Two BIG Questions - 2000 Echo

[Pointnino]

Good afternoon,

I have two things that I am trying to accomplish with my 2000 Toyota Echo Coupe. thing is, I need DETAILED instructions becuase I don't know much about this car, and because I'm trying to do these things myself, and don't want to cause any permenent damage or nagging problems, I need the best advice and instructions I can get. Here are my questions:

I want to replace my stereo in my car. I have the Scosche adapters for the doors to put in 6 1/2" Pioneers. I have the 6X9's for the rear deck. I have the adapter and wiring harness for my Alpine headunit. I'm all set there. I need to know how to get at the speakers. How do I get the rear deck lid off, and how do I remove the door panels? Once I can do that, I'm golden. Remember, I need as many details, answers, drawings, diagrams, etc that I can get. Pretend I'm 10 years old. Every other car that I've ever had, when I tried to remove the door panels and rear cover, I broke, bent, or trashed something that couldn't be fixed.

Second question involves the driving/fog lights. I want to put OEM ones on my car, and I heard several times that it's "pre-wired" for them, even if the actual lights are not there. Is that 100% true? Are there mounting brackets of some kind for the lights there already too? All I see is the front tow hook spot, so if someone can tell/show me where these mount, that'd be awesome. If not, I can go with aftermarket ones if absolutely necessary. If I do that, can anyone tell me how to wire them (again, really specific instructions) so that I can turn them on independently from the headlights? In other words have the driving/fog lights on, and the headlights off? That question is not as important as getting them installed though. Just a thought.

Sorry to sound like such a tool with my first post, but if there's a link, or links that would help me I'd be forever appreciative. I DON'T WANT TO PAY someone to put all this stuff in for me. If I can do it myself, I'd be so happy. Thanks so much! Let me know if you have any questions.

[denman]

First thing on the interior door panel is to get an upholstry tool, similar to an 8" flat screwdriver but with a bent shaft and split blade, designed to get under the door panel edges and "pop" the plastic fasteners without necessarily breaking them. You'll still break a few but auto stores have all types available and fairly cheap. The window cranks have a Phillips (cross) screw under the plastic cover IIRC. I adjusted mine to be window-closed in a horizontal crank position so a wire can't reach down and pull the window open (anti-theft). Fog lights I dunno, not having needed to get in there. Someone else will chime in tho as there's been lots of threads on that subject. Good luck with it and welcome to the forum, ... lots of smarts around on here for these cars, ...

[Pointnino]

Right on man! I will stop by and get one. Don't those things come in a kit that's available, like a car interior tool kit (not sure the technical name of them)? I think I've seen them at Audio Advice here in T-town. Still have a bit of research to do before I undertake this job, but I apprecaiate the help. Fog lights are another story, you're right. I see all kinds of posts on putting them in, and there are certain things that they expect you to know when they do tyhe write ups. One example may go something like this: "connect the red wire to the Relay, and then over to the fuse box." Then that's all they'll tell you, ya know? How the he** do you connect something to a Relay would be my question. that's the problem I'm running into. I think I've decided to just pay the $50.00 or whatever to have a shop here locally put them in for me. Sometimes stuff is just over my head, and it bugs me, but better than starting a fire or something and burning up my beloved Echo, ya know? Thanks so much again for your assistance.