One of the things that is NOT needed on this car, but was part of my plan was to add a backup camera. Why? Because I could! 🙂 The touchscreen Alpine deck has provisions to add a front/rear camera so I figured why not? Originally I purchased a license plate frame with a camera attached, but realized that the placement of the camera made it so the license plate lights would not be visible. Also, if I flipped the frame upside down, I wouldn’t be able to open the trunk. What to do?
- HEAVY-DUTY LICENSE PLATE FRAME BACKUP CAMERA: Perfect for all vehicles that us a standard US license plate, holds your car backup driving security. Not only it can offer the protection for license plate but also offer the stylish look
- IP67 WATERPROOF &SHOCKPROOF: High waterproof level, reverse camera would never be fogged or wet even in storm or bad rainy day. Plus, professional shockproof design, the safety & security assist camera does work for your vehicle all the time
- 170° WIDELY VIEWING ANGLE: To work perfectly, the viewing angle macro lens with mirror image give you a wide viewing horizon. License plate camera built high sensitive color CMOS image sensor to eliminates all the blind spots behind the car
- UPGRADE VERSION VEHICLE CAMERA: Hi-definition color pictures, sensitive real time and continuous, with the help of wired universal car reversing camera, you won’t be disturbed when you reverse your car even in adverse environment
- NIGHT VISION BETTER THAN IR LIGHTS: With 8 white LEDs, night vision reversing camera provides you realistic and comfortable images for night time or dark space backing up than other infrared camera
I opted for a much more difficult install. Why? Because nothing has been “plug and play” with this car, and my courage has built up over the time building this car. I opted to replicate a build from Saul on the FFR forums, sadly he passed in a tragic accident a few year back, but his legacy lives on with this mod.
I opted to mount the camera in the box that holds the licence plate lights. Yes, this requires some ingenuity and modifications, but it works PERFECTLY and looks pretty trick in the process.
You can see in the pics below, Saul’s original design above the license plate. I drilled out the grounding bar with an 18.5mm hole saw. The shiny chrome box holds the license plate lights. I then aligned and drilled the camera hole and test fit the camera.
This is where it gets a little tricky. Aligning the license plate light box, the plexiglas underneath, and the actual hardware is one part. Next I needed to figure out how to mount the light box to the body. Normally there’s a single screw that uses pressure to hold the light box onto the license plate frame which is drilled into the body. Creativity was needed, patience, and a steady drilling hand.
The 1/8″ aluminum bar needed to be added to give some width to the screws that were going to hold the light box onto the plate holder. I used some short 1/8″ rivets to mount the bar, and they squished enough on the inside as to not mess with the electrical connections inside the box. It’s basically a grounding bar that holds the LEDs and they touch a positive U-bar for connectivity.
Once the bar was aligned, drilled, riveted – I then needed to drill another 18.5mm hole for the camera to fit. Of course this was helped by a dremel with a mini sanding drum and many test fits. Next up was to drill the final exterior holes and test the screw length as to not short out any electrical connectors/bars.
I used 10/24 hex head bolts to mount the rear box. Why? I have a huge box of them from other mods. All I needed was a #25 drill bit and a tap for the 10-24 screws. (see below)
- Tap and drill bit combo – provides a secure method of drilling the proper hole size before cutting right-hand internal threads
- Plug taps – engineered for cutting right-hand internal threads
- Included drill bit – is matched to tap for correct size, with a no-skate tip for accurate hole starts
- Heat-treated carbon steel tap – provides superior durability and speed
- Rolled tap threads – deliver more accuracy and are cleaner than machined threads
Now the final result! It worked out amazingly well, we had to clock the camera a bit to ensure it was up/down/side-to-side aligned. Absolutely LOVE the functionality and the install is pretty stealth!
So, is this mod worth it? It depends…
- Is this needed? absolutely not
- Is it functional? absolutely!
- Would I recommend doing this? Yes, on an unfinished car it’s easy, on a finished car – plan on running wires, etc.
- Was it hard? In a sense, yes. It took a lot of patience and walking away at times. The end result is amazing IMHO. Absolutely love the look, and will be helpful for when I install a backup light as it will turn on with the camera. This is the next thing to do. See part below 🙂
- 14 Super Bright White LEDs
- Available w/ Clear Lens
- Complete with Polycarbonate Lens
- Solid State Circuit Boards are Designed for 7.7-14.0 VDC, 1156 Plug
- The Perfect Solution for Back-Up Lights on Corvettes Converted to 4 Tail Lights
This product presentation was made with AAWP plugin.
