Disclaimer: This guide is only to show how I completed this project. It is not step by step directions. Make sure to always read and understand all documentation that comes with the products you are installing. Disconnect the battery cable before doing any type of electrical work on your vehicle.


I had this idea because of the fact that my clock on the head unit is tiny. (as seen below in the top right corner)



Also if the unit is off I have no clock.

I have always preferred the look of an analog clock over a digital one. I started looking at the dash to see if there was a flat surface big enough to mount a decent sized clock. I was basically coming up with a blank until I remembered a part I had seen earlier on the Roush site. It is a 2 1/16 gauge pod that is designed to "fit" into 2005-08 Mustangs and 2004-08 F-150s.

I didn't take a picture of the part itself but here is a part number for reference:
R13020029-10-AA

The clock I chose is made by Auto Meter. Part No 1485
I had to special order it from Autozone. It can also be bought online but it wasn't any cheaper for me to do so.

With that being said, on to the write-up!

I decided to put the clock in the vent on the right of the driver. I felt like this would be the most logical place for it but I suppose it could be mounted in any vent.



You remove the vent grille and trim ring simply by reaching in the vent and pulling it out. It is normal for there to be a fairly loud clicking sound as the piece comes out.


After you pull out the vent remove the trim ring by carefully popping off each of the four clips.



Now as I said earlier this vent pod claims to fit 2004-08 F-150s. According to the directions supplied with the pod there are only two clips that hold the trim ring to the grille on the vent. Ford must have changed the design because there are four clips and they do not line up with the tabs on the vent pod. I verified this was also true on a 2006 F-150. I ended up just removing the "F-150 tabs" and gluing the trim ring to the pod.

Now going back to the dash. With the vent piece removed you can see that there is another duct piece that connects to the main hvac system. This is removed by lifting up the three large tabs and pulling it out. Unfortunately I did not take a picture here. Now you will have a space between the main duct and the dash. This is where all the wires will be routed from.



I decided to wire the light for the clock into the dimmer relay on my audio harness and the ground as well(obviously). Everything all soldered together. The red and white wires coming off near the top of the picture are connected to the bulb.



I soldered the power and ground wires for the clock into the lighter circuit. All wires were cut and soldered, not just spliced in. I would have preferred to use heat-shrink on all connections but I just didn't have any bigger sizes.



The wires are simply routed through the dash up into the vent. This is a shot of the wires all routed after the inside piece of the outer duct is reinstalled.



All that's left to do is solder on the spade connectors for the clock power and to hook it up.

Here is a couple finished pics. I'm definitely happy with the way it came out.






I probably missed a few things. If there are any questions please feel free to ask. I welcome comments and opinions on this.

 

Looks great but doesn't everyone these days have a cell phone at least? I have the same radio and at times thought about the tiny time imprint but that's when i look at my phone. Again looks good but kinda out of place but thats why we are all different.

 

Doesn't anyone wear watches anymore ? ? ?

 

i would have put it in the coin holder hole so you still could use the air vent, but nice work.

 

Nice work, but i agree, I need the air in the Texas summers. That coin holder slot is useless, but maybe too small?

 

Very creative. Nice work.

 

Very nice job and write-up. Looks great.

Although I do agree with this:
especially since the center vents put out more air than the outside ones.

 

I like this idea!! But since you have have a 2wd I think I would have tried for the coin holder...

 

Thanks for the compliments. It is definitely more of a style thing. I guess I kind of did it just to do it. Something different.

Actually I collect watches and never leave the house without one on my wrist.

I was considering the coin holder at first but the pic below explains why I didn't go that route.


The air vent still works. It does lower the air flow a bit but I can still feel the air blowing on me from that vent.

 

dont mean to get off topic but I see you have just about the same dash as I do... I am about to mount some switches and I see yours there on either side of the cig lighter and my first instinct was to put one there also but then i took it apart and saw that there are like 2 round snap "ringish" things that keep it in place??? so I was like wooo woo woo if i screw that up then it will always want to make noises and all types of stuff idk maybe just in my head... I see it looks like you centered them in the center of those..rings im talking about... any issues?