One of the restoration goals for Mildred – the MGB GT I am working on – is to (possibly) function as daily driver for my wife. And something she does rely on is SATNAV. In Maggie, Miffi and Moggi I am using a mobile phone holder with wireless charging. Navigation is usually Google Maps or Waze (which has some features that are better). The usability is OK – but modern cars are usually much better here. It would be great to just place the phone somewhere in the center console or armrest, use wireless charging and wireless Carplay/Android Auto.
The majority of aftermarket car radios today are double-Din variants. These fit into the lower part of the centre console beneath the dashboard. But as I will be converting to LHD and use an early style MGB metal dashboard – I am intending to use the single DIN slot. An added benefit of this is that it sits high the view is not obstructed by anything.
Mildred’s orginial 1973 RHD dashboard had rocker switches and two air vents in the single DIN slot. But the 1970 replacement MGB bodyshell I got has a slight difference shell behind the dashboard. With the introduction of the air-vents in the dashboard, two holes fresh air intake where added. There are missing on earlier models. Therefore the vents in Mildred will move to the centre console – similar to cars from Frontline. Talking of which…
On a number of Frontline MGBs I saw a retractable 7″ single DIN radio unit mounted in the classic dashboard. It is difficult to tell what brand they used – but there are not many vendors left. When making wireless Android Auto a requirement – the list becomes short quickly. Lack of wireless support and the fact that the last firmware update was in 2019 killed the Pioneer AVH-Z7200DAB of my list. A few “no-name” devices on Ebay have manuel retractable displays. But if is does not retracte automatically – then a fixed screen could be used as well. The major brands that have a up-to-date single DIN unit with larger displays are Alpine Navi-F115D, Sony XAV-9550ES and Blaupunkt Hamburg 948 DAB. All of those are way off expensive. The new Pioneer SPH-DA97DAB gets into an affordable range – but the screen sticks to far out for my taste.
![1966 Frontline MGB GT LE50 [1024X768] : r/carporn](https://bonhamscarsonline.twic.pics/52c0e00e-0ad7-4680-9855-b284ce5880a3/cf9d1363-85e4-47b6-9710-3cca3b5d68ba.jpg)
Either way – larger screens will require a change of the dashrail padding. If you look closely you see that this is done very professionally on the frontline cars. Another thing to consider is that the opening for the radio is recessed into the dash about 3mm. After taking all of this points into consideration – I decided to test a cheaper approach.
Among dozens of options, I choose this cheap Android unit from Ebay. It could very well be that I waste 100€ – but I decided to try out a 6.9-inch fixed screen unit. Criteria for this were – like mentioned – support for wireless car play, DAB+ radio support with antenna, 2GB RAM memory, runs Android 13 natively (which should mean that apps can be installed natively). The unit is 8.5cm high – so it requires 3.5cm above the DIN slot. It should fit right beneath the dash padding – but this needs to be tested. This is why I ordered it now. Worst case is that it will be used in Miffi.
Fixing C6622 
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