Single DIN Audi HU into a double DIN cage?

[SmoothAssault]

Call me crazy, but I want to keep my single DIN audi CD player and put it in a double DIN cage. The aim is to drop the climate unit down and free up some space for a custom phone/tablet dock between the two.

I figured I would get a double DIN to aftermarket single HU facia and Dremel the top half off to leave me with a neat tray onto which I'd start to fab. my own dock.

But will a single DIN unit fit the double DIN cage, or are the mounting points where it would click in completely different? Thanks.

 

[@udi A3]

Single din is what you need, but lower the climate control unit using the double din one, and raise the cubby hole.

 

[dualmono21]

If you mean keep the standard headunit
And
Fit a double din equivalent tablet

I'm afraid without a little bit of modification its not possible

 

[SmoothAssault]

@udi A3: I've heard people have trimmed down their single DIN climate units to fit them lower in the double DIN cages, but I can't see how I'd be able to fit any climate unit (trimmed or double version) lower down in the single DIN cage. The mounts appear to be considerably lower on the double DIN cages.

 

[SmoothAssault]

dualmono21: Not quite. Yes, I want to keep my standard single DIN CD player, but I also want the cubby-hole space you get with some of the double DIN to single DIN facia adapters (like this). So I'd take a Dremel to this and chop the top off so it would sit snug against the standard single DIN HU, leaving just the cubby-hole underneath.

This cubby-hole/facia would serve as the base I'd mount my phone dock onto, but the phone would end up sitting landscape in front of the CD player buttons (while still allowing me to use volume, source and tone controls). As the facias are cheap I can drill/cut/destroy them to make it accept a dock for my phone, and do it all again when I change phone and need a new dock.

My main concern was whether my single DIN headunit would slot into the upper half of a double DIN cage. But I've just picked up a double DIN cage off ebay for £60 inc. delivery, so I'll just have to figure something out, haha.

 

[@udi A3]

Hmmm i personally think your going to give yourself a headache. g60liegh has done a lot with this kind of swap maybe search out his posts for piccys.

 

[SmoothAssault]

Cheers, I'll have a look.

Here's the level of headache I'm currently dealing with anyway...



All good fun... stressful fun.

 

[dualmono21]

so essentially you want a double din conversion and use one of the din,s for the standard headunit
thats certainly possible

its possible to fit a 6" screen (permanent) a single din unit and heater controls without too much trouble
but to gain anything laregr than this is major major headache
mine is double din converted to 2 single dins with one of those being a fold out 7" screen which controls my ipod , phone ,usb etc etc

 

[SmoothAssault]

Phew! That's a relief to hear! What was involved for your double to two single DIN conversion?

 

[dualmono21]

my car might be slightly differnat to yours only as in the climate control unit is slightly larger by about another 1/2 din
(the heated seat contols are on the bottom of the climate control panel) this make the double din sit slightly higher

to convert mine i stripped my car similar to yours then removed the cross bracing and bracketry which goes across the centre console from drivers side to passenger side of the car at the back of the headunit
i then simply moved it up slightly and re-attached the bracket further up the console (mine allready had holes drilled and tapped for the machine screws)

 

[SmoothAssault]

Yes, I know the cross-brace you mean, mine's sitting in my footwell right now. Seems as though I've got at least most of the parts I need to achieve what I'm after.

Care to show off any photos of your finished setup? It sounds great!

 

[dualmono21]

naths audi s4 avant build thread - SQ & Technical - Talk Audio

theres quite a few photos on here not just of the headunit but of the entire install
the website is very very handy for anyone thinking of doing any form of aftermarket installation

 

[SmoothAssault]

Looks great! My climate unit appears to be the same size as yours, just my buttons are blank where you have heated seat controls. A setup like that but with my OEM HU at the top will give me all the room I'll need for a phone dock in the lower DIN. Thanks.