iPad Dash

Working at Audio Xtreme, I always have a project brewing in the back of my mind. I wanted so badly to do an iPad dash in my car, although most people told me it would not be worth it. I did it anyway and proved them all wrong! I now do them for customers here at the store.

I have reworked much of my dash including, the gauges, the digital clock to a volt meter, and adding the airlift controller and the lower dash. Fabricating these projects yourself is long and tedious, but worth it when you get to make it exactly how you want. I am an android guy, but the overly simplified operating system from Apple seemed fitting to be used in a car.

After taking measurements, I decided to go with the Soundman.co iPad mini slider to efficiently be able to dock, and remove my iPad when needed. Otherwise the iPad would be permanently fixed into the dash.

First I cut out pretty much the whole center piece of the radio trim bezel. I had to cut out so much, because I did not have the room to fit the iPad in the dash with the HVAC controls as they were, so they had to be relocated in the dash about 5/8" lower. A lot of material was cut out of this piece, but I needed to keep the outside shape of this bezel so I did not have to recreate it.

This is showing how much lower the HVAC controls are sitting in the dash. I carefully cut around the openings of the dash where the knobs sit, as I did not want to recreate those holes. The idea was to just lower that whole section in the bezel.

I made a few more cuts, then pieced it all together. Before this picture, I tacked in both pieces in what was left of the bezel with super glue on the corners to hold everything in place. Next I put masking tape on the front surface of the bezel to keep the panel bond glue from seeping out all over the face of the piece.

Here it is after the tape is removed and everything was sanded smooth. Next I coated it with some high build primer, and very carefully sanded everything smooth.

I then painted with satin black paint to give it a nice clean look. Similar to the "Limited" STI trim

**Sneak peak of the Airlift controller in the shifter trim**

All finished!

For now ;)

A lot of you ask me where I got the satin black HVAC controls and the JDM Red hazard button. Well I purchased the "Subtle Solutions AC Knob Overlays". Along with the "Subaru Red Hazard Button " from Rallysportdirect.com