WHT Z06 Mods: Valentine One

WHT Z06 Modifications:
Valentine One

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


Main unit	Remote display

The main unit (recently upgraded to a gen 2) is located to the right of the rear view mirror, just below the OnStar antenna module. The bracket is sandwiched under passenger side sunshade anchor. The remote display is mounted inside the ash tray and is hidden when it's closed.

Bracket

I cut the bracket from 0.034" stainless. There are two 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. The gen 2 visor mount is slightly different but my bracket still worked with it. To keep it from rattling, I shimmed it with a small piece of plastic. Finally, I powder coated it flat black using a HotCoat kit from Eastwood Company.

Remote display

The process of installing the remote display inside the ash tray was time consuming. I cannibalized a the RJ11 jack from a V1 cigarette lighter adapter and used it to make a short extension that could be permanently epoxied to the ash tray.


Ash tray jack	Jack wiring

The RJ45 jack is on the left and needed to be relocated. I accomplished this by desoldering the ground tabs and bending the jack 90°. To give it a little stiffness, I soldered on a little bracket made of tin.


Faceplate assembly	Faceplate

The custom faceplate is built up from black 3/16" ABS sheet plastic glued together with acrylic cement. It's necessary to support the back of the remote PC board, especially behind the mute button. Also, I used some little pieces of copper wire to engage some holes in the top and bottom of the remote to prevent it from popping out of the faceplate.

Remote assembly

To keep the faceplate secure, I glued ABS pieces to the top and bottom of the faceplate (at the correct angle) and used #4 stainless wood screws to attach them to the ash tray. The final step was to cut a hole behind the RJ45 jack in the ash tray and a slot behind that to allow the wire to rotate when the door is closed.

Electrical hookup

Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery while working on electrical circuits to avoid potentially damaging shorts and possible personal injury.

A good circuit to use is the 10A "HTD SEAT/WPR RLY" circuit in the IP fuse block. It is only energized when the ignition is. I wired the hot side of the V1 direct-wire power adapter to a Littelfuse Add-A-Circuit (FHM200BP) and the negative to ground point (G202) inside the passenger kick panel. I used a 10A fuse for the new circuit and the direct-wire adapter has a 1A fuse.


Fuse detail	Ground detail

Note that there are two ways to plug an Add-A-Circuit in. Ideally, each circuit has its own fuse. But it's also possible that the new circuit is fed from the donor circuit's fuse. In this case, there's only one way the Add-A-Circuit fits in the fuse slot I selected and luckily, it's the "right" direction.

When using a different slot, the instruction sheet gives an easy way to tell which way to plug the adapter in. If you plug it in with the lower fuse removed and the upper fuse installed, the new circuit will only have power when the adapter is correctly installed.

I attached the direct-wire adapter below the Bose amp using the 3m Dual-Lock fastener supplied with the adapter. There's actually a fair amount of free space down there in a 6th generation Corvette.

Direct-wire adapter