DIY-Replacing Rear View Mirror/Hardwire Radar Detector
 

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT responsible for any damage you may do to your car.

DISCONNECT THE BATTERY!!

Pull the rubber molding down around the door frame
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...&pictureid=844

Pull the top of the A-pillar trim towards the center of the car. You will see this:
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These green clips need to come off:
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Rotate 90-degrees with a pliers, and work them out. They can be tough.
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Remove the 2 screws holding the visor in place
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Using two flat-head screw drivers, push in the slots to pop the clips holding the visor mount in place. You do NOT need to push hard!
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Repeat on other side.

Remove the light
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This is the adapter you'll need. I bought it off eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290195434507...S:3160&vxp=mtr
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...&pictureid=854

Remove OEM mirror by twisting the base 90-degrees, then sliding down.

Remove OEM clip
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Replace with clip from kit
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Slide in piece
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Put base on, and attach with screws
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Pull down the head liner. NOTE, there is a white clip visible once the light comes down. Use your fingers to carefully detach it.

Look in the headliner. Thanks to ft86club member tonystewart pointing out, there is already a wire harness available. It is held in with blue tape.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...&pictureid=860

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There are 3 wires.
Blue: (+) Reverse
White: (+) Positive
Black: (-) Negative
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Connect your wires for your mirror and/or radar detector according to the installation manual
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...&pictureid=863

Tuck the wires back up, and re-install all the stuff you took down. Once done, slide your mirror on and tighten the screw.

I used a short wire cover that was cut even shorter to hide the wires
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...&pictureid=864

Finished product
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...&pictureid=866

You can avoid pulling the headliner if you wire the radar to the mirror-side plug. You can then reach the harness with your hand through the map-light opening. Has the advantage of keeping the factory wiring intact.

Yeah, I guess that could make it easier :thumbup:

Outstanding effort,thank you

what are those wire junctions called? and where can i get em?

Red T-Taps. Make sure they are RED. Autoparts stores should have them. Otherwise here is an eBay page I quickly pulled up:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-3M-951-T-...item2c65b1d789

Please help me understand... I found the "extra" harness (probably for the BRZ auto-dimming mirror?) and I found the 3 wires you described. I checked for voltage on them. I got 0 on blue, 0 on white, and 0.06V on the black wire. I was touching off on one of the body bolts inside of the door for ground. I checked the lamp wires and found 12V, so I had a good ground. I did this with the key both ON (RUN) and OFF.

I am wiring in a Valentine 1. My understanding is that I am looking for switched 12V to tap into, right? Did you find 12V on that "extra" harness?

Thanks.

The BLACK wire is ground (-)
The WHITE wire is 12V (+) switched
The BLUE wire is 12V (+) for reverse

For your V1, use the Black (-) and White (+). :thumbup:

Nice write-up. I hard-wired my V1 to the fuse box; I got a little add-a-fuse thing that uses an empty slot in the fuse box. I ran the wire from the right side of the mirror, tucked it into the front edge of the headliner, and ran it down behind the A-pillar trim. You don't have to remove the weatherstripping: just squeeze the trim at the top near the headliner and it will pop off. I didn't disconnect it from the green clip; I was able to get the bottom of the trim away from the dash, leaving more than enough room for running the wire behind it. I made sure to run the wire behind the existing bundle of wires to avoid fouling the air bag.

I prefer this solution to cutting wires. The only modification I had to do was to drill a hole in the fuse box cover so that the add-a-fuse could poke through.

I'm going to need to read up on how to do this for my radar detector. I really hate the cord always being in front of the shifter and my line of sight.

I'm buying a Savvy for my daughters V1 setup, just run one wire across the roof line and down the drivers A pillar to the OBD Port

Instead of hardwiring the radar detector just use the 12v jack that hidden in the glovebox. It's on the top right hand side in the FR-S. no cutting or splicing wires

For me, there was really no benefit to doing that. My cord barely reached and was pulling the detector, it's still in your line of site and looks sloppy, and I can't close the glove box.

Oh wow! Awesome write up!