Installed this awhile ago for my system on my 93 prelude. Figure it would work on any Honda with the same buttons as well. Write up is below








NEEDED: JB Qwik
Drill with two (2) bits
Small files
USB cable with male and female ends
Flat head screwdriver
Needle nose pliers and razor
Cruise Control Switch



Switch pulled from the "cluster"



Use the flathead to remove the bulbs



*POP* the switch cover off the front



Remove the back panel





Pull out the insides. Should look like this all apart



Use a smaller drill bit so that the wire *snaps* into the channel. Drill then razor the sides inward like a "V"



Check and make sure your USB fits, might need to trim it like I did mine (used one from an old xbox btw). The inside diameter is 5/8.





Trace using the female end as reference. Just need a general area since the bit should be slightly smaller than the female end.



**EDIT** BEFORE DRILLING OUT FOR THE USB TURN THE COVER OVER AND USING AN XACTO OR SIMILAR RAZOR, CUT THE LITTLE RECTANGLE BOX OUT OF WHERE YOU ARE DRILLING, YOU WILL AVOID DOING WHAT I DID FURTHER DOWN!!!!**



Drill out inside the box. Dont worry about slop here, it will be fixed with the files.



CAREFULLY! Use the files to clean up the edges



What it should look like, less the gaping nastiness at the bottom



Run your USB through the housing



JB weld the "collar" don't be afraid of being a little generous here.



now *snap* your wire into the channel and *pop* the back on (it will be upside down, this is fine and doesn't effect the final install)



Let it set for a while with the JB quick. Feel free to use Electrical tape to just hold the cover in place until it dries.





Re-install it in reverse of taking it out, tuck your wires, plug in your USB to the back of your unit or wherever it is running and enjoy. I actually use the USB more than my Iphone because I can leave the USB in, and nobody really realizes it's there since it blends in.

If you find your USB pushing into the housing once it's all done, put a zip-ties on the wire inside the housing so that it doesn't get pushed in anymore, that's what I had to do with the first one at the top of the page





I recommend picking up one of these from Amazon. This one is a 16GB usb drive, think it was around $13. They have up to 32GB for around $20. Only reason I recommend buying these is because you can't even notice it in the car unlike the other USB drive I had in there.

Original thread at: http://www.preludezone.com/i-c-e/424...drive-mod.html

 

bumpin it up

 

For what? Looking past the hack job, maybe explain what this mod is for and what the other end of the USB cord attaches to? There might be some people scratching their heads wondering why you're patting yourself on the back. Appreciate the effort but this "mod" appears to be totally cosmetic sans the answers to some of the questions I posted.

Explain this to me like I'm 5.

 

Also, with that low profile USB stick, the same kind I run without needing this mod. what is the point in relocating the USB port? Most head units these days come with at least one USB port on the faces of the units.

 

Well I could be a complete jerk and talk to you like you are a five year old, but I'll take the higher ground here. You see after deleting my cruise control from my prelude I was left with a completely useless switch. At the same time I was attempting to integrate an external SATA drive into my car just for music's sake. Yes I am aware that now there are I-Pads and other such devices, but for the regular Joe who is working to support a family, pay a mortgage, and customize a car... we really don't have the money to blow on super expensive gadgets. The sata was not capable of being formatted over for use with the Alpine. This here was done for the cost of the USB cable and some JB weld, and of course an Alpine headunit with integrated USB (roughly $150 at the time). Said headunit included an I-Phone adapter for the USB connection on the back, I not having an I-phone (at the time, i have since picked one up for .99) thought it would be nice to do something out of the ordinary instead of being like all the scene kids *ahem* and went out and did something new. This isn't here to make you grab your nuts and go HOLY SHI**!!!! This is here so that if for any reason, somebody wants to just add little bit of "hey, i did that" to their car instead of having Timmy at Best Buy do it, then they can do it. I mean sure, it's your right to dig into something that I did that I thought was pretty sweet, considering the one that's in the car is the first attempt I did and it took 10 minutes to complete it, pretty sure I was drunk doing the second one so as a tip... don't do this drunk. And as another tip... why would you carbon wrap your roof? What's the point? Explain what it's for. There might be some people scratching their heads around here wondering why you have tape on your roof. I'll give you this though, I DID need to explain where the other end goes... to the back of my Alpine, and MAYBE I needed to explain it's use... data storage such as large amounts of music and video (IF you can afford a double DIN or flip out screen.) And I might even say that I like some of the things you've done to your Civic. To be a car guy, you have to accept everything you see as someone's individual triumph of creativity, being a graphic designer I figured you'd understand this. Would you rather design the same crap people have been designing for years, or eek out a little tiny spot that you can be happy about? I appreciate the feedback and if you feel like flaming and going off on me, feel free. But I've spoken my peace, but right now my 6 month old daughter is screaming probably having nightmares about those stupid KIA hamsters and their stupid cars and my wife is trying to get some sleep. L8R

