single din head unit install

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single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:46 pm

so i was looking of Ebay and found that its about $350 for one of those 2004 Liberty cut outs that let you install your own head unit... cool. i took my Mcintosh headunit and amp out, threw it in the bin. than cut a nice hole in the face plate and mounted my own head unit.
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Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sat Jan 20, 2018 2:36 pm

FIRST: carefully take dash apart (YouTube helps a little but not much). start wih the silver gear surround ring. than the two long silver side thingys. there's 2 screws holding them in, than pry them off.
remove the 6 screws (4 disable and 2 in the middle inside dash console) holding in your head unit and air-con unit. Take out passenger seat (yes I'm serious) . There's a seat belt cable, just pry it off. your dusty amp will be under here!
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A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
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Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sat Jan 20, 2018 2:41 pm

SECOND: go grab a drink, you've earned it in this heat. with your head unit out of the car, unscrew the 2 units attached to the plastic face plate. Leave the air-con one attached. unscrew all the little gold screws holding the circuit board on. now pry off all the buttons and everything to leave you with a bare face plate
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A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
Cuts, cash and swearing means you've modded your car right!
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Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sat Jan 20, 2018 2:49 pm

THIRD: The face plate has a polished metal plate on it. Find the 4 little tabs on the back side edges and make them straight so the metal can come off. use a heat gun or hair dryer and gloves to soften the glue behind the metal and carefully pull the metal off. I bent mine quite a bit because i didn't heat it up. my mistake.
now! Got tools to carefully cut plastic? me neither. place your new head unit mounting rack (metal shell thing) against the front of the plastic face plate that now has no metal on it. and use a permanent marker to determine the hole you're about to make. no pictures for this one!
i used a drill with a small bit and drilled about 80 or so holes on the permanent marker lines. than needle nose pliers to pull put the plastic left between the holes. and of course sand paper to clean it all up
A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
Cuts, cash and swearing means you've modded your car right!
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Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sat Jan 20, 2018 2:59 pm

FORTH: Happy with the hole? neither was i. installing the head unit on top of the air-con was hell! you'll figure it out though.
Place the metal basket into the hole and insert the head unit too. use a marker again to spot where your need to drill holes into the metal bracket that's holding the head air-con in. Don't make holes in the head unit, that's just silly.

you will need to cut bits off the metal plate if you're putting it back on. I sanded the plastic plate smooth (yes the disc insert) than used double sided tape to cover the holes in the plastic plate and to help the metal stick back on. Than used fake carbon fiber vinyl to make it look neater. mine was a rush job and it looks a but dodgy but it's better than nothing.
A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
Cuts, cash and swearing means you've modded your car right!
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Car: Gen2 outback. 2004 liberty wagon
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Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sat Jan 20, 2018 3:08 pm

FIFTH: Your amp needs to come out! there's two nuts holding it in. unplug the cables and throw the amp and old head-unit away.
i used a diagram to cut the speaker wires off the large amp plug. you can tuck the little circle plug under the carpet, it has no use now. the speakers are taped up in pairs so you won't get the white wire from each speaker mixed up. very generous!
cut back about 15cm of tape on the cable to get better access to the wires.
don't cut the 2 bigger RED or BLACK wires. they're power. yes you can use them for seat under glow if that's your thing.
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A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
Cuts, cash and swearing means you've modded your car right!
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Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sat Jan 20, 2018 3:22 pm

SIX: -you will need 4x 85cm pieces of speaker wire, some black tape, voltage meter, pliers, soldering ion if you can solder (i can't and refuse to)
use the diagram on previous post to join your 4 pieces of speaker wire to the now cut wires of the amp cable.
I tried pulling up the door trim and carpet to feed wires...DON"T!! feed the wires from your amp cable through the holes in the carpet under the passenger seat, up through the dash. you can get your hand in there and pull the carpet off the floor, it won't hurt the car. now match the wires up to the correct colors on the head unit. did you feed the wires separately and join them one at a time? same! it'd be inconvenient otherwise.

now! head-unit power. black cable is ground. it should have a black jumper attached to it. use the voltage meter to find the constant power on. than he acc on. i didn't use a diagram but i'm sure there is one

all done!! clip and screw it all back in. REMEMBER TO PLUG HAZARD JUMPER BACK IN

-any cuts, swearing or loss of patience from the install is not my issue. take your time, stereo installs are never straight forward unless you pay someone to do it for you
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A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
Cuts, cash and swearing means you've modded your car right!
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hectickmind
 
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:57 pm
Car: Gen2 outback. 2004 liberty wagon
Real name: Baker

Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sat Jan 20, 2018 3:32 pm

Spose you're all wondering about the subwoofer that's now useless in the boot? Replace it with a slimline polk audio one. Purchase a small amp off ebay for $80 (make sure it's brand name!) and use the two red power cables to power the amp. The larger 2 speaker wires are for the subwoofer. They'll be shown on the wiring diagram I posted as an attachment. It's 60 degrees in my car right now so this is a task for tomorrow
A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
Cuts, cash and swearing means you've modded your car right!
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Posts: 22
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Car: Gen2 outback. 2004 liberty wagon
Real name: Baker

Re: single din head unit install

Postby teK-- » Sat Jan 20, 2018 5:20 pm

Good on you for having a go, but I'd have to say that looks really rough... and totally irreversible.
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Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Sun Jan 21, 2018 7:19 am

Not gonna lie, it was a rush job and very rough! But my CD player was broken after the kids put cards in the stacker. And the radio stations in rural Victoria are just crap! But that's what the post was for, giving it a go so other people can see its not the best idea but it's doable
A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
Cuts, cash and swearing means you've modded your car right!
User avatar
hectickmind
 
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:57 pm
Car: Gen2 outback. 2004 liberty wagon
Real name: Baker

Re: single din head unit install

Postby hectickmind » Tue Feb 13, 2018 9:06 am

Turns out I can use the old amp still. All I needed to do was cut the input cable and splice it into my replacement head units output. So realistically I could have even more speakers
A poser uses phrases like 'cheaper to' 'better off' 'easier to' and 'why'
While a real enthusiast tells you exactly what you want to know and what you're in for.
Cuts, cash and swearing means you've modded your car right!
User avatar
hectickmind
 
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:57 pm
Car: Gen2 outback. 2004 liberty wagon
Real name: Baker


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