Overhead console in your VX?

[thebear54]

Super nice job
John

[mbeach]

Thanks for the inspiration!

[Raque Thomas]

Super nice installation! For those of you with sunroofs - you might want to check out the mini roof consoles in the new Trail Blazers. I just put one in my VX (check my gallery), and it comes with sunglass holder, Homelink garage door openner and digital voice recorder. Paid $25 for it off eBay.

[Navigator]

...Looks great too I just might give that a try. Congrats, and thanks for the idea.

[Maverick]

Glad to hear my little project is well recieved..took me quite awhile to get it done, but the project as a whole wasnt high on the difficulty scale..
the hardest part was figuring out the wiring without a schematic. if you do this, id highly recommend you take the time to get the wiring diagram from the source vehicle of the console..im still having minor issues with the temp display as itll lock up, and not update the temperature. i suspect that i have a ground mixed up someplace, as it bench tested perfectly. even though i went precisely by my notes from testing, its still not quite right, but ill figure it out eventually. its probably something simple.
the other issue that came up was in the mounting. I couldnt move it to far forward as it would interfere with the visors. since im short and have to keep my seat a good deal forward, the display is just slightly out of my normal line of sight. this shouldnt be an issue with anyone with longer legs though..another inch or two back on the seat , and it would be fine for most..
I choose the gm console over the chrysler type because it seemed to need the least modification to fit the roof line, but just about any overhead can be used if your willing to spend the extra time adding or removing material to form the proper contours..
next up, is adding a rear dome, super bright led's in all the doors (red for visibility, and white for functionality, and a couple of 12v outlets in the back for convienience (cell phone chargeer, outlet for mini air compressor, and other "stuff") and if i get really enthusiastic, id like to build a voltmeter and a/f meter from micro leds and integrate it into the dash pod somehow. got all the circuitry, just have to get around to putting them together...

[jim.LR>AR]

that is the bomb. Got to do it haven't done anything in awhile . to darn cold.

Was there any adtional wiring for the compass? or is it built in . how long was the metal piece? Does it stay up well?

[Maverick]

you have to run a few wires, pretty much its the same as , say a car stereo. you can use the original dome light wiring for a constant 12v, and the door pin wire there for the dome lights, and the sheet metal base for a grounding point. But you still need to run the temp sensor wires, the ignition wires, and illumination "dimmer" wire. i built a separate wiring harness for this, that i spliced into the original connectors (i was sure to keep boths sides of the plugs when i removed it from the donor vehicle, with enough wire for good splices.) I soldiered all "permanent" connections in the harness i constructed.

hope that helps...

[reptiles]

id like to build a voltmeter

I snagged this LED critter for $15 shipped:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250232445030

It does need a 5 V voltage regulator, though ($1.29 Radioshack) on the + input.