Given that the new TMO has provided us the amazing opportunity to share some of our building projects, this seems like the ideal time to document some of my work. You will quickly see that my work is not chronological, sorry I'm not that organized, and that most of my efforts are to improve the interior comfort and appearance of the '13 Boss 302 LS. I have been fortunate over the years to own some dedicated race cars and some highly finished cars. My goal with my LS remains to have it be a very capable road machine while still offering the creature comforts to make the drive to and from shows enjoyable.
REAR VISION CAMERA INSTALL
Taking inspiration from EvilCartmen and his rear camera install (
http://www.evilcartman.com/lockpick-and-rear-camera-install.html ), I thought it appropriate to provide my install in a bit of a walkthrough style than what he was able to on his website. That said, his website did provide me with all of the materials that were going to be required and the location to purchase the Sync LockPick and the backup camera. Many thanks, EvilCartman. This guy also had a helpful video for a non-camera LockPick install:
I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT YOU DO WITH THIS INFORMATION OR WHAT YOU MAY OR MAY NOT DO TO YOUR CAR. THIS IS SIMPLY AN EXPLANATION OF MY INSTALL EXPERIENCE. YOURS WILL VARY
- For me, the first step of the install was to remove all of the trim pieces that would interfere with the work. This meant removing the rear trunk mat and trim, rear seat delete, passenger rear quarter trim, passenger sill plate, passenger kick panel, glove box, center console, navigation panel, and navigational components (HDD and screen). Once that was complete and the parts were set aside, I began the install process. I chose not to disconnect my battery, but you can do as you like I am not certain if there is a benefit or not. My logic was that I have removed the navigation components before with and without the battery connected and all it did was cause a longer boot-up process
- Starting at the back of the car remove the license plate lamp bezel. EvilCartman covered this portion very well so I will attribute his photos for steps 2 - 6
- With the bezel removed, using the hole saw provided with the camera, cut the center of the bezel. I used a 2x4 for backing support, but you can use whatever you feel is best.
- Once the hole is cut and deburred in the bezel, my next step was to cut the rear bumper. This was the most stressful portion of the install, but it was the only way to get the wiring into the vehicle. Using the license plate lamp bezel as a template, I reinstalled the bezel, attached an angle driver, and placed the hole saw against the body of the car to set a center punch and lightly scored the area with a pick.
- I then removed the bezel and using the center punch and scoring as my guide I started drilling. The plastic in this area is VERY thin (2-4mm) so it did not take much to get through. Once through I had a clean installation circle as shown in EvilCartman's photo
- The next step was to install the camera and run the wiring through the lamp bezel. The hole saw provided did a great job of creating a perfectly sealed hole around the camera for both the bezel and the body. The camera also came with multiple metal teeth to prevent the camera from being able to back out (even slightly) once installed. Due to its design, I chose not to use any additional sealant. My biggest concern was making certain that my camera and bezel were at completely perpendicular. I did not want the camera to be off at even a slight angle. ** If you want to change your license plate lamps this is the time. Removing the bezel w camera afterward is possible but a pain **
Rear of my '13 Boss 302 LS
- From here on I will use my own photos. Once the camera was installed I had to run all of the wires attached to the camera into the rear bumper. I accessed this space via a large rubber grommet on the back of the interior trunk. The grommet was quite a challenge to remove cleanly, but once out you can access the area just above the license plate bezel from the inside. I chose to remove the passenger side license plate lamp to increase access (my hands were too large for just the grommet hole alone) but once all of the slack was fished into the trunk area the meticulous wiring began. Here is a photo of the grommet to be removed
- All of the slack you see in this photo had to be passed cleanly through the trunk grommet to maintain the moisture and weather seal. I did this by using a small pick and a razor blade. I tried to keep the hole as small as possible so that the seal remained tight. Someone could use weather sealing here if they wanted. I chose not to, as I was happy with the small gap that existed after passing all of the lines through and honestly if water gets to this level of the trunk you have larger problems.
- My next step was to connect, crimp, and tape all of the connections that were going to be needed between the camera and the LockPick unit. The LockPick I purchased was pre-wired for front and rear cameras. This supplied me with connective wiring for a 12-volt ignition trigger, a ground, and an RCA video input for the dash. The camera came with the 12-volt power and video line length needed to reach the dash, but I had to supply the ground line. Additionally, I chose to use some shielded Monster speaker cable I had lying around. The quality was more than was needed, but it saved on cost since I had extra. The white wire you see in the remaining photos is the Monster cable serving as ground connection. Someone with more skill could solder and heat shrink the connections, but if you run into issues it will likely be more difficult to make repairs.
