I was researching another radio for my Elky. Wanted something with a a backup camera screen. I was resigned to the fact that I would have to go with something pretty small. Most of the 1 din units now come with only a 4.1" screen. I could live with that, and they are pretty cheap, but I wanted to keep looking.
I found a new product from Joying. It is an Android radio that comes in a 6.2" screen size ( that's 6.96" x 3.75"). Our 1.5 din opening is 7.125 x 3.25, but on mine I have room for a 4" height screen before it will impact with the heater controls. I've looked at Joying in the past- they have a pretty good reputation, and a 2 yr warranty.
The screen has a unique method for mounting to the head unit. It just snaps on, and has a cable that connects it to the head unit. It has a lot of adjustment capability, including being remotely mounted if you should desire.
Looks like it will fit, price isn't too bad ( on sale for $156), has Nav included, bluetooth, remote mic, back up camera, etc... They have a more expensive model that has more memory, a newer Android 8.0 OS, and includes Android Auto and Torque built in ( for those of you that have moved on to OBDII). I bought the more expensive model, and have also bought an ALDL bluetooth module, to be use with ALDLDroid. Hope this will give me the same functionality with OBD1 as Torque does with OBII Take a look and give me your thoughts. ' I'll keep you posted on the install after it arrives.
I have a Din 2 in mine fits pretty good, Radio has CD, GPS and back up camera .. paid 140$ on Ebay... EDITED: Forgot to say I have Amida’s G1 dash.....
Very cool! I've been thinking about one of these. They just passed a "hands free" law in GA, so I suspect these are going to be hot sellers.
The ones that I looked at, elsewhere, didn't even provide any audio specs. At least the ones on this page seem to have some sort of watts/channel info. Sorta. If I buy something, i'll try to remember to post up, here.
This is just a tease on my install. I'll do a full step by step here in a day or so. Radio is in and functioning. Just need to finish up filling in the sides of the 1.5 din opening, and mounting the gps and XM antennaes.
Screen fits flush with the Bezel. Made a couple of brackets to mount the cage to the Elky. Simple, and no cost .
I used this stereo in my Saab, which has an annoying 1.8 (?) DIN opening. It's about 1/4" less than 2 DIN.
Things worth mentioning about this stereo based on my experience:
1. The internal amp is borderline acceptable. At moderate volume it's fine, but it's gets really distorted fast past 50%. My car has no roof so the stereo often ends up loud and I found it necessary to go to an external amp 2. It gets really hot inside. The CPU is passively cooled. It's been fine in the Saab with the large dash opening, and I think it'd be fine in the Fiero as well, but you may end up needing to actively cool it 3. The built in apps have some quirks - it's a cheap Android implementation, so no real surprise. There are forums on xda developers with various hacks & app recommendations - I'd highly recommend checking it out 4. I read/watched numerous reviews where people indicated the soft buttons didn't work well. The problem is a poorly calibrated touch screen - you can recalibrate it, and once done they work very reliably. The service passcode is on xda 5. The stereo uses a fair amount of power even when doing nothing. The SOPHIA CPU is not great. If I have the radio on for 20 minutes with the car off, the car may not restart. Be careful. 6. Related, when you turn the car off the stereo sleeps for about two days before shutting down completely. During sleep, it's using some power. If you have a marginal battery you may want to replace it.
The first stereo I received was defective - an internal cable was damaged and the antenna trigger was nonfunctional. I would recommend testing EVERYTHING before installing. The people at Joying were remarkably helpful, and even though replacing it cost my $50 in return postage to China I knew the deal going in. I enjoyed the technical discourse (like, "can you test this voltage regulator for us?") and direct troubleshooting approach. The second stereo they sent worked great and I'm seven months on with it.
Overall I am happy with it - it checked all of my boxes and saved me having to cut up my dash. It's not perfect, but I'd do it again.
I have a Joying in mine as well. I am running an external amp. Always found it best to do that anyways. I also have a backup camera. I am however still working on fitment.
Here are some of the details for install I did on my Elky. The basics should hold for the Fiero ( same size radio, etc). 1) the cage that comes with the unit can be used for the install. I made two brackets that affix to the cage by bending in the tabs on the side of the cage. You can make the side "Legs" of this bracket longer if you need to recess the unit back into console for flush fit.
The legs of the bracket that bolt to the face of the console are 1" wide. The legs that extend back, where the cage tabs attach, are 1.5" long on mine. If you need to recess your unit further, just make the legs longer. At most, you might need 2". My brackets are 3.25" wide, but 3" should be about right. The holes on the side of the bracket, that attach the radio to the console, are 2.5" center to center. Mine started at 3/16" dia, but I slotted them for some up/down adjustment. It's good to have maybe 1/16" to 1/8" up and down adjust-ability, at least on one side. Don't drill the side holes that attach the unit to the console, until you have the brackets attached to the cage, and have test fitted it. On mine, the holes are 8 3/4" apart, side to side.
