[Moose]

How much do you enjoy that giant orange and white sign in the middle of your dash? Me personally, I could think of better places for it. Not only for the fact that it's ugly, but it eats up so much useful real estate on the dash!

WARNING: this process is not for everyone. I, in no way am telling you to remove warning stickers from your Pioneer.

Ok, now that the legal crap is out of the way, I'll get to what I did.

I looked at that label one more time...... Sorry buddy, you need to go.



I then inspected the back of the dash behind the warning label. You can do this by removing your hood. Area was clear of obstructions, so I continued on.

I found a drill bit to pop the rivets with. The drill bit only needs to be as big as the center of the rivet. Once you have drilled through the head of the rivet. The back side will just fall out.



With all the rivets removed. Pry up an edge of the sign. Once I got my fingers under it, it peeled right off.



There is some factory adhesive left, so I used a little cleaner and elbow grease to remove it.





Then I decided where I wanted to put my first Aux switch. After making a few reference marks, I used a Dremel with drywall cutting bit to make the hole. Take your time on his step. If you screw up, you can't go back.



These Daystar switches are from Amazon. When you have the hole just right, they are self locking in place. I kept my hole on the small size and used a series of "dry fits" to get it just right.



Since I was doing my front and rear LED's. I only did two switches. I plan to add a dome light with switch and use the rest of the area for my winch remote and switch, and a couple USB charger outlets.



I ran all wiring under the body and zip tied to the frame. I hooked a fusible link into the positive battery terminal, so the lights are operated independent of the key.



I did have the assistance of a master electrician in training for a lot of the install.



The sign has found a new home proudly displayed on the rear of my roof. Safety first!!

 

[daberry]

Well done Moose! Glad to see your apprentice was giving you a hand. Get them started young and right!!

 

[Moose]

Well done Moose! Glad to see your apprentice was giving you a hand. Get them started young and right!!

Thanks. Yeah this one is the tinkerer. He was actually building his own Pioneer in the picture. It may only look like a piece of wood covered in wires and zip ties, but not if your 4.

My 5 year old, is the driver. Anything with wheels and an engine and he wants to run it.

My two year old, she likes to help reload ammo. Heck I figure in another decade, all of my work will be done for me

 

[NevadaWalt]

Moose, you have one steady hand using a dremel like that. I try that and the hole is all over the panel.

 

[Moose]

Moose, you have one steady hand using a dremel like that. I try that and the hole is all over the panel.

Yeah thanks. Free handing a switch hole in your brand new machines dash is probably not for everyone, of that you are correct.

Please don't try anything that I explain in a thread unless you have the skill or willingness to. That's a disclaimer for everyone, not just you Walt.

If you mess it up in this case, you can always put the warning sign back and screw it down. No one will ever know

 

[rich450es]

if you screw up you can glue the warning sign back on .....lol
once again moose , nice job !!!

 

[Rancher Guy]

OK, now we see the real mechanic and brains of the operation. Moose is just the flunky...lol

 

[Rancher Guy]

Have you thought about putting black screws back in those empty holes?

 

[Moose]

Have you thought about putting black screws back in those empty holes?

Yeah I'm going to button it up with some sheet metal screws once I have everything I want in that spot.

 

[foggy]

Kinda wondered if you drilled the four corners….could you not use a dremel circle saw blade to make the cuts that connect the conners?? That roto-zip method could get outta control.

 

[Moose]

Kinda wondered if you drilled the four corners….could you not use a dremel circle saw blade to make the cuts that connect the conners?? That roto-zip method could get outta control.

Your welcome to use whatever method you wish.

Since I was looking for a tight fit to use the locking tabs on the switch and didn't have any kind of template, the free hand method was a lot faster and easier for me.

 

[rich450es]

when i make holes in plastic i heat up a old hack saw blade with a propane torch and it cuts-melts it easy ....i also use a piece of mechanics wire heated to melt holes for zipties or bolts

 

[Da-veed]

Now thats what im talking about!! No more wasted space! Looks great!!

You could prolly even find some lil black rivets to put back in the holes. Give it a "clean" look.

 

[David]

Good job Moose, I have been considering removing that notice as well and was curious what I would find underneath. Not too sure if I would be as diligent as you by mounting it again elsewhere though.

 

[Moose]

Good job Moose, I have been considering removing that notice as well and was curious what I would find underneath. Not too sure if I would be as diligent as you by mounting it again elsewhere though.

Haha. Yeah I didn't really "mount it". It just had adhesive on it still, so I slapped it on there. To its credit, its still sticking

If it lets go, it will be vertically filed.

 

[Utard]

Nice that will be the first mod I do to mine. I hate dumba$$ stickers. All that warning labeling is getting out of hand. Stupid is stupid does I guess?

 

[Moose]

With the amount of dumb people I run into on a near daily basis, I can understand the need for them.

Some lighted toggles are way better to stare at then a 10x8 safety placard though

 

[foggy]

Kinda wondered if the Honda heater may use that space and space under the hood. It's why I've been holding off on a few mods....as I don't have a clue on where the heater is going to go....and it's one of the most important for me. I do wish they would at least post the instructions or more pics so a person would know how to proceed. ( do I sound unhappy with honda - I should. Grin )

 

[Mattamus1]

Is there enough room behind that panel to install a stereo?

 

[Moose]

Is there enough room behind that panel to install a stereo?

Depends on what kind of head unit you are talking about. Single din, double din, din and a half?

I'd hate to say either way and and be liable for a botched install. Best just to measure yourself and see. By removing the hood you have access to area. You can use the back side of the shifters to locate where you are.