Builds Just another 79 build.....

[c2dfj45]

Got the Switch Pros module in today......had to alter our battery tray support bracket to make it fit. Built it, powder coated it, installed it in the same day......really nice to not have to wait for powdercoat. Our 21 year old has become really good at powder coating too.

Battery hold down/isolator mount done and powder coated. All the electronic stuff mounted. Even got the Flash Cube catch can plumbed......I see we used heater hose.....we'll swap that for something else I think. Silicone maybe.

 

[c2dfj45]

While the under hood stuff was going on I started in on my rear view mirror project. I had been wanting to use one of the rear view mirror backup camera units......the Maltec LC200 that we've been straightening out had one and it was really cool. The picture quality is incredible. They're packed with way too many features but I guess having a camera on the front isn't such a bad idea. They do require their own camera(they don't integrate into an existing camera). The only thing that was horrible was the mount....it straps around the factory mirror with these goofy rubber straps. Looks terrible. In any event, I ordered this

Amazon product ASIN B07XZ1D226
The Maltec that helped solidify my decision...

Had a few confused customers who came by this week for their cars......sometimes the shop looks a little more like a Toyota shop....

Since I couldn't deal with the goofy strap on mirror mount, I had to come up with something else....this is what I found:

This mounts to the back of the mirror wen you remove the straps....cool piece.

It is supposed to mount to the tab on the windshield where the OEM mirror mounts. Of course there is no mount on the windshield of a 79. I bought the metal tabs but I wasn't crazy about glueing one on the windshield since I have a tinted front windshield(3M Crystalline....UV/heat rejection film).

After some not so careful thought, we tore into the mirror. Just in case you were wondering what is inside a 70 series mirror....here you go.

 

[c2dfj45]

I wanted to try and make an adapter to where the OEM mirror mounts to support the new mirror mount but the angles are all wrong...with a larger mirror(10" long), I needed to move the mirror down and away from the windshield a bit to clear the sun visors.

Started by introducing this to the band saw....

I salvaged just the pivot ball so I could get the angle right. We weren't too sure about the type of aluminum(cast or something weird) and how it would respond to the TIG machine.....so I figured screwing the pivot ball to the OEM arm would be best. I think I'll lock it all down with some JB Weld once we powder coat the pieces. Since the mirror won't really need to be adjusted as it's a monitor.... Adjust it once and all good.....the mirror pivot ball should hold up. It's all very tight so there won't be any shaking or vibration. Not sure how much twisting it will take though.

Looks pretty decent and when it's all black, it should blend in pretty nice. Certainly looks better than the strapped on mirror......not as good as the OEM mirror though.

I'll have to make a 3/4" adapter to space the mirror's mount out from the roof for clearance.....the mounting holes will change so we'll have to do some creative hole drilling to make things work. I don't think from either the inside or outside you'll see the adapter block since I run an overhead console that kind of goes around the mirror mount.

A lot of work to add a mirror, sure hope it's everything I hope it to be

 

[Gun Runner 5]

Would love to see the display once it’s fully installed.

 

[c2dfj45]

Would love to see the display once it’s fully installed.

For sure I'll post up some pics....maybe even a video

It's a beautiful display....very high def. It's just a little weird......and I'm sure it's something you get used to but it's a very WIDE camera angle. So as you glance at the rear view mirror, expecting to see out a back window with all the stuff in the back window.....you don't see any of that. Just a massively clear view, and a very wide clear view, of what is behind you. Lol. It's different for sure. The Maltec's was massively off in distance to objects. I need to see if there is a way to change that. I think it will be good to both have a rear view camera to judge distance when reversing and then the rear view mirror display to see behind you. I'm going to try and mount my camera for the mirror to the swing out.....we'll see how the angle looks. If not, it will get mounted to the canopy.

There are so many features packed into these things....it's pretty amazing.

 

[coldtaco]

I'm faced with the same problem. One thing I don't like about my rear view camera/mirror is that there is a lot of glare on it for some reason. It needs a anti-glare coating. I might do what you did with mine. I got the NikoMaku 10" one, the ball end on it's mount is different from yours so don't know if I can do what you did with your with mine.
Amazon product ASIN B08KSZ1464

 

[c2dfj45]

I'm faced with the same problem. One thing I don't like about my rear view camera/mirror is that there is a lot of glare on it for some reason. It needs a anti-glare coating. I might do what you did with mine. I got the NikoMaku 10" one, the ball end on it's mount is different from yours so don't know if I can do what you did with your with mine.
Amazon product ASIN B08KSZ1464

Amazon product ASIN B085RNM1LF
Just buy this one and you can do what I did. The backing plates look the same.....I think they have measurements of what they fit. I ended up buying this one on amazon AND one on ebay since the one on Amazon is coming from China. Took too long so I bought the ebay one that was in the US.

