Haha 99% may have been a bit of an overstatement! I'll probably go back in and remove one or two of those chassis mounting tabs (since they interfere with left to right alignment) now that I know i can secure the two together with screws. Thanks again for the tips! I haven't yet fully tested mounting the plastic trim, so I'll keep your technique in mind once I am buttoning everything up.

After tens of passes with my angle grinder and dremel, I now understand why there isn't a detailed write-up on this install yet... it certainly isn't for the faint of heart. With everything installed, were you able to get your screen perfectly centered? If you look in the picture I posted above with the plastic trim, you'll see the screen is shifted to the right maybe .5-1mm. I'm thinking removing the chassis tab will give me the extra room I need.

 

Yeah. The degree of modification depends on which unit you put in the chassis. I was able to get it perfectly centered, but it took some patience. You are going to want to make sure everything is positioned correctly and working properly because trying to get the assembly back in the dash is a real pain with the wiring harness to the circuit boards being external to the assembly now. I recommend that you drill a pinhole to access your reset button if you have one that is on the front of your Android. Be sure to put a SD card in too if your unit has a slot for one.

 

Huuuge thanks for the tips! I would have never thought to put a pinhole for the reset. Mine doesn't have a slot for an SD, but luckily has 64GB of internal storage.

 

what circuit board is this out of? Radio?

My 2002 SC430 only has 3 connectors?

 

Here is a view of the circuit board for a 2006. There is a daughter board underneath that needs to remain attached.

It comes from the NAV unit.

 

Yes, your circuit board looks like mine from the back of the radio head unit. - with 3 connectors. The picture at the beginning of the thread shows a circuit board wrapped in foam with 4 connectors. That is a nice clear case, what is the enclosure from?

 

This is the one I used. Amazon shows no longer available, but I am confident that you can find it under another company name than Awclub.


It fits perfectly in the glovebox if you extend the harness to get there.

 

thank you so much. Looks Great!

 

Thanks Paul! It is a big undertaking ... for me it was anyway. But if you take your time and do it right, you will be pleased every single time you get behind the wheel and that door slides open to reveal your new head unit where that old NAV was located. I concurrently run Waze and Spotify on mine 95% of the time.

Glad to help if you have any questions or come up with a better approach than the one I took. Hang in there ... soooo worth it.

Here is the same box on Amazon by a different company:
LeMotech ABS Plastic Junction Box Dustproof Waterproof IP65 Electrical Enclosure Box Universal Project Enclosure Grey with PC Transparent Clear Cover 8 x 4.7 x 2.2 inch（200 x120 x56 mm） https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BPPJZBG/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_5V9P9YCT0450WNSBB1H4

 

I currently have a double DIN Pioneer AVH 4200 head unit, still using the ML app and speakers. It always bothered me to lose the upper navigation door and factory navigation, even though it is out dated.

I am getting ready to finally put in new speakers and new amp. Since i an going this far, if i can install the circuit board front the factory radio and regain upper navigation function. I will be happy.

 

I found out that you cannot get map updates for the original NAV past 2015 and having Waze on the top screen is really nice, which was a big deal for me given my travels. I may put another double unit where the stock radio is if the ML amp ever goes. I still use it for the 6 disc changer! =)

 

Do you have any final pictures? Sounds like you replaced the factory Nav with android head unit up top, and retained the factory door by using the original circuit boards? So you still have the factory Lexus radio/CD changer?

I think our end results are the same, i upgraded my factory head unit with pioneer, but to keep the factory NAV and door function, i should use the circuit board out of the radio/cd changer plugged in all the time.

 

No pics. I pretty much suck at documentation since I never seem to think about it until after the job is done. And that's not the path I followed to get sound, nav, Bluetooth cell support, OBDII, etc., in my car.

When I got my SC the radio, amp and speakers were all dead. The Nav screen, while it worked, looked like it had been used as a cat scratching post. The driver's side lower speaker had been driven hard enough after the surround failed that the voice coil overextended and shorted out. This is what I believe blew the output section of the amp. The radio did not light up but honestly, I don't know if it was only dead lighting, or all the way dead. I looked at full and partial OEM replacement, but the cost was prohibitive given my budget and the relative worth of a 2002 SC430 with 100K miles. I didn't cut off any wiring connectors, so it's still theoretically possible to return to OEM.

I put in an aftermarket amp back where the OEM amp would sit, front speakers. subwoofer, and an Android unit in place of the radio. Since the Android unit covers all my needs, I ended up putting a high-brightness monitor in the Nav screen space that simply mirrors whatever is on the Android unit although I use it so seldom maybe I should have considered some other use.

I'm not sure about keeping OEM nav. But without it you don't have to have the circuit board out of the OEM radio to keep the nav door working. But you would have to put in a resistor and three jumper wires between the three plugs from the back of the OEM radio (at least for the earlier years).
Audio System Makeover - Page 4 - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion