93 Corolla stereo self install - worth the trouble?
I've got a 93 Corolla that was purchased without a stock radio/cassette player included, so this car has never had any audio system installed. I'd like to install the receiver and speakers from my old car into the Corolla but I think it may be more trouble than it is worth considering the speaker wiring, antenna, etc. I am a newbie to car audio but I was able to install my speakers and receiver into my 93 Accord with no problems, however, the Accord had already had a stock radio/cassette to begin with. I'm leaning towards taking it to Best Buy and paying them to do it to save the time and trouble. Do you think it is worth the money saved to try to do this myself? If so, can anyone give me any pointers as far as how to take apart the dash and where to run the speaker wires? I appreciate any advice you could give me. Thanks!
I've got a 93 Corolla that was purchased without a stock radio/cassette player included, so this car has never had any audio system installed. I'd like to install the receiver and speakers from my old car into the Corolla but I think it may be more trouble than it is worth considering the speaker wiring, antenna, etc. I am a newbie to car audio but I was able to install my speakers and receiver into my 93 Accord with no problems, however, the Accord had already had a stock radio/cassette to begin with. I'm leaning towards taking it to Best Buy and paying them to do it to save the time and trouble. Do you think it is worth the money saved to try to do this myself? If so, can anyone give me any pointers as far as how to take apart the dash and where to run the speaker wires? I appreciate any advice you could give me. Thanks!
well, it is not too hard to do, if the car has NEVER had a stereo, it may actually have the wiring.....which makes life easy, if it has no wires, particularly the speaker wires...pay someone to do it.....door jambs suck ass
It isn't that hard to run some wires from the deck to the rear of the car. Easiest way -- pull the front seats out, then you can route the wires from the deck to the edge of the carpet that goes up under the lowest part of the dashboard. Take out the rear seat and use a coat hanger or some fish tape to run the wire through.
Can be done that way on driver's side or passenger's side. I normally run power down the driver's side and speaker/line level wires down the passenger side.
I've had about 10 cars in my life, and never, ever had to take the door jamb trim off.
You can probably even do it without taking the front seats out, but it's only 4 bolts, and the seats come right out. That way you can clean up those french fries you lost a couple years ago while you're at it.
I appreciate the info - to be honest, I haven't even checked to see if the wires are present - I just assumed no wiring was present because an audio system wasn't installed to begin with. Will have to check on that. I've only had this car a few days now so don't know the ins and outs but I don't think this car has the infrastructure for speakers in the rear like my Accord did. I was really only planning on installing speakers in the driver and passenger door anyway. Thanks again!
I've got a 93 Corolla that was purchased without a stock radio/cassette player included, so this car has never had any audio system installed. I'd like to install the receiver and speakers from my old car into the Corolla but I think it may be more trouble than it is worth considering the speaker wiring, antenna, etc.
I have a 95 Corolla that didn't come with a factory deck. The wiring for it is there though. It has speakers in the front doors (factory installed), but nothing in the rear.
I installed the factory double din radio / cassette player from my 88 Camry into it. It plugged right in.
So you need a deck, wiring harness, and installation kit (its a pocket that fills in the space under the deck).
Stereo installation gets easier the more you do it. As does disassembling the car (beware of doing it too much on the interior--it brings out rattles!)... Anyway, even the cars not equipped with a factory radio have the Radio Prep Package, which includes the antenna, 2 front speakers, and wiring harness. You don't need an installation kit, as the upper radio location is only a single-DIN size anyway (the lower one is a double-DIN). I've done a number of audio installations on my '93 Corolla (though mine came with the factory 4-speaker ETR/Cassette), so I'd be happy to give you any model-specific tips on installation. Replacing only the front speakers and installing a head unit will require only basic tools (plus a wire stripper/crimper) and an installation harness.
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'93 Corolla AE102 XLi saloon
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93 Corolla stereo self install - worth the trouble?
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