Alpine ILX F509A floating Head Unit

The challenge is to mount this beautiful floating head unit (HU) onto my car. 

But this car does not have factory brackets. It uses cage type to install single din. Alpine is also single din but cage bracket is too weak to support the 9 inch screen let alone trying to tilt it backwards.  So 1.2mm Aluminium plate was chosen as a suitable material to make a suitable bracket.  The bracket determines how far the floating display projects outwards from the car's cosmetic panel. I used cardboard to mark out its position and template it onto the car as a rough guide.

Alpine has 2 parts to install, one is the head unit and another display unit that connects it via a special connector . The 2 units are locked using 4 M5 screws. So the single cannot be mounted too far in or the screw driver will not be able to tighten the screws 

Test fit for easy access of screw holes 

Use cardboard again to estimate the size of the single din mounting bracket and cut it to size.

Make M5 transfer screws to mark the single din mounting holes accurately.

4 transfer screws in place ready to mark

Left and Right side templates

Marking the holes accurately

With the marked holes, drill to 5mm diameter and fit it onto the Alpine HU.

Use masking tape to mark out the excess material and remove 

Then mark the position of the mounting holes for the dash board panel using Acrylic  material and transfer over to the mounting bracket.

 

Before transferring the hole position, use a brake bender and bend the Aluminium bracket. 

Drill the Aluminium bracket and test fit.

Mount the bracket onto the HU and pray that the mounting holes line up on the dash board.

Oops , this picture has no dashboard holes  but you get the idea.

Then the big empty space at the top, just 3D print ABS and blank it off.

Assemble back all the cosmetic covers,  cables and linkages. 

Do the wiring harness for the HU  and plug it in.

This HU has no dimmer wire . It has a light sensor in front of the screen to detect light and auto dims the screen at night.

Adjust the height of the screen and fit it to the HU. Power up and enjoy.

TURN the key to ACC position and watch the magic happens on the 9 inch screen. Music playback is done at 96khz sampling at 24 bits!! Mind blowing sound and every musical instrument can be heard clearly.

The difficulty of this project is high. It involves precision mounting and drilling the holes exactly where it should be. You can drill oversize holes but with experience, the holes can be spot on  and the mount is more secure and stable. 

AERPRO sells third party Fascia mounting brackets but its all rubbish.  When you try to tilt and adjust the screen, the whole assembly will break loose and don't forget its a moving car  with lots of vibration.

DONE!!!