Some Measurements needed...

[Lwanmtr]

Ok, so I have an idea for a thing to reroute the center vents in a non destructive manner but I need some help from anyone who has a single DIN flip out screen thingy that covers the
vents. Basically, I need to get a measurement of how much room is behind the screen to the vents and along the sides screen to console vinyl.

I dont yet have one of those, which is why I'm askin anyone here if they can get that.

Anyone who helps out will be able to test any prototype I come up with too

[Robmac123]

I have one, but it's not yet installed so I can't get the measurements for you unfortunately.
However, I do know from my shopping around and research before I bought one that the amount the screen sticks forward when open does vary a bit (maybe by and inch on the ones I tested), so you may not be able to make a one-size-fits-all solution.
I also found some single Din size spacers in assorted sizes from about 3/8" and 1" that bring the whole unit forward. I plan on using one to try to limit the blocking of the vents to the minimum. It might look a little 'off' but as long as it doesn't look too bad I think the trade off for more airflow would be worth it. Plus the stereo I chose was one of the ones I found that the screen pops forward nicely as it opens.
Hope my ramblings are of some use to you.

I'm really interested to see what you come up with.

[Lwanmtr]

Thanks.

Yeah, I figured there are slight differences in different makes and models..If I got multiple measurements from different folks, It would be easier to make something more universal.

I have the design in my head...which I'm sure is not gonna work when I actually make the thing...lol

[Shep]

Hope my ramblings are of some use to you.

You haven't met DMCVegas have you? Verbose and thorough that man, but knowledgeable so it works out. Your post was like 10% of what he normally does though lol



Someone on here reversed the vents and the radio slot by modifying the HVAC unit. Here's a link to the thread with dead-link pics. OP of that thread posted in April, so it's possible a bump the thread might have him provide fresh pics, but I'm interested to see if archive.org has that page somewhere with active pics. He had to fabricate something inside the HVAC unit itself that sits behind the radio.

I have an old HVAC unit myself that I've been wanting to a different flavor of the mod on, basically screw the center vents entirely and do a double-DIN radio in its place, but that has been on hold pending more pressing projects. Rather than the center vents, I would block off the doors too and simply put one vent per driver's kneepad, two vents in the passenger kneepad. That would be it for the whole car, which would also allow the ducting space within each door to suddenly become available for things (not sure what yet, biggest problem is lack of available wires in the door, we'd need to run a new batch of them to each door before we tried anything like that).

Of course, if you're just worried about the amount of air blocking, you'd probably want to do the foam mods first. Seals up any loose air pockets behind the radio faceplate (and the door vent becomes actually usable too). Don't have links, check the tutorials section but I think @Michael did it (I know the @ thing doesn't work here but you get my point). By that point, many of the HU's on the market have adjustable angles to combat glare, so it's a simple matter of tilting the screen up and down to adjust air clearance. Just avoid cranking on the heat too hard with the screen seated fully up, A/C can help but heat might kill the screen early.

[Lwanmtr]

My idea is to preserve the center vent usability, even if it lessens the amount coming from there, the rest would be pushed to the door vents. Considered the kneepad solution, but dont wanna cut up mine (not really confident in my ability)...shuffling the vents and radio I also thought about but with as much a pain as it was to get the rubber duct around the vent and the box, I dont wanna pull that out again if I dont have to...hehe.

Hehe...yeah DMCVega does tend to write in volume form, but its usually useful information.

[Shep]

My idea is to preserve the center vent usability, even if it lessens the amount coming from there, the rest would be pushed to the door vents. Considered the kneepad solution, but dont wanna cut up mine (not really confident in my ability)...shuffling the vents and radio I also thought about but with as much a pain as it was to get the rubber duct around the vent and the box, I dont wanna pull that out again if I dont have to...hehe.

I've been getting more interested in airflow these days, part of the problem becomes the longer the ductwork is, the less output you have. Drag on the ducts, but every curve you make also is a pretty tricky one. If losing a bit of airflow is tolerable, there's good options.

One thought: angle the vents a bit outward. This can be fairly easy, but again depends on the HU. Better to just install one and see what kind of angle you can get. Essentially, the center of each of the two vents gets pushed towards the back of the car further, so the vents face the seats more than straight back. Best example I could find was a sub box I saw recently:



Overhead shot on the right shows my idea best. Simple, elegant, and can be fairly easily made. Heck I'm sure it could be 3D printed for that matter, I have some black PETG that would look great with that guy. Go over with a heat gun and wouldn't even be able to tell it's 3D printed either. But again, measurements WILL vary by HU. Angle plays a large factor in that (3 degrees is like half an inch I think on bigger screens), but so also does mounting depth. You can actually adjust the mounting depth, so if you need some extra clearance, bolt it to the DIN mount so it sticks out a slight bit and that should solve it. Different HU's mount in different depths.

Actually, had a probably way better thought. I have about the cheapest Chinese garbage flip-up HU on the market. Rebranded DVD player that didn't take DVD's, it's worth like a dollar, but gave me a screen for a backup camera. I needed it for my 2014 Impreza to back up properly. The radio below it was single DIN also, but didn't survive the accident (55 MPH into my fully stopped ass, yeah that was fun), but I haven't tested the screen because I didn't think it was needed. That said, it's a fairly simple mechanism, the angle adjusts to fully horizontal to about 18 degrees off vertical leaning back. Do you want it? No charge if you do (PM me your address though!), I'm just glad I finally figured out what I could do with it And hey, feel free to throw it out when you're done, I think that's where they took it from in the first place

Hehe...yeah DMCVega does tend to write in volume form, but its usually useful information.

Agreed on that!

[Lwanmtr]

The design I have in mind is pretty simple and if I have enough room, I can easily get curves right to send the air around a screen...kind of a pain not having one right now to get an idea of hoe much space is there. (i'll send a pm)

Gonna be printing at least the early designs in either pla or abs...should easily handle the heat from the vents.

[Shep]

The design I have in mind is pretty simple and if I have enough room, I can easily get curves right to send the air around a screen...kind of a pain not having one right now to get an idea of hoe much space is there. (i'll send a pm)

Gonna be printing at least the early designs in either pla or abs...should easily handle the heat from the vents.

NEVER use PLA inside a car. Glassing temp is low enough for failure within one summer day. Learned that one the hard way on dash cam mounts in my Subaru Impreza (read: colder interior). For test fits, it works great and I abuse the hell out of it, but never the final product.

ABS can be quite brittle, I've had constant failures with them that destroy the entire part. PETG is messy to print (Hatchbox is, at least), and it seems to extrude incredibly thin, so far more is needed to compensate. ABS-R filament sold by the guys at M3D seems to remove most of the issues of PETG, and despite the misleading name, is based on PETG. Haven't tried much else, but there's a lot out there. Still exploring!

[Lwanmtr]

Yeah there are alotta different filaments..seems like something new everytime i look..lol. I usually get mine from Matterhackers, only had a couple that were actually bad..and prints I did a few years ago are still intact. Probably going to try some PETG in my next order..just to see what its like.

[Nicholas R]

Shep is right, the heat from the heater is more than enough to break down PLA over time.