I was wondering if anyone has a neat way of covering up the empty sled when you take out the EMPEG? It looks kinda ugly with a big hole there. The TT Audi has a nice flip up/down faceplate, I think. Anyone make anything custom?

Squid2k1
---
18GB of Green Mk II Fury - Fast As A Shark

When I had a VW GTI, there was an original Volkswagen part- a plastic cover plate that's normally used to cover the hole in models that didn't have a radio. I used this for a long time with a pull-out CD player, and also used it for the Empeg. It worked very well and I never had any thefts when I used it.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a corresponding part for my Honda. When I asked about it at the dealership, the parts-guy told me that Hondas don't come without a radio, so there's no such thing as this kind of a part. So I just have a gaping hole now when I leave my car. I can't use the VW part because it doesn't fit and wouldn't look right anyway.

There was a thread in the "Wish List" forum recently (shortly before you joined this BBS) regarding this topic. Some folks wanted to turn the empty bay into a storage compartment. A plastic sleeve insert with a door on the front was the idea (sort of like the storage compartment in my Honda). It was even suggested that they use a part from the docking connector to secure it, and also wire the line-ins to the line-outs so that it would work as a pass-through connection when you didn't have the Empeg with you. No one has ever done this as a custom job, though, and I think the Empeg guys decided that it'd be too expensive to develop one themselves.

___________
Tony Fabris

Surely thieves would not steal an empty sled ? On the other hand an empty sled does look kind of unattractive I guess.

Cheers,
Hans


Mk2 - Blue - 080000431

No they don't steal the sled, they break into the car to look for the stereo. I know it's happened to me more than once.

They think that if it's a removable stereo, you may have put it in the boot/under the seat/in the glove box, which of course, you haven't, but they still cause a load of damage in the process.

Cheers,

Paul.

Paul Haigh, Reg. 4120
(mk1) 6GB, Blue, 00254
(mk2) 12GB, Red, 00357

Hmmm, I see your point ...

Actually they did that to me once in Utrecht except I think it was the 20 or so CD-cases in the door-storage-compartments... Actually, they left the radio that time even though it was still in the car (detachable front - type) with the front hidden on the sun-flap (or whatever the correct english name is for that gizmo)...

Last time I ever park my car in Utrecht ... The cops didn't even wanna write it up even though it is mandatory for me to be able to file a claim with the insurance companies in Belgium.

Oh well ...

Cheers,
Hans

ps. I did look around for something that one could use for this ... Nothing sofar ...


Mk2 - Blue - 080000431

Car stereo installation supplier Metra have a universal "pocket" that's intended for use in double-DIN vehicles like Toyotas, Subarus, and recent Volvos. The part is shown about halfway down http:// http://www.tune-town.com/Installation/detail.asp?subcat=toyota . I toss the pocket in the empty sled above a Blaupunkt head in my Volvo, and it looks as stock as I can expect.

Thanks for that link! For those who had trouble with that link in the last message, the corrected URL is this one.

This looks interesting. Seems like, with a little careful cutting, that would drop perfectly into the Empeg sled. For $22.00 and a little elbow grease, it looks like a winner. Anyone want to try it and let us know if it works?

___________
Tony Fabris

Wow! Since installing my Empeg I've had my Toyota pocket sitting on the kitchen counter... I tested it, and with a little filing, and maybe a little foam padding it should do the trick. I've been wary of destroying it since I don't know if I will be selling my car in the future.

I think I have some experimenting to do... Anyone know of a place to get other stock dashboard parts?

Brian H. Johnson
MK2 36GB Blue
"Born to Lose..."

Yeah this might be a winner. Let us know how this goes!

-Tony
MkII #554

Tony,

I'm pretty sure you can get a Honda without a stereo. My father's 1990 Civic EX came without a stereo at his request. When he took delivery of the car, there was a piece of plastic covering the stereo hole with the word HONDA in large letters on it. One thing about this though is that it pops in easily enough, but is tough to remove quickly.

When he took delivery of the car, there was a piece of plastic covering the stereo hole with the word HONDA in large letters on it.

That is precisely the piece I am looking for. I know they exist for older models of Honda, but the guy at the dealership was extremely unhelpful in looking up old part numbers for me. He wanted an exact make and model, and I didn't know which models had the piece.

Now that I know the year and model, I will look it up at Majestic and see if they have it. Thanks!

___________
Tony Fabris

Okay, I think it's part number 37 on this page. I guess I'll just order it and find out when it comes in the mail, eh?

___________
Tony Fabris

WOW! that's cool, I need to find something like that for my jetta, if i ever need replacement body/interior parts.. the internet is a cool thing, no more driving around to dealerships looking for spare plastics.

12gig green mk2 -- 080000125

Sorry about the bad URL. Every web-based BBS does that slightly differently, and I've been spending most of my time on one that lets you put in arbitrary HTML.

Here's a small photo showing the pocket installed above the head unit in my V70.

Remove the pocket, and you see the empty sled...

... drop the head unit faceplate, and the dash looks pretty well torn up.

Finally, a shot of the pocket, removed and placed on the dash. I used the thick fascia (it comes with three,) because as you'll notice in the above photo, I have the sled set back about four millimetres from flush.

WOW! that's cool, I need to find something like that for my jetta, if i ever need replacement body/interior parts.

Yeah, I was pretty impressed with that Majestic Honda site, how they have the whole catalog up there on the web, totally browsable. Very useful, I've already ordered other parts from them for similar projects.

___________
Tony Fabris

Neat photos! Thanks!

So it looks like it fits perfectly. Does it rattle about very much or anything? What did you need to do to make it fit well?

___________
Tony Fabris

Didn't have to do a thing -- there's just a little friction from the edges of the fascia and the top edge of the head unit, which holds it in place. No rattles, no worries. In other situations, it might be reasonable to cement a strip or two of additional ABS on the bottom of the pocket, with perhaps a scrap of Teflon for easy insertion and removal.

For those who had trouble with that link in the last message, the corrected URL is this one
Neither link works for me. Just get a server error, although I can get as far as http://www.tune-town.com/Installation/

What category is it listed in?

Squid2k1
---
18GB of Green Mk II Fury - Fast As A Shark

Neither link works for me. Just get a server error.

Oh, sorry, my fault.

There. I rebooted the Internet for you. Try it now.

___________
Tony Fabris

Oh, sorry, my fault. There. I rebooted the Internet for you. Try it now.
Ahh, the all powerful Tony Fabris.


Squid2k1
---
18GB of Green Mk II Fury - Fast As A Shark

Sorry about the bad URL
Don't worry about it. All powerful Tony fixed it.

Anyway, it looks good. I was kind of hoping for something like the TT Audi's where it has a logo and all that. Something snazzy, I guess. I am thinking I may modify something like yours and put a logo on it. It would be nice if I could make it a flip-up/down.

Thanks for being helpful in my quest!

Squid2k1
---
18GB of Green Mk II Fury - Fast As A Shark

Yup, that was it. Got it in the mail this morning. Part number 37 on this page is the correct part to disguise the empty sled on my Honda. With shipping, it came to $20.50.

The piece requires just a tiny bit of trimming to work correctly (some of the alignment tabs get in the way with the sled in place), but the plastic is reasonably soft and was fairly easy to cut with a Swiss Army Knife. However, learn from my mistakes and always cut away from yourself and your loved ones. (The small cut on my hand still stings.) Also, there are two metal spring clips I needed to remove. Other than that, it's the same solution I had in my GTI, except this time with an authentic Honda part instead of a VW part.

Thanks, BarryB, for giving me the exact year and model number I needed to obtain the part.

___________
Tony Fabris