Hey, I am going to purchase a new car stereo from cardomain.com. With the reciever I get a free connector kit, wiring harness, and installation kit. I am going to just get the wiring harness for the '82 mazda, but I don't know what installation kit to get. I just wanted to know if there was anyone that you guys reccomended. It's free, so I might as well pick one. The link to all of the options is here.
Thanks in advance.
John

 

you got a picture of your dash the layout of it?

 

I was not able to find a ready made kit for my 80 SA.

First thing I did was look at what was behind the radio bezel trim.



There where two mounting posibilities.
A.) The location where the stock radio is mounted.
B.) The location where the pocket goes and otherwise wasted space.

Pros/cons
A.) Replacing the stock radio with aftermarket radio in same space = best look and still able to retain pocket. However my aftermarket radio was just a tad over seven inches wide and would not fit in the area between the mounding holes for the stock radio. They would have to be cut out, loosing the ability to easily go backward.
B.) More room, no cutting of dash. However, loss of pocket and would have to trim radio bezel trim.

I choose option B.) as I wanted to be able to retain the ability to put it back to stock. Plus I happen to have a spare radio bezel to play with.

Fabrication:
Since I could not find a radio install kit I choose to hard mount the radio. I believe the term for this is ISO mount. I used alluminum for all of the parts because it is so easy to work with and would not require painting. I believe that it cost me $5 for the alluminum and a couple of bucks for bolts/nuts/screws and one roll of blue painters tape. Project total approximately $10.

First I took a flat plate cut the length to the width of the center metal part of the dash. Edge to edge. Then I measured how tall it needed to be. I wanted it to use all four mounting locations noted as B.) in the top photo. So I wanted the peice to hang down approx 1/2 to 1" below the whole to utilize those bottom two mounting locations.

Once I had a rough rectangle cut out I covered the entire back of the plate with blue painters tape. Like masking tape but comes off easier. I then held the plate up to the dash and used a pencil to carefully mark the four holes from the back side and traced the outline of the open area.

Then I took the plate drilled out the four bolt holes and carefully cut a rectangle in the middle just large enough for the radio to slide into. Making sure that I centered the radio perfectly on the plate and making sure that it was high enough to be in the open, free, area of the dash. Note when I cut the hole I did not use the radio cage as I will be ISO mounting the radio.



Then I fabbed up two "L" shapped mounting brackets that would screw onto the side of the radio. Note the radio should have a label or a stamp that tells what size machine screws and what length maximum to use when ISO mounting. NOTE: You do not want to use screws that are too long as they will intrude too far into the radio and will damage internal components.

This part took some time playing with to determine the size of the bracket. As the bracket determines if the radio will be inset, outset, or flush with the radio bezel trim.









Last but not least was the modification to the radio bezel trim. I enlarged the hole for the pocket to nicely fit around the radio trim with just a little amount of free space.

Oh, and yes a little trimming of the bottom right side of the plate for the cigeratte lighter.



Conclusion:
At first I was deffinetly set against having the radio in the pocket area but after having it there I love it. I have a shortened shifter and the volume **** and all of the buttons are in perfect leasy to access location. If the shifter is in a forward possition (first, third, or fifth) I don't have to take my hand off the gear **** to change any of the options. Especially great when your sitting at a red light waiting to go and playing with the radio.

You may be asking yourself what did I do with the upper portion of the radio bezel trim to fill the whole where the stock radio should be. Well I filled it with the stock radio. It actually doesn't look that bad and the nuts on the shafts of the radio give the radio bezel much needed support.

Eventually I may replace it with a large pocket but I figure for now if one quickly glances at the inside of my car from the outside they are more likely to notice the original radio sitting up high and in easy view and think nothing of wanting to steal it.

 

Very nice write-up. This is going into the archive for sure (it better at least).

 

Wow, excellent writeup! I am doing the exact same thing with the cd player in the expansion slot, and the original stereo left in the stock spot so I can return to original someday if desired. Thanks a lot. What did you use to cut the bezel trim? I couldn't tell from your first picture, does your car have a support bar that goes across the inside of the console? I have one, and it seems that it would be pretty close to resting on it when finished. Is this the case?
Thanks again,
John

 

I just made my kit out of aluminum for my 85 GSL. it only took like prolly two hours or somthin and it looks really nice.

 

nice write up by the way, but i would like to see a finished picture. I would show mine but it wont let me put my pics on here, idont know why. But i did it kind of the hard way and made all the sides and top and bottom and then i welded on the top and part of the back and flush riveted the bottom. If i was to do it again i would bend most of it.

 

Hey, I got the stereo for christmas, and am ready to install it, but the wiring is a little confusing. I'm sure I can figure out the speaker wiring, but the wiring for the power is a little more difficult. If anyone knows what colors go to battery, acc, etc. that would help greatly. Thanks in advance.
John

 

ummm don't remember exactly what colors but use a test light to find you constant 12v. Then test for your ignition... This is pretty straight forward check for power before you turn the ignition and after. Good luck

 

Thanks.

 

Usually, there is a red wire that goes to constant power (battery) and then a yellow wire that is switched (ignition). Make sure that you fuse the red wire as close to the battery as you can.

 

ANyone know how to get around the positive ground antenna motor?

 

Thanks everybody, I got it figured out. My new stereo is in the car and working. Except for that lousy antenna wire. Not quite long enough. Does anybody know if I need an adapter to get it to go into the stereo. Thanks.

 

My SA came with a shitty blaupunkt stereo. At least it matches. Here's a picture!

http://photobucket.com/albums/v109/j...=ADSCa0005.jpg

 

Here are some photos of the finished install of the method posted earlier.

 

i love your shifter ****

 

CD player in a hard riding 22 year old sports car with black interior?

I'm tired of my cassette tapes' short life!!

Would the CD's melt also??

 

Thanks. I had seen 8 ball and que ball shifter ***** around on e-bay and some of the autostores but I couldn't find a 7. So I purchased a regular 7 ball from a billard suppy store and took it to the machine shop at the local NAPA. They were very nice, they measured the size and thread pattern of the shift lever. Then to give the bottom more strength and to resist cracking they shaved the bottom flat and drilled and taped the ball for me. They appoxied a flat washer to the bottom. Also they gave me a nut so that I could put the nut on first then the 7 ball and orient it so the 7 was where I wanted it and then back the nut up and lock the ball into place. Works great. It doesn't move at all. I believe I paid $5 to $10 for the ball and the machine work was about $10.

Just as a side note, billard ***** are made out of a solid arcylic material.

 

that is awesome..