I got the Kenwood, but wasn't sure I wanted to cut the ashtray to fit it, so I started digging around and came across this:

Sirius SC-FM1 Starbase

Looks like it'll squeeze in the ashtray, XM Commander-like. I'm ordering it up today.

 

Looks great, let us see the install when you are done.

 

working on it now, just need to figure out how to drill thru the ashtray.

 

Well, I got the install about 75% done last night. Took awhile... was taking my time with it.

Anyway, the controller is in the ashtray and fits like a glove. I still need to build a mounting block for it, as the film canisters were about 2mm too tall. I'm finishing my basement though, so there's plenty of scrap wood to cut and fit for it.

I put the tuner in the console for now, and may leave it there. I'm just gonna carpet-tape it to the bottom for now, but I'd like to mount it to the back of the console, since it's pretty much impossible to reach back that far anyway. We'll see how it goes with the carpet tape, because it's kind of a weird angle to drill for the mounting at the bottom back edge of the console.

I ran the wires through the console from behind the radio, all the way back to the rear cupholders, and drilled a hole at the top back of the console opening to feed them thru. The nice thing about that is it's easily accessible by removing the trim around the armrest (2 screws), and since the console storage area extends almost to the cupholders in the backseat, there's ample space to easily drill a hole to run wires. 5/8" bit did the trick.

I could've probably put the tuner behind the dash, since there's a ton of space back there, but I couldn't find a surface that I felt would secure it enough. I didn't want it to jar itself loose and rattle around in there. It's much easier to open the console then it is to take the dash apart to re-stick or re-mount something.

I tapped directly into the wires coming out of the head unit for the power, and it switches like the radio now, meaning it stays on until the door is opened.

Figuring out where and how to drill the ashtray was fun, and it took a bit of drilling and a file to get it to work, then some figuring on how exactly the spring went back in, since it fell off before I could see how it went together as I was taking the ashtray off.

I also still have to install the antenna, which I hope to place under the wiper cowl like others have done here. The antenna on my '03 Screw seemed to gank up the roof a little bit, so if I can avoid putting it there, I will.

I didn't get any pics of the install yet, cuz I figured that most of what I'd done was already available in picture form here somewhere (at least, that's how I figured out how to do some of it). I didn't find any pics here that showed the hole in the ashtray, so I'll probably post one of my hack job there. Also, since I still have to run the antenna cable to the tuner, I'll likely take pictures of the wires routed thru the console and the hole I drilled to feed them into the storage bin.

Hopefully tonight I'll be able to do that.

cheers!

oh, and btw, if you're planning on doing something similar, be sure to have a unibit in your toolbox. It would've been much easier to drill thru the ashtray with one.

 

Can't wait to see your pic's, sounds nice.

 

I got a couple pics of the wire run and the hole in the console storage bin.

The front of the console, where the wires go into the center stack up to the radio:

 

The wire run along the inside of the console. There are five screws to remove: 2 to remove the cupholders/armrest surround, and three to take out of the console itself to make it easier to run the wires:

 

Here's the hole I drilled to run the wires. I still have yet to mount or even stick the tuner unit down. I also haven't completed the controller installation. Still need some black paint, velcro, and carpet tape:


If you'd like additional, or even bigger pictures, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

 

looks good so far...any posts of the finished install?

 

No, not yet. Been a pretty hectic couple of weeks, so I haven't completed it. All that's left is securing the tuner itself, as well as the controller. I cut a block to mount it, but wanted to see if it would work before mounting it, and it's too small, so I need to cut another one. Soon I'll complete it.

 

Any updates phenom? Thanks!