You want approx 31mm of spacing, from the BACK SIDE of the monitor to the face of the radio,when installed to the radio, for a flush fit. On mine, I have a dash cap, which moves the Bezel out just a bit, so that having the mounting tabs flush with the front of the cage worked perfectly for me. You may find that you have to recess the cage back as much as 1/2" or so to maintain the flush appearance. There is a very small lip on the very front edge of the side of the cage that would have to be ground down to allow the cage to be recessed back for deeper mounting- easy. Remove your old radio, and re-mount your bezel. Measure from the face of the Bezel to the face of the console where the mounting screws go. Subtract that measurement from 31 mm, and that would be how far back you need to mount the cage.
On mine, the radio is centered pretty well between the two mounting holes in the side. For the fit of the monitor, I had to move the mounting tabs on the monitor down 1 hole, moving the monitor up slightly. I'm good with the final fit, but it could have been 1/16" lower for perfection.
For the openings on the side of the monitor, where the 1.5 din radio is wider than the new monitor, I cut 1" wide strips of 1/16" thick lexan, and painted them black. I attached them to each side of the Bezel using hot glue, with about 3/4" exposed to the opening of the Bezel. Any black material will do- even thin sheet metal, etc. Some folks have used black foam. The foam used to ship the Joying monitor was something I looked at using as well.
Hope this helps. I'll have Final Install pictures tomorrow. If you have further questions, ask...
I've been a Chevy fan since my parents brought home a '55 Chev back in 1961... and I have never heard of an El Camino being referred to as an "Elky" before.
Update: Found some steering wheel remote controls that will work with the Joying unit, so bought a set ( arriving today). They are wireless, and can be set for any function, although preset functions may be just what I need. There are a couple of different styles. One style mounts on the inside of the steering wheel rim, while the style I bought mounts to the flat surface of the Horn Pad. I'll let you know how they work when installed. https://www.amazon.com/gp/p...01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Also discovered a Bug, which I reported ( and found out was already being worked on). When I tried to download my contacts, it deleted all my contacts from the phone ( recovered fairly easily). Don't do this step until the bug is fixed!
OP Darbysan, the link in your first post is dead. Can you post the model number of this particular unit for a specific search? I would like to go ahead with this, was planning to install the stock unit from the GTP I gutted, but for all that work, why not get OBDII and NAV, too...?
------------------ 1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula, Yellow, original. (CJB #118) 1977 Pontiac Le Mans Can-Am W72, original, unrestored. 1977 Pontiac Grand LeMans 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP L67/MN7 (Parts Car) 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP L67/MN7 (DD)
I reset the link in the first post. There are several 6.2" units available. I picked the newer 8.0 android unit, since it has Android Auto and other features available. The cheaper 6.0 android unit may be just as good. I bought mine on Ebay from Joying, where they had a Make an Offer price, and I saved about $20.
More updates. Got the steering wheel remotes yesterday, and they installed easily and work great. I've gotten so used to using them in my other vehicles that I missed them. I think these will look great on the Fiero GT wheel too!
Final install pictures
Still working through the setup. It's like buying a new smart phone or computer! Tested the Audio on the road yesterday. Had to adjust the settings on the equalizer, but otherwise sound and reception was good- even on AM. Has more than enough power to overpower my speakers. Drives the Sub-woofer well. 30 station memory- 27 more than I need!
I also installed an XM radio, and tested that as well. Antenna mounted to the top of the heater box under the dash, as was the GPS antenna. No issues with reception. The XM is set to broadcast on the same FM station I use all the time, and when turned on, the antennae signal is disrupted and the XM signal is sent up the antenna wire to the same station, so I don't have to switch channels to listen to XM . Used this adapter I got at Walmart, but they are available all over the net. https://www.walmart.com/ip/...tenna-Cable/17492239
Having some issues with bluetooth Phone. Steering wheel controls work on this too! Reception is great, but other person hears me with a lot of static. Working through the possible issues, and will report back.
Just an update. Still having fun getting all the settings worked out ( it's like buying a new Android Phone, but without an instruction manual!). ON the positive side, Joying gets back to me every time I email them, usually with an answer that works.
Today, I got to work on my ALDLDroid app, along with a BLuetooth ALDL connection device . I wired the ALDL adapter so it only works with Power on ( they supplied an extra pin for the ALDL connector). Downloaded the ALDLDroid app to the radio, and it set up very easily. Screens are way easier to edit than Torque ( If you are familiar with the OBDII equivalent). I've been working on modifying my programming to get fuel BLM's and INT into line, after an injector swap. This makes it so much easier than trying to watch a laptop. Haven't gotten too far yet, but there is a way to log and download files.
