, and I tossed the equipment into place. The lcd housing was just sitting in place half crooked and not in it's proper location. I just wanted to get a pic to get an idea of how it's going to work out:

When this is done it'll be a much nicer fit, and the side piece of the monitor housing will be shaped to conform to the shape of the dash behind it.

After I took these pics I figured out how to mount the monitor housing to the dash. I epoxied the mounts into place, and I epoxied some reinforcement bars behind the dash. I'm a bit concerned about the new dash cracking because of the combination of all the cutting, all the extra weight, and the lack of a center bar mounted to the cowl. I'm going to try to modify the center bracket to fit around the dvd player.

Anyway... soon I'll get pics of my mounting scheme, and pics of everything bolted in. Once I get to that point, I'll be able to make the side piece for the monitor housing, do the final body work to the housing, and get it painted up so that it'll match the rest of the dash.

It's absolutely amazing how much work it takes to make something look stock. If I just fiberglassed the monitor in I would have been done 2 months ago.

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It's done in these pics except that I've got to armor-all the original stuff so that the color looks right, and I've got to build a new trim & hiding scheme for the dvd player. Anyway, onto the final pics:

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Update (6/22/04)
I finally got the dash cleaned up and totally back together. Once I get my digicam back from repair, I'll post newer pics that look much nicer than the ones above that still showed all the dirt.

Page 1 - Exterior
Page 2 - LCD Installation
Page 3 - Head Unit Installation
Page 4 - DVD Installation
Page 5 - Finishing of LCD & DVD Installation
Page 6 - "Before" pictures from the day the car was purchased