- Once the lines at the back had been connected, crimped, and electrically taped I started to loosely lay and pass my wiring where I wanted. I chose to follow the body harness that runs along the passenger side of the car and under the door sill. By doing this it not only allowed me to have a proven path to the dash but also unlimited locations to zip-tie the wiring when the install was complete. The path I used was approximately; along rear of the trunk, along the spare tire well, underneath the rear passenger seat/seat delete, under the carpeting of the door sill, through the passenger kick panel, around the dash support brace, along the existing electrical lines that run from the kick panel fuse box to the center console (glove box support beam), and through the vertical dash support beams. In the photos below you will see my door sill run, across the glove box support, and into the navigation cavity via the main dash support beam.
Passenger footwell
Above the glove compartment in passenger footwell
Dash center stack
- Once all of my wiring (12v power, ground, video) had been run from the rear camera, I then connected all of the lines to the LockPick device. Here again, I connected, crimped, and taped all of the lines.
- The next portion was the actual connecting of the LockPick. When purchased I was provided a PDF, but it was very much plug-n-play. I had four connections that went into the HDD, one cable for the screen, and a GPS cable that was not used. ( I did test the GPS jump cable and it blocked the signal entirely so it was disconnected and the OEM cable returned ). I cannot stress enough how much this system was idiot-proof. All of the rear connections will only fit one way and only accept the connection they are jumping. CoastalEtech have many YouTube videos showing the process. This was the one I found most helpful:
https://www.coastaletech.com/media/LOCKPICK Sync PRO INSTALLATION and INSTRUCTIONS.pdf
- With the LockPick installed I immediately became aware of how tight this space was going to be and where I would have to tuck wiring and mount the LockPick for it to work properly. I chose to feed the LockPick wiring harness between the white insulation padding and the rear dash lower support beam and mount the LockPick to the top of the HVAC control module. I did not initially zip-tie the LockPick until I confirmed everything was working.
HVAC module and rear lower dash support beam
Lockpick mounted on HVAC module
- With all of the wiring connected properly I was now set to begin testing the unit. Very quickly I noticed that the HDD, screen, and nav control panel need to be all connected as the system rebooted several times and activated my HVAC system when the panel was not hooked up. This caused some headaches but it was ultimately a success. Each area represents 12" so furthest Red is 12" from rear bumper, Yellow is 24", and Green is 36"
- Now it was time to button everything back up. The first thing I did was disconnect the nav panel, screen, and HDD so that I could access the center stack cavity. This is when I zip-tied the LockPick in such a way that I could access the inputs from the glove box if ever needed.
View from glovebox looking towards the center stack
- Working from the dash to the rear, I zip-tied all of the lines every 10”-14.” Semi-taught was what I chose as I wanted a very small amount of slack to remain to prevent pulling on the connections. My first zip point after the LockPick unit was the wiring that runs along the glove box support beam.
Glove box support beam
- Next, I zipped all of the lines running along the passenger kick panel that covers the internal fuse box. I ran the line in such a way that it would tuck neatly into the wire bundle running under the sill plate.
View of body harness from kickpanel to door sill
- I then zipped the line every 4” along the sill plate bundle. The blue with copper teeth is from the door sill. This is not ideal, as those are designed to stay attached to the sill. That said, with some needle nose pliers and common sense you can achieve the factory seal when the sill is reinstalled
Body harness under passenger door sill
- Next was to follow the body harness along the passenger rear and into the trunk. You can follow my path by following the white Monster cable
- Once in the trunk I placed the remaining wire slack into a loose spool and rubber banded it all together and placed it into the cavity that contained the trunk grommet where I first passed everything through. Being rubber encased wiring, taped connections, and behind trim paneling in the trunk I have heard no noise from the rear since the install.
Overall it was a very worthwhile install for anyone who is desiring the option for a backup camera, I have been very pleased with the quality of the BOYO product. The clarity is just above the OEM units I have seen and while it is far from today's dynamic rear vision cameras, it certainly makes backing on to my lift a lot easier.
More to come in the future...