2006 Cadillac CTS Install

Scott · March 20th, 2007, 03:31 PM

Hello all,

I jst started my installation after years of planning. I am a long time Centrafuse user, but new to posting on the boards. Posting my install because I appreciate all you guys out there who have done the same and shared your experiences, many of them were very helpful in planning my own install.

Just wanted to start the thread and list my current hardware components:

VEHICLE: 2006 Cadillac CTS, black
VIA EPIA SP13000 Motherboard
512MB RAM
80GB Hard Drive
Lilliput 7" Touchscreen display
Slimline slot-loading CD drive and InfoSafe USB enclosure
2 DLink 4-port USB Hubs
Linksys 802.11G USB Adaptor
Belkin F8T012 Bluetooth Dongle
BU-353 GPS Receiver
Qwerty miniature keyboard

- Scott

Scott · March 20th, 2007, 03:32 PM

Day 1, Radio Faceplate Fabrication

Details of removal of radio from the CTS can be found here:
http://www.cadillacfaq.com/faq/answers/radbezel.html

I used a dremel tool to cut out the area where the cd player slot was located, in order to place a 7" Lilliput touchscreen panel. I bought this tool specifically for this project, what a great investment! This tool is great!

Scott · March 23rd, 2007, 03:42 AM

Days of bondo, spot putty, sanding and painting am I am almost to the point where I can install the LCD...

I matched the interior paint at a small shop called Automotive Color Supply, thanks guys!

Note the plastic coating on the radio bezel was very sensitive, I tried to keep my sanding off of this, but in the lower left corner where I molded the LCD bezel in place I sanded a piece of it and it gummed up, the more I tried to remove the gummed up coating, the worse it got. If you're working on a Cadi, be warned!

lightwave · March 28th, 2007, 08:03 AM

I didn't want to interrupt the flow of this thread, but I really like this. It's always interesting I think to see people's DIY fab work and how they integrate hardware.

Keep it coming man!

Scott · March 31st, 2007, 12:56 AM

Days 6 - 10: Installation

Mounting the PCB's back into the housing, after inserting LCD into it's molded-in bezel...

Microphone Placement...

Accessible USB Port... Here you can really notice too what I was talking about in Post #3, the surface getting gummed up and me having to paint past where I wanted too. You can really see it around the USB port. To be honest though you can barely tell inside the car where it's not open lighting....

Assembled Radio/LCD Bezel...

Scott · March 31st, 2007, 12:59 AM

Day 11, placement of Radio/LCD screen back into car...

Ran into some issues here, including LCD going "over range" after being powered for an hour, and noticed that my "Band" button on the radio is not working well, I have to really press it hard to get it to work. Have to take back apart and fix these issues, installation into vehicle to resume tomorrow.

Scott · March 31st, 2007, 08:24 PM

Installed new LCD screen, this seems to have fixed the issue with the "Over Range" problem. Not sure if it was the lcd itself, or somewhere in the PCB, don't care much, it works now

. Also fixed the "Band button problem, had to cut away some of the rubber insert from beneath the PCB. Here are some photos I quickly snapped, the car's still a mess and I still have odds and ends to do like mounting the CD player. I'll post final photos within a few days...

russoxley187 · June 5th, 2007, 10:58 AM

Where did you get the maps?
I really love this app, but I cant find maps for North Carolina

Scott · June 6th, 2007, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by russoxley187

Where did you get the maps?
I really love this app, but I cant find maps for North Carolina

Destinator maps are not commercially available for the pc, I think most people use their maps from the PDA version of the Destinator software. Personaly, at the moment, I used iGuidance and the CF iGuidance plugin for my nav. June 14 though, CF will be comercially released with Destinator, and you can obtain all North American maps if you purchase the XLE version...

Scott · March 4th, 2010, 04:30 AM

wow i cant believe this much time has went by... now working for flux, at the time I did this I was just the average user... funny...
5 installations later, (nothing cosmetically though except for a new screen and a new bexel paintjob, looks much better now, especially the spot that was screwed up around the usb port), I'll have to update this thread a bit when I get a chance...
I'll have to get my daughter to take some good pics of the current install, I am not very good with the camera... coming soon :-)
then next will be multi screens in the rear seats (hint hint)