I've had my head under the old girl all day and I just can't figure out how to get the radio out. I have a nice new JVC single DIN head DVD player to go in with reverse camera, but first I need to get the Sony out of there. I even pulled the fuse box out, wondering if the access was from the rear, but no such luck. All can see is fan blower unit in there. Hope that doesn't have to come out to change the stereo.
Some of them pull out using a special tool-are there any holes around the edbe of it? often you stick in a specail little rod which releases the radio chassis from the mounting bracket. Call a stereo shop or drive by one-I bet they pop it out in a couple minutes. PB
Well I searched the web and found a diagram for the tool to remove the origional Blaupunkt unit. Made one up but failed to remove the unit. Then took the red car to a hifi installer and they couldn't get the Sony out with the special tools to release the clips. They suggest it may be screwed in but for the life of me I can't see any way to get to the rear or sides of that stereo panel. Where's the Aussies and Europeans when you need them? Heaps of owners must have changed out the old factory sound systems for more modern systems. Surely?
My TR had a Sony in it when I got it in 1994. I took mine out soon after - I vaguely remember using a hack saw blade between each side of the unit and the bracket to release it. What model Sony is it?
I found an installation guide online that shows how it goes together. I think this is where I got the hack saw blade idea -I slid the blades in between the clips on the sides of the receiver and the mounting frame. Try this http://www.css.ap.sony.com/consumer/template/IMCategory.aspx If you can't get the file to download, PM me with your e-mail and I'll send it to you
The tool that you refer to is a pair of flat metal pullers. Look in the new stereo box to see if they are included with it, when you get them install them at the top of the sony unit, between the stereo and the mounting bracket, NOT the sides, run them in and work them side to side, this will release the tabs at the top of the unit, also pulling foward at the same time.
Thanks guys. I'l have a go in the morning. Got the Blaupunkt deck out of the blue car finally. Not much room to play in there. I'll get some pictures of the cavity for those wanting to install a head unit someday. Let's see if the Sony comes out tomorrow.
Thanks Patrick, the hack saw blades worked a treat. Bloody tight, but there was a little room on the drivers side where you can actually see the radio unit up through the heater piping. I grabbed a long screwdriver, found a suitable urchase point, and gave it a gentle pry from behind with the blades in place and she shifted. Now the next phase, installing the new stereo unit and getting power wiring to the amp in the car.
Well I sat the new unit in the space to check for fit and visibility. Looks great. Here's the plan: JVC KD-AVX2 head unit fitted into the dash. This is a single DIN unit with a 3.5" widescreen LCD built in and 5 x 45w power output. It will take a reverse camera input so I will run both front and rear cameras on the car for parking purposes and maybe for a bit of 'on track' footage. The front speakers will be replaced with a set of 6.5" MB Quart reference series RVF 216 splits behind the original leather covers. These speakers have a 19mm titanium tweeter which will replace the original factory tweeters and use the original tweeter grills. The old blaupunkt amp comes out, and the new amp is one of the latest Alpine PDX4-150 digital amps. With 4 x 150w RMS it packs a good punch for a small footprint amp. First part of the process was to get power into the car to run the amplifier. Start at the battery of course! Okay, battery is getting down, time for a new one. Hmm, battery terminals looking decidedly second hand so took the oportuinty to replace those at the same time. Jack her up and rip off the front wheel. A few 6mm bolts and the front access panel comes away giving great access to the battery area. Hmmm....two large sheathed wires to the positive and a strange flat earth strap disapearing up into the guard. Checking the positive side first, I find a large 2 gauge wire coming off the terminal and winding down under the car before disapearing into a tube in the centre of the car. Okay, that goes way down the back to the starter. Cool. Now the other one, I follow it and it meets the earth strap and goes up into the guard also. Aha! Then it comes out again near the firewall and goes around the brake booster into the back of the fuse area. I pop the cover of the fuse area and I'm looking for a big fat battery cable, but can't find it. Going back to the battery end I roll back the outer sheath, and it's actually two red 8 gauge wires into one 4G connector. Back to the fuse box, and there they are. Two large red 8G wires going onto two large blade connectors on the fuse panel. The main supply lines to the fuse board. Excellent. A plan is formed to connect up another 4G wire to the battery and get this into the car via an inline fuse holder to run the new stereo system. Great plan, but not so easy to execute I was to find.
