Blackwing Mods: Valentine One Radar Detector

When I installed my Valentine One radar detector, I fabricated a custom bracket. I also hardwired the power source.

Main unit	Remote display

The main unit is a gen 2 and is located to the right of the rear view mirror and windshield camera package. The bracket is sandwiched under passenger side sunshade anchor. The remote display, a Valentine One tech display, is taped to the center console.

Bracket

I cut the bracket from 0.039" stainless. There are several 90° bends needed to fit under the sunshade anchor and a couple more shallow bends that position the main detector unit flat and level.

Bracket	Assembly

I cut a small rectangular hole into my bracket so that it would mate with the plastic catch in a V1 visor mount. I powder coated it flat black using a HotCoat kit from Eastwood Company. To keep it from rattling, I shimmed it with a wooden toothpick.

Removing the the sunshade anchor was fairly challenging. It's held to the headliner with a sheet metal bracket that is not easy to release. (I'm sure they do this to speed up installation of the headliner on the assembly line.) What worked for me was to bend the tabs on one side using some very fine needle nose pliers.

Headliner Bracket	Headliner Bracket

Remote display

The Valentine One tech display is basically a remote display with the addition a frequency display and some extra buttons. I wasn't able to mount it inside the ash tray (like I've done in the past) because the CT5 doesn't have an ash tray! Instead I bent another bracket from 0.039" stainless that fits under the wireless charger rubber mat.

Headliner Bracket	Headliner Bracket

I attached the bracket to the plastic bracket under the mat with some thin 3M VHB I had. I used regular 3M VHB to attached the display to the bracket. It's nice and steady and doesn't move when I press the mute button.

Electrical hookup

A good ignition power source is the rear view mirror connector. The connector shells and terminals are made by JST Manufacturing and are cheaply available from Mouser Electronics. Although the pinouts vary, these sames connectors have been used with many GM rear view mirrors including the 2nd gen CTS-V and the 6th gen Camaro.

Several companies sell radar detector power harnesses. These consist of a short male/female jumper with taps on power and ground. Unfortunately they charge in the neighborhood of $100 for these. I found I could make my own for less than $4 in parts.

Power Detail

I mounted a direct-wire adapter to the top of the metal frame the overhead console clips into using a strip of 3M VHB double stick tape.

Direct-wire adapter

Here's the pinout for the A10 mirror X1 connector with the rear camera mirror:

Pin Wire Color Description 1 green/white backup lamp 2 pink/white ignition (+12V) 5 black/white GND 8 yellow/black day/night mirror low reference 9 yellow/white mirror dimming signal

Here's a parts list for the harness:

Quantity	Mouser	Description
1	306-AIT2WSB-10A-2AK	10 circuit AIT-II (male)
1	306-AIT2PB-10P-2AK	10 circuit AIT-II (female)
5	306-SAITW-A03GF-064	0.3 to 0.5 mm AIT-II terminal (male/gold)
5	306-SAIT-A03GF-M064	0.3 to 0.5 mm AIT-II terminal (female/gold)

Copyright © 2025
Craig Leres