My goal for this installtion was to provide full functionality of the valentine 1 with clear views of the front and rear windshields while providing for a concealed display.

I did not like the idea of putting my $400 radar detector on the windshield to have it stolen by someone who smashes the glass and runs. Nor did I care for the idea of having to remove and replace the V1 every time I got out of the car.

So my idea was to figure out a way to install the V1 so that the main unit was hidden but provides clear coverage ahead and behind. To complete the installation requires the use of the optional remote display unit from Valentine.

The three pics below shows the locations I chose to install the various pieces for the install....

 

The main v1 unit is placed near the edge of the rear hatch. This actually provides a very clear view of the front windshield and of course rear facing. I have tested the unit for 3 weeks in this position and compared it to mounting on the windshield and did not notice any loss of sensitivty to signals when driving down the same roads.

 

Now that the locations of the v1 main unit is in the rear we need the remote display up front. I did not want the remote display up high so that anyone behind the car could see the detector lights (especially the fuzz).

I chose to mount the display down low so only I and my passenger could see it period.

Notice the remote display in lower right hand of pic inside.

 

Here is a shot with the remote display light up....

 

Now you are wondering how did he get the V1 mounted in that location near the rear hatch.

Well if you look at the headliner you will see one of those plastic grommets plugs that hold the headliner in place.

I decided to pop it out and use that for my mouting location. Now you need to be careful as both the headliner material and plastic plug are fragile.

Carefully pull back the headliner near the hatch opening and use a screwdriver to push the plug out from the backside.

Next I used the visor clip that came with the V1 and glued the plastic plug to the visor clip (minus the metal clip part). Now I can just push the entire visor clip with plug glued to it into the ceiling! From the pic you can also see I added some foam tape to help level out the V1 when in position and to keep it from rotating around too much during spirited driving.

Here is a pic of the visor clip with the plastic plug JB welded to it.
Be sure to scuff up the plastic plug before gluing to make sure the JB weld gets a good strong hold on it.

 

NICE! I'll have to try that when I get mine. Not too sure about having he remote display so low, though; from the pics, that looks like an awful long way to look down away from driving line of sight to check the display.

 

Now you need to run the power/ signal wire from the V1 back to the remote display.

You will need to pop out the rest of the head liner plastic plugs along the rear edge of the hatch area. Once this is done there is a really nice little passthru from the rear ceiling to the B pillar area behind the driver's left ear area. Once you get the wire to this point then just feed it along the roof rail and then down under the dash - not too hard.

 

Wil running the power cord in this way work if you have the curtain airbags?

 

Below is a pic of where I mounted the remote display. It might be a little low for some people, but it works well for me. You can mount it anywhere you want. I went for the fully concealed display. I have found it works really well as you can see it quite easily when driving down the road.

I used a simple metal angle bracket and custom bent it to fit the angle needed. I used the little angle slider mount that comes with the remote display and riveted it to the angle bracket.

I then used some really strong double sided tape to adhere the entire thing to the lower dash panel as I did not want to drill any holes.

 

Finally run the power wires from the remote display to the fuse box. Be sure to use a fused line (shown in red) to reduce the chance of blowing stuff up.

 

Couple pics of the V1 in position - outside the car in front.

 

One thing I really like about this placement is that the V1 actually sits right below the third brake light!

Not only does this shield it from the sun and prying eyes, but you can't even see the damn thing unless you have your face right on the lower hatch glass.

 

To answer a few questions.

I am not sure about the wiring running along the door's roof line if you have side air bags. Mine does not have them so I can't say on this one.

A couple of other nice things I like about this placement is that you can easily reach the V1's volume controls by just turning around a bit in your seat. The V1 is close enough that you can reach it ok.

I also really like the fact that you can't even see the V1 while standing outside the car. You would have to know exactly where it is to notice it.

The third brake light covers the top of the V1 so it shields it from the sunlight and prying eyes.

I have been using this setup for a few weeks now and the the V1 seems to be very happy where it sits. The detector sensitivity is still great as it has a clear line of sight front and rear and is mounted very high up.

If anyone needs more detailed pics of instructions feel free to give me an email and I can help you out.

Jason

 

Thanks for the pics, I have been trying to decide how I wanted to do mine. I wanted to do somethign very much like this, but wasn't sure how to go about it.

 

Can you take some shots of the rear of the car with the tailgate closed?

Thanks in advance!

 

....very interesting. Very good placement of V1. Very original. I've never seen anyone do that before. I might want to try that but I have side curtains. So I guess I'll keep it where it is: right next to my mirror on the window tint (shields V1 from the ultra violet rays and the "prying eyes").

 

This is great. I was thinking about trying to do a stealth install in the sunglasses holder. Then I checked the service manual and found that to get to the glasses holder/dome light assembly you have to remove the whole headliner, which in turn requires removing practically every other piece of plastic in the interior. Some 10 or so other parts, each with a dozen clips or screws. I decided it wasn't worth the trouble just to explore the possibility.

So your mounting method looks pretty good. I have two questions:

1. How solidly is the detector held in place? I'm worried that if you had to do a panic stop the thing could go flying into the windshield or, worse, into the back of your head.

B. How easy is it to remove? It has to come out when I go to the track.

Thanks for submitting the pics and answering these questions.

 

The V1 stays put and appears to be quite solid. The JB weld does a really good job of holding it in place.

I was thinking the other day that one could use something other then the plastic plug to hold it in place.

As far as removing it - no problem. I just pull back the headliner a bit and use a screwdriver to pop out the plastic plug and out it comes. Again I think something more durable and reliable then this plug would be very nice.

I don't go racing so the unit just stays in the car, but if you were removing it often I think the plastic plug would wear out over time. I was thinking the other day that you could use something with some sort of quick release latch -- still thinking on that one.

I had also thought about mounting the V1 in the sunglasses holder as mentioned earlier - but problem is the little black dots above the mirror will drastically affect detector sensitivity and I did not want to sacrifice performance.

 

This is a great idea. I had been following all the threads on detectors trying to decide which one to buy and how to mount it. I really did not like anything I had seen so far. Truly an original idea. I just placed my order for a V1 and remote display. Mike Valentine should pay you commission.

 

You mean laser sensitivity, right? I doubt they would cut radar signals. If you do mean radar, did you test this somehow?