RE: mounting a Valentine 1 in a 1990 Coupe Q

[DeWitt Harrison <de@aztek-eng.com>]

On Sun, 21 Sep 1997 02:03:07 -0400 (EDT), Ray Calvo wrote:

>[ ... ]
>If you pry off the cover over the sunroof switch (on roof by rear view
>mirror),
>you can do some probing/checking with a voltmeter and will find a power
>source that will supply 12V whenever ignition switch is on (can't remember
>which wires, and don't feel like prying down cover to check).  Only problem
>I have is that unit switches off momentarily whenever I open sunroof (think 
>it's to tilt it up).  If you go this route, check power in all switch
>positions.
>
>You can buy a telephone cable with a phone jack on one end, strip the other
>end of the two inside wires, and then splice just the two outside wires into 
>the sunroof switch (V1 uses 12V power).  Just be careful of polarity.  I 
>did something similar to Ian's installation on my Porsche by completely
>stripping off the outer plastic cove rand roouting only the two wires I
>needed
>(very thin and easily concealed).
>
>Ray Calvo (porsray@aol.com)
>1990 Coupe Quattro
>
>(reply to:)
>
>Having just purchased a Valentine 1 Radar Detector (an _excellent_ way to
>avoid paying Tribute to your local Revenue Enforcement Officer, btw), I now
>have the task of mounting it permanently in my 1990 Coupe Q, and ask for
>the wisdom of the list.
>
>Questions for the group:
>  - from which wire did you get switched 12v power for the direct-connect
>plugin?
>- --
>John Allred

If you are a bit of a craftsman, go one step further and install a modular phone
jack in the sunroof switch trim panel and make up a phone cable just the right
length. (You'll need to borrow the special connector crimp tool somewhere
to attach the modular plugs.) Then the detector has a neat built-in power
connection just over the mirror and it may be quickly removed without having
to deal with a dangling wire. As mentioned above, be certain to observe
correct voltage polarity when wiring the jack.

The trick to a nice job is to avoid damaging the fabric covering while making
the square cutout for the jack. I used a razor knife to cut an "X" in the fabric
over the cutout location. Then I held the fabric corners out of the path of the
tools with masking tape while I drilled and filed a square hole a bit larger
than the jack so that the fabric could be tucked in between the jack and the
edges of the hole. If you mess up, you can always buy a replacement panel
from nakohS :-^

DeWitt Harrison        de@aztek-eng.com
Boulder, CO
88 5kcstq