The Maltec truck had no rear window and was very dark inside....no real glare. I'm hoping that isn't an issue on mine....might order up some anti glare film now....just in case.

 

[coldtaco]

will wait and see if you have any glare issues and if you successfully solve that problem

 

[coldtaco]

I wonder why the links don't work for me?

 

[jomelo]

So the rear view “mirror” is always showing the rear camera? Is that how that works?

 

[c2dfj45]

So the rear view “mirror” is always showing the rear camera? Is that how that works?

Yep.....just a monitor in the shape of a rearview mirror. You can shut it off and it supposedly becomes a regular rear view mirror. I have read that it's not so good as a conventional rear view mirror though.

 

[jomelo]

Yep.....just a monitor in the shape of a rearview mirror. You can shut it off and it supposedly becomes a regular rear view mirror. I have read that it's not so good as a conventional rear view mirror though.

Is it that much better than a conventional backup camera head unit setup?

 

[c2dfj45]

It's different because it has a really wide angle.....hard to explain. It almost looks fake. On my camper truck I have about a 1 by 1 section of window to see out the back of the truck so my rear view mirror is kind of useless. I think it will be good for that purpose.

The camper 200 we had with it had was really inaccurate for backing up as there was a big discrepancy as to where the back of the truck was in relation to what you were seeing on the screen. It still had a regular backup camera for better accuracy when backing up to an object. Not sure if that was a setting of where it's camera was or something else. Before I mount mine, I'll try the camera in a few different spots to see what is best. It has a cool feature that allows you to position the viewing angle on the screen without moving the camera. I think they have HUGE angles of view on these cameras....maybe different from a traditional back up camera.

 

[c2dfj45]

Made some headway on my mirror project today....made a cool little adapter to space the mirror out and down....simple piece of 1/2 aluminum...drilled and tapped for the mirror to mount, drilled for the OEM mirror screws to mount it to the body.

Looks a little crooked in the pics....pretty sure it's centered. We'll have to work the aluminum down to a little better shape I think although the majority is covered by the mirror cap. Need to decide on color too.....black probably....will hide it.

 

[c2dfj45]

And here it is in all its glory.....fired it up for testing.

Unfortunately, there are 2 wires that come out of the top of the mirror.....mini USB and the jack for the camera. Kind of sucks as it looks a bit stupid. I'll hide them and tie them down the best I can when we finalize things.

Mirror cap looks pretty good. I think blacking all this out will be the way I go the more I look at these pics.

Here's the rear view camera....a little bigger than a normal reverse camera. Contemplating some kind of mount/shroud to protect it a little bit.

 

[Gun Runner 5]

That display looks very sharp.

 

[c2dfj45]

That display looks very sharp.

4K screen and it's insanely clear.

Once I get it up and running, I'll go thru some of the settings....there are quite a few. You can do 3 things really easily.....swipe up and down on the right side of the screen to adjust brightness(probably has some kind of auto dimmer you can program), swipe up and down on the left side to adjust the angle of the rear camera(up and down), swipe left to scroll thru from rear camera to front/rear to front only. Really cool.

 

[TonyP]

And here it is in all its glory.....fired it up for testing.

Unfortunately, there are 2 wires that come out of the top of the mirror.....mini USB and the jack for the camera. Kind of sucks as it looks a bit stupid. I'll hide them and tie them down the best I can when we finalize things.
View attachment 2691835View attachment 2691834View attachment 2691833

Mirror cap looks pretty good. I think blacking all this out will be the way I go the more I look at these pics.

View attachment 2691836

Here's the rear view camera....a little bigger than a normal reverse camera. Contemplating some kind of mount/shroud to protect it a little bit.

View attachment 2691841

It would be a ton of work but insetting it into the swing arm would be neat.

 

[c2dfj45]

It would be a ton of work but insetting it into the swing arm would be neat.

We could do it but I think making a little shroud and gluing the camera into the shroud will be cool. I'll make the shroud something we can remove with a couple of bolts. I kind of have an idea in mind but need to lay it out with some poster board.

The wire will run inside the arm like the tag light does. Really clean like that.

 

[c2dfj45]

Wrapped up the interior side of things today...need to get on that rear camera mount tomorrow. Still undecided on how I want to do it. Waiting for some inspiration I guess.

Modded the already modded mirror arm. Pretty cool that we had this thing cleaned up and powdercoated in 1 hour. Wish I had a bigger oven....

Pretty sophisticated looking mirror for a 79.

Like something straight out of the future...