I just want to replace the top monitor unit with a Kenwood or other radio- and want to leave the bottom buttons - does anyone know the kit I can buy just to replace for a double din?

I do not want or need to use the ben hur on my car (I built it myself and I am using other means to turn on the ac et- so I just want those buttons for decoration)

Thanks

 

The only choice for your need to add your own Double-Din is the Ben Hur.

The only other choice is the Chinese thing, which doesn't use an outside radio.

 

I have bi-passed the controls - so don't need the ben hur that is only for those who need the whole controls to work- I only need / want radio replaced- I guess I will figure it out..

 

Please get back to us if you figure it out. As it stands you need the top half to know what the bottom half is doing. Some have made the car-puter way work but that’s still using the top half. Unless Kenwood or whatever brand you choose let’s you have privy to their firmware I would love to see this done.

 

If you dig around, someone used a microcontroller/microcomputer to interpret the CANBUS and do what TeamJones said (above). He's going to be your best resource, but he stopped posting about 90% of the way through his project so we never saw the end result. Or at least, I don't remember seeing it.

Dig around a bit and you'll find it.

I don't think the CANBUS is all that mysterious but there doesn't seem to be any public documentation on it, so it's a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

The sound system is certainly tied in, I had a bad tweeter and it showed up on the Ross-Tech computer readout, so it's a lot more complicated than replacing a single-din radio on a 1974 Ford LTD which I remember being super-easy.

I have no idea how the CANBUS is monitoring individual speakers and whether it even matters.

Another issue is simply having a faceplate that mounts the radio and saves the bottom part, that would be custom and I haven't seen any sort of adapter or anything.

I'm a Ben Hur convert, mostly out of convenience. I think the Chinese thing looks like a great choice, but my interior isn't black so it would look terrible.