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I installed a nice backup camera in my wife's 2010 Civic LX sedan and want to do the same in my 2002 Civic EX coupe. I hate the license plate frame cameras and the ones that rotate and ended up installing a nice "factory style" camera from Crux that looks like the OEM cameras in many cars. It's triangular in shape (like a cube cut diagonally) with a square base of about 1" x 1". In the 2010 sedan I installed it under the license plate garnish/trim, where there was just enough space to fit (I did have to cut a little bit away with my Dremel tool due to the surface not being totally flat).
Camera:
Looking at the 2002 license plate garnish it is a bit curved at the center, which is the ideal mounting spot, making it less ideal and there is a spot on either side a few inches away where it is flat but it's less ideal since the camera won't be centered then. Any recommendations or past experiences anyone can share? I'm leaning towards trimming the garnish and installing it dead center for maximum utility.
Dead center would be best for functionality and looks. I would try for center.
Thanks, I ended up going just off center as there was a support thing dead center that I couldn't drill through. I found that I couldn't tighten the nut as much as I wanted (on the 2010 Civic it is fully tightened so it won't move at all) so I applied krazy glue all over the thread/nut to hopefully "freeze" it in place. Not sure how well krazy glue adheres to plastic (I have some expensive 3M plastic glue if I need) but hopefully it will keep it tight enough. Will try installing the wiring tomorrow... only problem is I don't have a receiver yet with a monitor so I'll have to do the final hookup next week.
Guys, I need some help with the getting the video cable from the trunk to the front. I got it to the backseat area but not sure how to get it under the driver side floor/kick/sill covers as they seem super tightly attached. Haven't had issues with my 2010 Civic or 2014 Sienna with pulling those covers out so kind of perplexed by the 02 Civic.
I put the wire on that side for no particular reason but the passenger side might be better I guess since it doesn't have the fuel door lock to deal with. Do the sills just come off by pulling up/out? I see that in my coupe I need to remove the seatbelt bar since it inserts into two holes on the floor/lower trim/covers, but is that all? Looks like I can also send the cable under the middle of the cabin but is that easier?
Yes they just pull off, held on with an assortment of plastic clips. If the wire is small enough you could try just stuffing it in the crack between the trim and the carpet.
Yes they just pull off, held on with an assortment of plastic clips. If the wire is small enough you could try just stuffing it in the crack between the trim and the carpet.
Thanks, that's what I read here and elsewhere just was worried I might break something as it is super tight (can't even get my fingers under the interior side of the covers). Unfortunately the cable is not that thin but I put it in a 1/8" split loom plastic sheath anyway so need some space. Read some threads in the amp DIY thread but without almost any pictures it's not super helpful but I think I have an idea. Will give it another go today...
Was able to pull off the trims by removing the trunk/gas lock cover and the seatbelt bolts, but those trims were tricky to remove due to clips and tabs you can't see until you remove the trim pieces and also tricky to reattach. Finally did it though and just need my new receiver (Sony XAV AX100) now.
Some of these backup camera systems are wireless - meaning you connect the camera to the reverse bulb wire only with no wire to the feed to the front camera. The display gets connected to an ACC circuit for power and wirelessly receives the signal from the camera only when in reverse.
Some of these backup camera systems are wireless - meaning you connect the camera to the reverse bulb wire only with no wire to the feed to the front camera. The display gets connected to an ACC circuit for power and wirelessly receives the signal from the camera only when in reverse.
Thanks, I thought about those but I prefer a wired camera for performance and for my other cars sending wire from front to back or vice versa is pretty easy. In the EM2 it was a little bit of a pain (those seatbelt bolts are loooong and those floor trim panels are quite tight... but they do look better when attached than in my other cars where it's easier to remove).
Anyway, I got it wired to the front now and just waiting for my receiver to hook it all up. I have installed the exact same camera and receiver in my wife's 2010 Civic so I assume it will work as well as it does there. I'll post a pic of the installed camera as it looks pretty decent even though it just barely fits under that license plate garnish piece (which is relatively narrow front to back).
So finished the installation today by routing the cables to the new receiver, a Sony XAV-AX100. It was long overdue and has made my EM2 look way better inside and love the functionality of the new stereo. Backup camera works great too, only issue is the the guidelines from the camera show up, and the Sony has no option to turn of its guidelines, so I have to get rid of the camera's guidelines. Annoying since it requires connecting a cut wire that I thought I connected adequately but maybe I didn't, or maybe the instructions were reversed (cut to get rid of the guidelines). Annoying but glad everything is looking good. Will post some pics tomorrow of the finished product. Highly recommend everyone with an EM2 consider installing one too, it's super useful and way better than the lame license plate frame cameras (which are not car wash safe anyway).
Yep, here are some outside pics of the installed camera. The license plate garnish I installed it to is a bit shallow (front to back) so the camera does seem a bit more prominent that I prefer but overall I think it looks okay. And it's awesome to have that functionality on such an old car. Will add some pics of the camera pic on the new stereo receiver tomorrow.
Here are some more pics. Couldn't get rid of the camera guidelines (something wrong with the thin wire you connect to get rid of the lines) so had to turn off the Sony guidelines.
A few pics of the license plate garnish piece where I installed the camera. Basically, I used the included hole saw to carefully drill a hole where there was enough space to install the camera, which was fairly limited due to the space available and the support thing in the middle of the garnish.
I ended up using Krazy Glue on the threads as I couldn't tighten it down as much as I wanted because the hole is not on a totally flat segment but it seems to be tight now so I avoid touching it and hope it will last as long as the car has left. Used some black silicone for weather proofing the gaps.
07-12-2019
Installing back up camera in 7th gen coupe 
