Asylist

Will be adding a VGA screen of some sort to my '93 Camaro in the next few months. I want something permanent in the car (i.e - I'm not satisified with a laptop in the passenger seat or on a mount between the seats..no amount of prodding will convince me otherwise). My intended use for it will be GPS navigation, running the data logger/scanner and music playing. I'll be custom mounting a computer setup in the car, completely hidden. I have no intentions or desires to play DVDs or games on the screen (I don't play games on my computers now with massive screens, I'm sure not about to try it on a 7" inside a car). I haven't yet decided if I want to go with the DIN style, or custom mount a panel somewhere.

One of the options I'm looking at now is to pick up a DIN 7", and mount it in the cubby area where the cigar lighter is located currently. Yes, I know I'll have to modify the cubby, that's a really minor thing to me. More of what I'm concerned about is whether it will have enough room to extend with the 6-speed shifter down there as well, and if I'll be able to see it well down there (given the angle I'll be looking at it).

I've also thought about custom molding in a regular 8 or 10 inch panel there or where the radio would normally go, but I haven't yet figured out a decent way to hide it when I'm away from the car, and not make it look like I'm trying to hide something. I've seen several in dash units that are nothing but a blank black panel with a couple silver buttons on the front when the screen is closed, and I can easily black those out.

So, mainly my question is how well an in-dash style unit would work in the lower cubby, and has anyone else figured out a way to mount something so that it's well hidden when not in use?