Installing New CD/MP3 Player (Head Unit)

[Zilverado]

First off - - Happy Easter and God Bless you all!

 

So, I did some searching on this topic and read some good stuff, but not for my specific questions.

 

I'm finally thinking seriously of installing a new CD/MP3 player in our '92. I'm thinking of either a Pioneer or Sony. I am not a BIG stereo kinda guy, so this will be an "entry level" unit ($100 to $125) - approx. 50W/speaker. I realize there are many opinions on the different manufacturers, and if there are STRONG opinions, feel free to share them, but that's really not my question. My questions are...

 

1) How do I remove the original head unit? I looked into this a number of years ago, and just managed to get the front trim off. I couldn't get to the HU itself. I was not desparate at the time, so I stopped looking, but now I want to do this? Are there any tricky (hidden) fasteners or clips?

 

2) How do the new (modern) units install into the stock set-up? Will they simply bolt/screw in?

 

3) What's the best way to wire this up? Is there a harness with male/female plugs behind the original head unit? If so, I was thinking of just cutting the wires (between the original HU and the plug) and wiring into this - to reuse the original plugs? Or do I get another plug and leave the original HU alone (not sure what I'll do with it)?

 

4) Lastly... I am planning to use the factory speakers. Like I said, I'm not a BIG stereo guy, so the factory speakers do just fine - at least for now. Can anyone tell me what wattage these speakers are?

 

So, there's all the questions. Any thoughts on this woudl be appreciated - thanks.

[nige]

you'll have to remove the bezel first, then there should be some screws (maybe 4) that hold the radio on the bulkhead. As soon as those are out, you should be able to slide the old radio out and unplug it from the harness. There should be a silver 'cage' that holds the factory radio in and should be separated from the radio by holding some spring-loaded clips open and sliding it off the radio. The new radio should slide into the same cage and may use small screws to secure it to the cage. You may also need to purchase a harness to plug into your new deck to connect it to the factory wiring system, but don't run out and buy one just yet.

 

Here's where it gets funky... If your factory stereo came with amplifiers, you're going to need to bypass them. The new radio you have will more than likely be too powerful to send the signal through the amps. You can either rip out all the old wires and run new ones from the deck, or you can splice into the existing wiring to bypass the old amplifiers. Since my truck had factory amps and I was in a hurry, i took it down to future shop and let one of the kids do the splicing for me for about $40. I don't know what you'll need to do if your car doesn't have factory amps. someone else is going to have to chime in about that. You might need to use a harness if you don't have the factory amps but i'm not %100 on that.

 

Once the amp has been bypassed, you can remove it from the truck (they should be located behind the rear seats, bolted to some brackets on the passenger side over the rear wheel. You have to take the interior molding off to get at them.

 

As for the speaker power, I have no idea. I can't turn my radio all the way up without blowing them (I have a 60x4 radio) but it gets decently loud. If you wanted to swap out the speakers, there are all sorts of threads in this site that dictate what size speakers will fit where.

[Zilverado]

Thanks for the suggestions. Good point about the amps - I'll have to look into that. Like you say, maybe someone else will have some additional suggestions. That's what makes this place so great.

 

As for the speaker power, I too would think that a higher volume from the new stereo would likely damage the factory speakers. But again, I'm not into super-loud music, so I think I should be ok.

[nige]

yeah, mine gets too distorted when i turn it up to 20