 

nice write up. I want to do something similar to my car, except it'll be an AUX 3.5mm jack in one of the armrest block off plates that goes to the RCA L-R jacks on the back of my stereo.

 

^---- Hmmm, sounds cool. I'd like to see pix when you get it done.

 

Sorry to gets your nuts in a bind but if you're going to do a write up then do a whole write up. I don't care about taste or aesthetics or any of that. And if I were to do anything like this I'd be a little more meticulous with what I was doing to my car. Actually I'd be waaay more meticulous. If I were to comment on workmanship, which I did, it looked half-assed and rushed. Way back when I did paid computer mods we did stuff like this all the time and produced far cleaner results than this that were well thought out. You wouldn't have caught us using bullshit JB weld or zip-ties on any work we did. We would have come up with a trick way to mount it and hold in place and maybe even illuminate it with an LED or two.

So no, no where was I commenting on the mod and what it looked like but I did comment on the shoddy way it was done and the purpose for it. I could give a **** less what you do to your car. I don't have to drive in it.

"USB mod for people without an I-pod or front USB port on their headunit." That would have explained it much better.

But because you never said WHY you were doing this "mod" and maybe even give the back story that you only gave later, all you left were big holes in your post that I thought someone looking at this might want answered. Pardon me for being an advocate for complete information.

Seems you are getting upset because you aren't getting all the pats on the back you expected. If you step back for a moment and read the post objectively, like I did, you'll sit there wondering WTF is the purpose of this mod. ME? I don't need it explained to me like a 5 year old but there are SOME people that visit this forum that surely will and need EVERY SINGLE DETAIL laid out and explained.

You didn't do that. RIGHT NOW it just looks like you just decided to chop up a cruise control button so you could stick a USB stick in it. No summary. No conclusion. No purpose for this mod EVER explained. So if you actually posted this for people to benefit from it, DO A BETTER JOB! Take all forms of suggestion and even criticism and stop taking **** personal when you post something up for public consumption.

 

Well sir if you would like to donate me another cruise switch I'd be more than happy to redo the write up so that the chunk wasn't missing and it didn't look "shoddy." I chose not to install any LEDs because the purpose was to keep it low profile. I do get what you are saying. But it serves its purpose the way it is written. It is, in the end, just a USB stuck in a cruise switch. After all this was my first write-up ever. Will there be a 2.0. More than likely, I just don't have time right now. When I do redo the write-up I will be sure to ask your input, because I do think you have very well thought out thorough write ups. Maybe it is because you are a programmer that you are that meticulous and maybe because you are in our 40's and have been doing this longer. Just figured that this for such a good reception from the prelude community that I would branch it out seeing as how other Hondas used the same or similar switches. Thank you for your criticism, and if I can off as having my "nuts in a bunch," sorry. I am an actual artist so sometimes I get a little wayyyy too defensive. I do appreciate the input though.

 

I understand totally. Artists are very critical of people being critical. Look forward to your 2.0 write up.

 

I was wondering this also.

 

Mod is to utilize an external USB for music/video storage for those of us with USB ports on the rear side of our head units. The other end attaches to an Alpine head unit with integrated rear usb port.