Least-obtrusive way to get Android Auto/CarPlay in a GZG50 Century

[ZEN]

This wire will give 12+ on reverse gear

1) Connector IG2, from wiring its blue wire pin 3, 21
2) Connector IG1, pin 17 also blue wire
3) Direct from ECU pin, E8 pin8 or E12 pin8
4) Jump wire from the gearbox, trace the blue wire from there

IG1 and IG2 connector is somewhere near the ECU. need to take the glove box off first.
**just from the diagram please check the wire color matching**

[ZEN]

-IG1
-IG2
-gearbox side

[ZEN]

Speaker
L+ L- R+ R-
wire color might be the same

[ZEN]

pin8

[pugwonk]

Argh - thank you for all this! Somehow I didn't see the notification and so I missed it. I ended up taking the +12V illumination and reverse gear wires all the way from the tail lights, partly because I had to route the backup camera cable anyway. But your ideas would have been a lot better than mine, because both tail and backup lights are switched on by closing the ground circuit rather than the positive circuit, so I had to surround the lights with relays in order to turn those signals into straight +12v.

I did manage to get the backup camera largely working - I did a brief update video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o91bXLkFHdI. Next on my list are sorting audio (it's both too quiet and occasionally choppy), establishing what to do for a touch screen and finding a place to put all this stuff.

[pugwonk]

Some good news and some bad news...

The good news: I've pretty much got Android Auto and the backup camera working in the car. I've made what I'm hoping is my final version of the VCR wiring harness extender. I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be able to put all this stuff into the car and actually get my front console cubby box and cup holders back.

The bad news: I thought that the reason I could view my Android Auto output on the front screen while driving was because my car is an early car. However, while rooting around under the passenger seat, I discovered that my car has already been fitted with some sort of magic box which allows the front screen to view video while the car is driving. This means that the guide I'm going to write is not going to cover this part - I'm hoping that someone else might help here!

As of tomorrow I should have:
* Google Maps on the original LCD screen (via wireless Android Auto to my phone)
* Spotify/YouTube Music playing via AA through the factory amp, controlled by voice and showing on the factory screen
* Backup camera that comes on when you engage reverse gear

Things I have yet to figure out:
* Some way to control AA other than voice (I think this is going to involve unplugging the factory touch panel and installing my own one over the factory screen)
* I have some occasional audio breakup problems that I think are related to the Raspberry Pi audio stack
* Google Maps is currently using the phone GPS, which doesn't work all that well if you leave the phone in your pocket - I've done some experiments with using an external GPS module but I still haven't figured out the details
* I am intending for the whole system to have a kill switch so that the car can behave as though it was 100% stock... right now that's some Wego connectors in the glove box; I need to work out whether that's going to be a stealthy switch in the glove box or something more obvious somewhere else

[pugwonk]

Quick video update with the progress so far: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/oIy0kah5q3U

[pugwonk]

I basically got most of this working - I've got Android Auto on the original screen in the car, backup camera coming on when you engage reverse, and audio through the factory audio. I still don't have a touch screen (so it's voice control only) and the audio isn't perfect, but I'm pretty close!

Will post a build thread in the next few weeks with part numbers/links etc.