OK, Here is what I have done recently.
1. New shifter and E brake handle.
2. Eclipse Radio and system(by Reus last month).
3. New mount for my radar detector.

I was sick of the old suction cup mount. It always wiggles and taps and sometimes comes off. So what I did is took off the suction cups, mounted a piece of clear plastic with screws through the suction cup holes. Then I used dual lock to mount it to my windshield. Super strong, doesn't move at all or tap.

 

Eclipse....

 

Mount for the escort....

 

One more...

Oh yea, I also used the dual lock to mount my garage door opener to the windshield high and next to the escort. That stuff is amazing.

 

Nice radar detector installation. A few questions:

1. Do the screw heads protruce into the lock mount a bit?
2. Where did you find the clear plastic? Is it just acrylic that a glass shop cut for you?
3. Is the lock mount the same stuff that comes with an EZ Pass? Where can you buy that stuff?

 

Well done Neil...

 

OK here are the answers.
1. The screw heads do protrude 1/8 of an inch or so. I just cut out the dual lock in that area. I used a 1/2 inch drill bit, so I can access the screw heads if I want.
2. you can get it at home depot. I just used what I had around the house, the piece is about 2 by 3 or so. Very small.
3. Yes, it is the same as easy pass. A ***** to get unless you want a ton of it. I couldn't find it so I called ez pass and talked them into sending me a piece, but it was too small. I then went on the web, but you have to buy at least a yard and then get ripped for the shipping and handling to the tune of $15 plus the $10 or so for the product. I even called 3M 3 times and they kept sending me to places that did not have it. I ended up on ebay and found 2 inch wide stuff I was looking for.

 

I suppose instead of the screws, you could have Krazy Glued the mount onto the clear plastic, no?

As to your garage door opener, dude -- you need to do a more elegant solution than that. There are a lot of ways to integrate it into the car. I'm sure you've seen most of the mods on this. I actually have it tucked within the overhead map console on my coupe with a little round button that I press and a small LED that lights up when I press it -- just like a Homelink. I don't remember whether the cabrio's have a similar console up there.

 

I thought of glueing the bracket to the plastic, but I wanted it to be reversable if it did not work out. Also with the bracket there is not much surface area and I didn't want it to abruptly fall, so the bolts are there to stay.

As far as the garage door opener is concerned, I looked at Kirby's mod and I took apart the light console but I did not see enough space. Can you send me a pic or description of yours? The thing I did is certainly not permanent.
Actually I would like to put the button right below the PSM button. Does that horseshoe shaped trim piece just pop off?

 

Nice setup

BTW, which Eclipse model is that?
And did you or Reus choose that model?

 

Thanks,
Reus wanted me to get the model down but was unable to get it in time, so we went with this one...
http://www.eclipse-web.com/cd/cd8445.html
And it does sound great.

 

Neil, nice job. There is lots of room for garage openers next to the A/C control behind the horseshoe. I have two openers, and they both fit in there. The horseshoe just snaps off, if you slide a butterknife behind it--takes 10 seconds.
Can I ask what it took to replace the factory stereo in a fiber optic equipped car? Did you have to get all new speakers, amps etc, and how much can I expect to pay?

 

I used a garage door opener that's about 1"x2", and it easily fit in the overhead console. But, remember, I have a coupe, so it may be different on your cabriolet.

Here's a link to my installation:

http://www.986host.com/albums/Oggie/...sche.sized.jpg

 

looks great! where did you get the shifter and ebrake from? and let me know how much it ran you if you don't mind, as far as the detector goes, do you still have your power cord dangling from all the way up there or is it hard wired? the reason i'm asking is i too have a 8500 and want to get rid of the darn power cord....
thanks
Shalil

 

Bavarian,
What do you mean, slide a butter knife? Won't it just pop off if I pull it. Where do you slide the knife?
Reus did the install. Do a search with his name and you will see all the posts. He put in a new radio. He did use the existing wires for the factory speaker locations and replaced the wires for the subs. 3 amps. Cost? That is a question Reus likes to answer. He has 3 systems and with out the radio they start at 3K, the second is 4k the third is 5k. These are prices that were accurate when I did mine. They may have changed. Let me tell you his systems kick *** and are a value, believe it or not. The local experts wanted more for a lesser system and had no idea how it would sound. Reus has done thousands of them and knows how it will sound....well worth it. Like I said do a search and see what others think.