So, I finally got back my upgraded V1. It really wasn't much of an upgrade, more like trade in. Cost me about $300 inluding shipping to trade in my 15 year old V1.

I probably could have been smart about it and sold my original for $300 or so and bought a new one for $400, but ohwell. Time vs convenience. Convenience won this round.

I hate having cords sticking out and I have done a hard-wire to my other vehicles so I thought I would do it to the 997.2. I looked and searched and found a few different ways to hard-wire the V1 to the 997.2. Both were OK, but I thought I would do it my way.

First thing was to decide were to mount the V1. I had to decide between low/high and left/center/right. I had a mount I used in my F150 that mounted under the mirror, I tried but I just didn't like the placement. I didn't want it too low, so I opted for high. Now, had to decide left or right side of the rear view. I opted for the left side. So, my install goes high left. Great.

Next, I had to locate my contact points. Removed the center dome. Man, those clips suck to remove. I had to give up on the last one (cab top signal).

Found and tested the Black/Orange cable that led to the auto-dimming mirror. Great.

Next, needed a ground. I didn't want to just tap into a ground wire, so I had to back track to find a nice ground point. Removed the visor, then removed the A pillar. Hmm, what is that, a little 8mm bolt. Perfect. Found my ground.

Next was to make a cable. I used a mirror tap cable before on the F150, but I didn't feel like paying another $25 and figured I could make one myself for a fraction. So, I needed:

1. Phone cable
2. Black Wire
3. Red Wire
4. 2 AMP inline micro fuse.
5. Shrink tube

Heated up my soldering iron and went to town. Once I got the cable made and before I shrunk wrapped it, I made all my connections to the power and ground and made sure the V1 powered up only when I turned the key. Bingo. Works like a charm. So, shrunk + and -, then then shrunk both together to keep from putting too much stress on the solder joints.

Got a 18-24g Wire T-tap from Radioshack and connected it to the Black/Orange wire.

With the visor removed the upper trim pulled down enough to tuck the wire, but I thought lets make it neat and pulled down the wire and tucked it neatly in the bundle. Popped the plastic rivets back in and connected the ground.

Re-installed A Pillar
Re-installed Visor

In the center dome, once you have decided on the placement of the V1, I tucked the wire straight up. I wanted as little in view as possible. Once tucked in, I tucked the cable on the edges nice and neat. I left enough slack on the cable in case I wanted to move the V1 to the right or try mounting under the mirror with a Blendmount type mount.

I like the left side because I can lower the visor and not interfere with the sensors, plus if I wanted to go without anyone looking at my radar, I can lower the visor and go incognito.

Next few posts are the pictures I took during the process.

 

Inline fuse soldered to the cable




Shrunk wrapped each wire



Shrunk wrapped both wires together to reinforce the solder joints

 

Remove this cover



Remove both T30




Visor removed, no usable ground



A-Pillar removed, Here is the 8mm bolt that you can use for a ground.



Here is the ground attached and the wire bundle that I tucked the ground cable to. Nothing I hate more than driving and the wires popping from the headliner.

 

Testing V1 location. Removed center dome. There is that last clip that I couldn't remove.




Inline T-Tap connected and wire tucked in




Center dome re-installed. Wire tucked in on the side and back.

 

View from underneath.




Another view from the front.




Here is what the install looks like from the outside.




Testing V1 with visor down. Clearance perfect.




Smile!!!

 

Nice, clean install... but why bury the inline fuse under heat shrink? Seems like you would want something replaceable without having to redo your work.

 

That was a debate I had with myself.

Replaceable inline fuse or 1 time use encapsulated fuse?

Inline fuse.. Well, its replaceable, but bulky

Encapsulated.. Slim, not much added bulk, however, hard to replace and solder joints could be an issue.

I have used both solutions in previous cars. In the 15+ years I have used the V1, I have never had to replace a fuse.

So, I went with slimline. If the fuse blows, I can make another harness for less than $5 and 5 minutes and swap it out in about the same amount of time.

At least in theory I can.

 

That's a reasonable tradeoff. Thanks for the response!