Kill the radio star?

[illuzionx]

Hi Everyone!

im going to be buying a new headunit for my Gen 3 camry and have been searching the whole forums for how i would go about removing the stock radio, the old aftermarket cd player and also installing the new head unit.

Is there a step by step guide on how to do these things? is it easy? or would you recommend that a professional do it for me? (i havnt worked on cars before but i have a tiny bit of knowledge in electronics and alot of knowledge in computer hardware eg. doing hardmods to gfx cards etc.)

also if i were to remove both the old aftermarket cd player and the radio, what would be a good thing to fill up the extra din slot with? (i want to make my cam cam look stockish but stylish.) is there anything like decent cup holders or whatever?

Lastly, my camry is a gen 3 executive/DX (australia)

[eddie926]

Removal and install for the head unit is very easy. Here's an online DIY

http://www.installdr.com/InstallDocs...PDF/869013.pdf

If you order a head unit from Crutchfield.com, they'll send you a compatible wiring harness so you can plug the new head unit into the factory wiring harness without having to cut anything.

If you want to fill both DIN slots you generally have 2 options. 1) buy a 2 DIN head unit. 2) buy a single DIN head unit and put a pocket insert in the bottom slot.

Crutchfield will also send you a 1-DIN pocket insert if you buy a 1-DIN head unit from them.

I have two '95 Camrys. One has a 1-DIN Alpine head unit with a pocket underneath. The other has a 2-DIN JVC head unit.

I personally find the single DIN pocket to be pretty worthless. It's too small to store anything. So, I kind of prefer the 2-DIN head unit. However, there aren't very many 2-DIN units out there, and they're generally more expensive than the single DIN counterparts.

[bigbird]

id recommend gettin a crutchfeld headunit. they have them avalible prewired so all u have to do is remove the old headunit and plug in the new one.

[eddie926]

Originally Posted by bigbird

id recommend gettin a crutchfeld headunit. they have them avalible prewired so all u have to do is remove the old headunit and plug in the new one.

I wasn't aware that Crutchfield would pre-wire anything for you. I know they'll send you a free harness to match your car when you buy a head unit from them. Will they actually pre-wire the harness to the head unit for you?

[Heat]

It's very easy, this was by far the easiest radio I've ever replaced (I have a '95 LE). Just pop off the U-ring and there are four 10mm bolts holding the radio in. Remove them and it's out. If I were to go inside your car with a 10 mm socket in my hand (with an extension, one of the bolts is back a little bit), I could have your radio out in 60 to 90 seconds, and that's a conservative estimate. And assuming your CD changer is right under the radio, that would come out at the same time (same four bolts).

The CD changer would be replaced with a pocket (a plastic hole), useful for storing small things. And don't worry about losing your CD changer, CD changers are obsolete - compressed music is where it's at these days. The radio I put into my car is the Sony GT410U, it was cheap and works well. The feature I like about it is that it has a USB port on front, I just plug in a flash drive to listen to music / podcasts. I just hook the flash drive up to my computer to swap out files. The model I have is the Sony GT410U.

And if www.crutchfield.com will ship to Australia at a reasonable price, go with them, otherwise look for something in Australia I guess.

[bigbird]

Originally Posted by eddie926

I wasn't aware that Crutchfield would pre-wire anything for you. I know they'll send you a free harness to match your car when you buy a head unit from them. Will they actually pre-wire the harness to the head unit for you?

thats what i mean, but mine wasnt free, cost me an extra 15 bucks but install was a snap. the extra harness they provided pluged from my factory stero harness to the new headunit.