These are pictures of the progress work on the digital mirrors. The door CAMS are wide angle as is the rear bumper mirror... was to be completed today, but the housing cover on top of the dak did not get the correct matching vynl delivered... may be done tomorrow night.

The angle of the housing matches the angles of the pod and the right edge lines up with the glove box. Transportation Electronics in Hopkins Minnesota is doing all the work.

The screens are 2.5" color and the mirror on my window will be removed.

 

you cut a hole in a perfectly good dash????????
shame on you

 

Brave project. I'm planning the same, because I will lose rearview due to further body mods.

Why only 2.5" screens? your eyes will hurt looking at them. Why not install the screens in place of the rear view mirror, or just below it, where the tiny screens are much easier to view? My plan is for one screen under the rear view mirror, and 2 screens on eth A pillars so that I keep with my driving habits. This would allow bigger screens...just my opinion though.

Also have you considered using the existing mirror mounts instead? Mine will be molded into the body, but if I were to bolt them on, I would use existing mirror mounts. Looks like you already introduced the new holes in the door.

Good luck and please keep us posted

 

Actually the dash has a slight crack... will get that fixed before it gets out of control. I thought of hanging down from the top (the original plan), but thought your eye leaves the forward site as it is now looking up at the rear view and secure mounting might be a problem. I think the 2-1/2 inch screens will be OK, about 1/3rd more area than the screen on my Treo Phone that I can see OK at arms length, and the guys at Transportation Electronics think it will be fine. The squares you see on the panel will be consumed by the screens (the holes are not the actual screen size)... we will wait and see I guess.

 

There going to be any fairing over the camera/stalks?
Pretty easy to get snagged by anyone walking by the door with loose strap.
Guess hooking bikini knot will be ok.

I've got my IPAQ pda as GPS unit on center vent mount.
Not too far to look down from view of road and far enough from driver so
there's no constant close/distance focusing.
Also fairing will help keep any dust/rain off that tiny camera lens.
Not that you'd be driving it in the rain.

Ernest (NYC)

 

When the car goes into the body shop I'll have them make a fairing...

 

Why??

 

Why not just use the standard mirror holes?

 

When you see the overall car with the camera placed where it is, it actually is not that noticeable, if it were lower it would not be in line with the window edge and more noticeable. The camera is very small, but in the photos close up looks larger than it actually is. Since the car will have all holes and edges smoothed out, filling the existing mirror holes was no big deal. That was the reasoning for location.

 

I was out of town when my son picked up the car... it was $500 over estimated price ($3000), and the following is what is currently wrong:

1) The screens are considerably smaller than the mock-up example they showed me... they are 2 1/2" diagonal, so they must have shown me 4" and used 2-1/2" instead. They are useable, if it were not for the fact they used wide angle cameras...

2) The rear view camera in the bumper is wide angle and washes out when any headlight (even in day time) is pointed to it. They do make camera that correct for this... mine does not. The wide angle from the bumper shows a car front just inches away from the rear... if I had known that, I could have gotten away with a single rear view wide angle, and a single screen, because I can clearly see cars in both lanes until they are in my vision!

3) The side camera are totally worthless... I did not realize wide angle could get close to 180 degrees... I just want to see the lane next to me, not the entire landscape, lanes on the other side of the highway, the buildings 1/4 mile to the left and right of my cameras... Cars? You dont even see them in wide angle until they are right on you, and even then they look far away! In fact as cars pass me I can still see them in my screens!

When I contacted Transportation Electronics, I asked why they would use such wide cameras... they said in a snooty tone... "well we ordered weatherproof" and that was the only criteria! They said they would investigate options... meanwhile the car is in for a fuel injection setup, then goes directly to the body shop, so when the correct cameras arrive, I'll have Vescio's Customizing do the work. The current plan is to hide the side cameras in the side gills that Vescio's will fabricate.

Rick

 

Doesn't look to good to me; at least for a professional job.
Why didn't you place the rear camera in the indent above the plate? I have mine there and if I didn't tell you it was there, you wouldn't even notice it. I'll snap a few shots tonight.

I've seen wide angle sideview cameras placed in the vicinity of the front side markers and they were much smaller than what you have. Streamlined and angled to look as if the were part of the sidemarker itself(but not on a shark).

 

Malibu,

My advice is for yourself to play around with positioning of cameras, angles, screen size, etc...and then have someone else execute the work. You might want to consider a single bullet camera mounted to the top of the hatch. I would experiment to the nth degree before committing to yet another shop. For that kind of money, you should have night and infrared vision with radar and self cleaning lenses in mud and rain ala racecam!!!

 

How's doing the installation? It's not West Coast Customs from Pimp My Ride is it?

 

Breast Implants are cheaper than this work done by Transportation Electronics in Hopkins Minnesota... and a single roof mounted bullet camera slighly wide angle would have worked in hindsight.. I'll give this guy a chance to make it right IF he gets back to me.

 

Rick - Why would you want implants?


Sorry this is going poorly. Is this the first time they've done this type of project? What is the back up plan?