I stole this idea from flrubicon (with permission,) modified it a bit, and did a write up. It's for those that want to put their switches up above the rear view mirror.

I picked up a daystar switch panel from another forum member, but wasn't sure how I'd use it since I have my sirius radio mounted on my lower panel already. I saw a pic of flrubicons jeep where he had cut out the switch box from the daystar panel and screwed it into the upper windshield header. I liked the idea, but wanted a cleaner finish with no rough edges, so I decided to pull the header and mount the switch box in it, putting all the rough edges between the windshield frame and the plastic cover. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here's how I did it.


First, there is a plastic screw in the lower of the two holes in this pic. Take that out, remove the visor, and pull this side panel off.


With that panel off, the plastic header that stretches across the windshield can be pulled off. It's not screwed on in any spot, just pressure fit in.


Cut out the switch box portion of the Daystar panel leaving a small lip the whole way around it.


Switch box cut out.


Lay the header down, measure the outline of the switch box, measure and mark the four corners on the backside of the header.


I used a utility knife to cut through the plastic. With a sharp blade, it only takes a few firm swipes to get through.


I dropped the switch box through, but the cut out was a little small at first, so I used a dremel with a sanding wheel to clean up the hole and make it the right size.


What it looks like dropped through the other side.


Once the hole was the correct size, I used epoxy to hold the switch box in place. I used 30 min delayed set epoxy so I could take my time and get everything positioned. I also did the epoxy in two steps. Once to hold the box in place, and then another to secure it. For the second step I used a bunch of epoxy and pretty much covered the ridge between the switch box and the header. This pic is of the first round of epoxy.


I rested it between two chairs to let it dry.


Once the glue is dry, I took black silicone and smoothed it into the small gap between the switch box and the header that is visible to the occupants once the panel is installed. It added a nice clean look to it.

Install your switches, run the wires behind the plastic before you replace the header. Reverse the removal steps and you are good to go!

The finished product feels extremely solid and doesn't move AT ALL when I use the switches. You can see where the black silicone is in this picture. It's right at the 90 degree angle between the switch box and the plastic header.


Thanks again to flrubicon for a great idea on how to get the switches up and out of the way.

 

Looks good.

 

Excellent....I was going to take the time and cut it in like you did, but went the lazy route and mounted it to the outside. Now that I see the finished product, I am going to have to cut mine in also. Thanks

One note I can add. I mounted mine just left of center. There is enough room for 2 switch pods side by side between the sunvisors. Something to think about it you think you ever need more than 4 switches.

 

Very nice, clean, and useful mod.

 

Looks amazing!!! Nice work

 

I should have mentioned that in the write up. If you look in the fifth picture, you can see that there is a post that holds the header on to the windshield that's in the way of mounting it off to the left or right. I'd planned on doing it off to the side like you had incase I wanted to mount another switch panel at some point, but I would have had to cut that post out. I don't think it would have made much of a difference, but it's something to keep in mind. I doubt it I'll ever need more than the four switches, but I'm sure a bunch of folks will.

 

Nice job, looks great.

 

Looks like a professional install... Great job

 

that looks good!!!!!!!

 

nice work!