wooldrb

Hello all! Just got an 84' GSL-SE and I love it to death. Only ~69K original miles and runs beautifully. The factory audio setup is giving me a rough time though. Really it's just two things:

1.) How do I get the factory radio out? I've tried prying that one big plastic piece that goes around the vent, but I can't seem to get it out. Any special trick for it?

2.) How would I go about getting the fader joystick that's in the center console out? My front speakers don't work and I'd like to think that that's the culprit, but I won't know until I can take it out and clean/bypass it.

Thanks in advance for any help provided!

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

DO NOT PRY ON THE RADIO SURROUND!!!!!!! you wil break it and they are hard to find..not to mention expensive. remove the shift **** and shifter plastic with boot from the dash. remove the two screws at the base of the radio surround. next remove the temp. selector and fan speed *****. behind them are two nuts. remove those and the washers behind them. now yo ucan VERY CAREFULLY wiggle the radio surround out of the dash. from there you will need to remove the lights from the tepmselector and fan speed portions of the surround. a half a turn counterclockwise and they remove. now the surround is free. the radio is secured by four screws.

to remove the fader control, you have to remove the fader/window switches as a unit. use a small plastic pry tool and GENTLY pry at the rear or the front. agressive prying will break the fastening tabs and too stiff of a tool can crack the plastic surround.

wooldrb

Thanks! I will try this later tonight and tell you how it goes.

wooldrb

Alright, got that done. Thanks for the info mazdaverx713b, but now I have more questions than I started out with.

I pulled out the plastic that goes around the shifter, and the attached files are pictures of what I found.

I've looked in the wiring diagram PDF for my car, but I can't really figure out what these connectors are. They weren't connected to anything, and the Black single wire goes into the Red/Blue single wire, but I don't want to connect them (the whole ground to hot thing) lest I blow something up. Anyone have any ideas?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

dont worry about those. those wires are located (or should be) where the shifter is located. that wiring is used only in the automatic trans model. it it used for the auto trans shifter and the lights associated with the auto trans shifter. they sit near the shifter in the manual trans model. i can post pics from one of my cars if you need.

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

it's very common to find connectors not being uses for anything.

wooldrb

That's comforting rxtasy3. :P

Alright, now that I've figured all of that out, two more questions:

1) Looking at the electrical manual for my car, I see the two factory amps are mounted behind the seats, but how would I go about getting to them? Are they behind the storage bins? I know I'm going to have to re-run speaker wire, but since I'm bypassing them altogether, I'd like them out of my car for the sake of keeping things uncluttered.

2) I'm looking for a Double-DIN mounting adapter. I've searched Google backwards and forwards, but the only one I've found is some cheap Single-DIN unit sold by a local radio shop. Will I have to fab one myself (which would be terrible as I have no experience in that), or is there some specialty website around?

tapdatmac

iTrader: (2)

All the guys that have Double DIN radios for the 84-85 have custom made them or had them made by a stereo shop. There are write-ups on here for Double Din Stereo Bezel's but I cant think of any off the top of my head. As far as the the factory amps, You just have to take out both smugglers bins and the amps are fastened to the front of the compartment.

wooldrb

Here's a good thread I found on general FB stereo stuff: Stereo Trouble

I also wasn't able to find any mounting hardware fab instructions after searching tapdatmac. Do you remember where you read this? Was it on this site?

thunkrd

iTrader: (1)

this mod was very fun and easy... except for my big hands working in a cramped environment


all you need is a junk old single din holder, it will be used to hold the bottom.. and then cut some thin small pieces of aluminum, which will hold the sides... its probably the cheapest way to go double din and perhaps the least professional as well lol

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

it's been awhile but if i remember right one amp is under the driver seat and the other is under the bin drivers side. removing the seat will get u access to that amp, removing the entire bin section makes that one easy to get to.

tapdatmac

iTrader: (2)

Check out this guys cardomain page. He made himself a new stereo bezel with integrated gauge pod. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/448049

wooldrb

So I picked up a Metra 99-7501 Single-DIN mounting kit on eBay for about $10 shipped just so I could get an idea of fitting and stuff like that. I'm going to go the Single-DIN route for right now as I have a bunch of radios lying around. However, it doesn't seem like too big of a stretch that in the future I might be able to modify this for a Double-DIN setup. It has also been brought to my attention that the factory metal bracket used to secure the tuner-tape-eq setup might also fit directly with some manufacturer Double-DIN units. I'm going to go around to a few audio shops next week and see if they'll let me test fit some of their units. I'll keep you posted!