After being given so much help lately I thought I would add a little something back. It's not much but I wanted to add to BlackWidowZ's thread about his stereo install. It can be found here: 300zx-stereo-installation-write-up-t572341.html
He mentions that he is going to install a camera with his and although I don't have my deck yet I purchased the camera now while I had the interior panels off to replace my hatch/fuel door release cable. The installation was pretty straight forward. Fist off, here is what came in the 2 boxes. 1 Clarion CC4001U backup camera and 1 Clarion license plate camera holder CAU001. Combined cost was around $190.00 CDN. First off I laid everything out on the bench to make sure it was all there
First step was to take the camera bracket off and install the mount that came with the plate holder (note: make sure you don't loose the little weather seal washer on the back of the camera):
Now install the plate bracket. Be careful not to over tighten the small screws as you will crack the housing:
Attach the camera to the back of the plate bracket and then use zip ties and electrical tape to keep everything together and protected from any water spray up in the rear of the car.
It should now look like this:
There were 2 sets of wires. One set runs the LED plate lights and the others run the camera. I removed my license plate light harness and discovered that the metal holding the lights in place was completely shot. I decided then to use the stock harness for the new plate lights and order a backup in case I ever needed to return to stock.
Cut the wires and spliced directly:
Use heat shrink connectors for the best hold as the wire sizes are completely different:
The next connection is to the reverse light switch for the camera activation. I spliced into the left side reverse light (green/white) with a quick connect and then connected the ground to a screw on the body that was already doing the job. Since I have an extra reverse light harness I can easily return to stock if ever needed. You'll also notice I reused the rubber grommet that the original license plate wires ran through again for the new ones. The connector is large but some coaxing will get it to finally slide through:
Next run the RCA cable to the front of the car following the same path that the hatch release cable takes. Be sure to zip tie it along the way to keep everything neat and tidy. When you get to the front just run it under the steering column and in tight with the air vent into the radio compartment.
Now lets test it out. I used my daughter portable dvd player to run the single RCA video jack into the back. For the nighttime shot I had the brake light tapped on but the illumination is pretty good with just the reverse lights and the license plate lights. The camera didn't do the screen any justice either. The image is quite crisp:
Daytime:
Nighttime:
Here is how the finished product looks. Pretty good in my opinion:
Daytime:
Nighttime:
Don't forget to wrap all your connections in electrical tape just to be sure:
Final Thoughts:
All in all a pretty decent camera. Clarion's new camera, the CC510 comes with the color distance guide lines but is not available in North America yet. From what I have read if I ever want to upgrade just pop the plate holder and then the camera off and attach the new one as the connections are universal for both series.
Hope this helps!
Evan
