Unfortunately haven't gotten the aftermarket head unit in. I'm going for the latest Eclipse Nav/DVD double DIN which apparently doesn't require any special adapters to work with the steering controls. It has a "learning" function where you push the steering wheel button, it listens to the signal, and then you can assign any function you want to each button.
All I've done so far was install the steering wheel controls and route the signal wires back to near the head unit for the audio installers to use.
All up it took about 3 hours, including a couple of breaks. Many thanks to my mechanic mate that I do Army Reserves with, since I have no tools or real expertise.
I followed this guide:
Steering Wheel Removal and Audio Control Install - Nissan 350Z & 370Z Wiki
However there are a few things to note for anyone who wants to do this themselves, since the guide isn't 100% complete and not 100% relevant for us.
First important thing: make sure your wheels and steering wheel is totally straight ahead. The wiki recommends you turn the wheels all the way to the right, but that's going to stuff you up later on. We ended up having to temporarily reconnect the spiral cable and steering wheel and re-aligning the wheels to straight ahead halfway through. The reason for this is the new factory spiral cable you have to buy comes calibrated for straight ahead. To make this easier, there is a line on the front of the steering column that aligns with a line on the spiral cable so you know they're matched.
There is a lot of trim to take off in order to remove the spiral cable. The guide says it's optional to remove the trim on the right hand side of the dash (where the VDC Off button is) but it was mandatory when we did it. To get that piece out, you also have to remove a piece of trim that goes all the way from the bonnet release to the back of the driver's seat. This is held in with a plastic clip only. We also had to remove the bolts holding in the "combination meter" (speedo, tacho etc).
Trim coming off.
Trying to remove the trim.
Having to loosen the meters to get to the top of the spiral cable.
Once the spiral cable is out and free (with the indicator stalks etc), compare it to the new unit you've bought.
There is an extra module on the factory one that has to be transferred to the new one. This must be aligned (straight ahead) with the old one so it's similarly aligned with the new one. According to my mate, there is a possibility that the airbags will deploy when you switch the car on if you've stuffed up the alignment.
This is the part that has to be transferred from the old spiral cable to the new spiral cable - 47945-AS500 STEERING ANGLE SENSOR
Sorry for the crappy photo
This one is slightly clearer. The part clips on nicely to the new spiral cable but make sure you don't handle it too much since the inside of it turns and you need it to be in the same place, aligned with the spiral cable.
I did the floppy drive trick, removing the pins from the
4 Pin Berg Connector and lengthening the wires. When connecting the new pins to the old harness (Plug M23) make sure you loosen the little white plug on the top to allow the pins to slide in. We couldn't get them in until we did this. Once you've made sure the pins are all the way through to the front of the plug, pop the white plug on the top back in to lock them into place.
We grounded both the illumination earth and the audio switch signal earth to the same place, on the right hand side near the door, and spliced the parkers-on power for the illumination from the VDC Off switch (3rd wire in).
The switches went on the steering wheel easily, just following the guide. Make sure you route the switch loom in such a way that it doesn't interfere with the backing plate/springs (to allow the horn to spring back up) and that the airbag isn't going to sit on it and compress it. It took us a couple of goes of reassembling the steering wheel to find the best way to route them.
End result:
Next update will be when I get them working with the head unit.
