[Mk2] [Generic] Tidy Fit USB Port

[toxo]

I've got a Kenwood stereo with a USB port for memory sticks.

It used to be:



Not very tidy.

So I bought a switch blank from Toyota for a whopping £4 and a USB backplate from eBay like this one: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/290536226511

This has a specific kind of USB wire which has a full USB plug on both ends - most plates like this use a small 10 pin plug for motherboards. Having a USB plug on the end means it will plug straight into the Kenwood. The USB cable on the car stereo is about half a metre long and the cable on the eBay USB port is about 20cm so combined they will reach either side of the dashboard.

I unscrewed 1 USB port from the metal plate and trimmed the edges of it slightly (it was a bit too big to fit inside the clips of the switch blank, so a little had to be taken off the edges where the screws are).

Chop drill cut slice file





And fitted:



The Kenwood kit for doing this is £35+VAT. Go figure.

[T.F.S.]

Neat

[toxo]

Neat

Yea a productive 10 minutes I thought

[T.F.S.]

its worth a sticky is it not?

[Phill P]

For my Kenwood with usb I got a micro usb stick,why the hell they didn't fit it to the back so you could run a usb cable to it I will never know

[Jaspa]

Neat

Yea a productive 10 minutes I thought

10 minutes and 2 cans of Fosters finished. Hard day?

[timlowthian]

Just ordered the bits! Thanks for this i hate having the stupid ipod cable hanging around! lol

[toxo]

Neat

Yea a productive 10 minutes I thought

10 minutes and 2 cans of Fosters finished. Hard day?

You got it

Just ordered the bits! Thanks for this i hate having the stupid ipod cable hanging around! lol

Cool If anyone needs it the part number for a black switch blank that I used is 55539-12130-C0 and they are about £4. You have to trim some plastic off the back of it so that you just have the 2 clips sticking up, then you can wedge the USB port in place and score around it with a knife so you know how much to cut out. Then just drill 2 3mm holes for the bolts, you can reuse the ones that attach the USB port to the metal computer bracket, they are long enough to get through the plastic.

[toxo]

Oh and if you were wondering, the Toyota logo USB memory stick is from dealextreme.com - nothing but the best chinese tat! It's 8GB but I wouldn't recommend them, it's pretty slow.

I was wrong about the price of the Kenwood cable, it's £14. But the end of it is massive and wouldn't fit in a switch blank, so it's a bit irrelevant.

[SonicSW20]

Very nice, may do this with my iDA-X100.

Mine also has a Mini USB cable on the drivers side that reaches up to the windscreen. Was on there when I bought the car, and its ignition live so I assume its spliced into the cigarette lighter power - so useful and keeps the wire going to a phone / satnav nice and out of the way!

If the HU provides 5V 500mA, then a USB - Mini or Micro USB cable would be a nice addition as it will mean you can power a phone or satnav and have it on the right hand side of the windscreen without trailing a wire over the dash.

[riot68]

smart idea, booze and power tools a nice mix ...