I'm lucky when I remember to take photos of my kids! So, sorry, no car photo yet!

Re: Foam holder --

I fabricated it so the SkyFi and holder fits snugly into the lower center storage space, behind the gear shift. I actually wanted to create something so it would fit into the box right below the OEM radio, but the viewing angle wasn't going to work from that position. Plus we move the SkyFi between cars for long trips (or into the house for parties where I can't run Music Choice off the cable box), so I needed something that wasn't permanent.

I attached the antenna with magnet tape to the inside dash, and ran the wire under and around the front and side dash ... then simply put the excess under the passenger's floor mat -- invisible to me and my wife!

I do like how Anahymbrid mounted the SkyFi 2 above.

Best - J. Ron

 

Darren, I did have a clearance problem at first... then adjusted the angle of my aluminum bracket and where it mounts in the console. No problem now.

J. Ron, I mounted my antenna on the rear shelf and ran the wire to the front under the seats / carpet and kick panel trim. I have a photo if you need to see it.

 

Okay... back to the sill plates! I decided to tackle the project today. Wow... what a pain! Very time consuming. Took two hours to remove trim panels on the driver's side, drill three holes and fish the wires through. Lost my daylight, so I'll have to finish tomorrow with the wiring and the passenger side. This was my first time removing any trim panels and the rear seat cushion, so there was a bit of a learning curve. The passenger side should go faster (I hope!).

For anyone else who's interested in doing this, be aware that the sill plates come with small connectors which attach to the little transformers. I wish I had consulted Gary's great photos first... to see that it appears he had snipped the connector off, making wire fishing easier. I was intent on keeping the connectors, so I ended up having to drill a hole on the inside to get the front wire connector through. I was able to use a factory drilled hole for the rear wire connector, though. I used a 3M sealer, applied with a small brush to seal all the drilled holes.

Gary, if you're reading this... how did you connect to the #7 fuse for power? Did you disassemble the fuse box to attach the wire in the back? I'd prefer to just tap into an existing wire, but I'm guessing there are no wires in that main harness on the interior sill which are powered at all times (key off).

More on the project tomorrow. Wish me luck!!!

 

Yeah, the first one is always the hardest!

To your point, yes I cut off the connectors to make the wire fishing through the sill easier. I would recommend that you solder them back on and use heat shrink tape to insulate the connection.

On the question of how to tap the fuse box to get power.

There are some very clever little taps available called Fusetaps (click). These are the ones for the larger blade fuses. Essentially these taps are pushed into the upstream connection on a fuse connector, and the fuse is pushed in beside it.

There are taps for both the larger and the mini blade fuses. If you can't find the mini fuse taps, you can take a larger tap, and file down the blade to fit into a mini-fuse connector. It helps to stick a little jewelers screwdriver in the fuse connector fitting to spread the teeth open a little bit to fit both the fuse and the fusetap.

I used fuse position #5 for power. It is not used for anything in the US cars, and it is powered all the time.

Good luck with it, the rest will go faster. Also be sure to use all of the 2 sided tape to fasten the plates on the car.

 

Gary, thanks for the info. I used fuse taps YEARS ago... to hook up my 8-track player (yeah... THAT many years ago!). Thanks, also, for correcting the fuse number. Re-reading your original post showed that it was fuse #5 with a 7 amp. I just transposed the numbers!

By the way, it was quite tricky fishing the wires through with those connectors on, but I did finally get it. I used a coat hanger with a little hook bent into the end. Fished it from the inside until I could see the hanger hook in my drilled hole. Dropped the wire and connector and snagged it... then pulled it through.

I was going to tuck the transformers behind the seat belt pocket as I thought they would be too thick to fit under the trim. Since you said it could be taped to the sill and fit under the trim, I'll give that a try instead. Thanks for the tips!

 

Tsk, tsk, tsk. That's because you didn't take my advice to do some prep work before receiving the sill plates. Had you removed the trim and seat parts and drilled holes and pre-run wiring from fuse box to door area then you could have been 2-4 hours ahead at the time of getting your sill plates. Sigh. Sometimes I hate having that Engineering mind as the wife thinks I'm correcting her when it is more of "poignant suggesting." <nudge nudge>

 

Oh, but Darren, I couldn't have drilled holes prior to getting the plates... I wouldn't have known exactly where the wires came out of the plates! My holes were drilled exactly at the exit points.

Incidentally, I did get the rest of the holes drilled (passenger side), the wires fished and the sill plates mounted. Ran out of time, so I still need to hook up the electronics on the right side, but the ones on the left look COOL!!

I did have one other mystery to solve when hooking up the power. Gary said to use fuse #5 with a 7 amp fuse... BUT, there WAS a fuse in #5 already. And it's a real mystery. I have a sticker near the inside fuse block and it identifies fuse #5 as "Seat Heater", and there's a 15 amp fuse mounted in there! The owner's manual reports that the #5 fuse is unused. Very strange! Near as I can tell, I don't have seat heaters! Does anyone else have this mystery fuse in #5?

I ended up using that fuse... but didn't bother with a fuse tap. I took the fuse and trimmed a little of the plastic off one side, then soldered a wire to it. The short length of wire then went to a shielded connector, so it's safe and convenient. I made sure to plug the wire portion into the fuse block correctly (opposite of the power supply side, so the fuse protects the circuit).

Got everything working, but there is one minor annoyance. The little tranformers emit a high pitched whine. Even tucked away behind the seat belt pocket and trim cover, you can still hear them. Gary, did you notice this on yours?

Still need to hook up the power to the right side, then I'll post some photos.

 

Yes there are fuses in many of the unused fuse positions. This is great, as it saves having to buy another fuse.

 

No, that's a good point, Jeff. I would love these on my car but don't have the gusto to undertake it at home here and don't feel like paying a shop to do it. I'm envious if anything so I have to poke at you somehow. I just heard from my parents who left Tucson, AZ and entered CA today on their way to San Diego to visit some of their friends then they hit the return trip in a few more days and take a leisurely return trip to Pittsburgh. I offered them my Civic for the trip but they kindly refused - too bad - they are taking the touring Jag ('95 XJR supercharged beast) and probably don't get over 22 mpg at best. I can just hear them telling me to take their family Honda rather than my previous sports car on a trip so it is an interesting switch of roles this time.

 

Gary,

Still wondering if your sill plate transformers make noise. Mine aren't real loud (I'm still glad I have the plates!!)... I'm just curious if yours do the same!