okay so just when everything was almost done, i put my head unit in the single-DIN mounting kit supplied by crutchfield (also the one sold at sound advice) and THE HEAD UNIT WILL NOT FIT ALL THE WAY BACK! i took out the mounting kit, and theres a plastic cover below our middle fan vents that is blocking the head unit from going back all the way! therefore, it is impossible for me to secure this head unit into the mounting kit. i dont know where to go from here. i tried putting the single-DIN slot on the bottom and the little cargo slot on top, but the mounting kit still will not fit. is this plastic piece below our fan vents safe to remove? there's a metal bar behind it, but i'm not sure what it does. any thoughts? help is greatly appreciated. thanks everyone

 

I could fit a double-din HU fine, both in the stock mounting bracket holes, and the new ones I drilled that moved it back 3/4". That's one long HU.

 

Bump for a quick answer.

 

The box is part of the air conditioning system. I'm pretty sure it routes air either to or from the unit behind the glove box. It'd probably be safe to take off, but I don't think it would be a wise idea to operate the car with it off.

*I am not held responsible for anything that breaks, and/or provides a pita of a time putting back on.

 

ok, so i feel like an idiot. my friend who was helping me assembled the mounting kit wrong, and it just took a little longer for me to realize the mistake. everythings good now, though! the HU is up and running, and man does it sound nice! thanks for the response zebman

 

Excellent. What HU are you running?

 

i went with the Panasonic MXE CQ-C7203U from crutchfield... couldn't pass up the deal i got on it. it's a pretty nice unit so far, and the install turned out CLEAN. i've got my ipod mounted in the glove compartment, too. here are a couple pics (night, sorry for quality).

 

Congrats. Mine isn't too clean...

Somebody needs to fabricate some aftermarket METAL mounting brackets that recess the HU. Drilling holes in mine was a nightmare, and there's a very bad gap on the sides.

 

the one crutchfield has is some cheap plastic, but once we finally assembled it right, the fit is really good. looking at mine in light, you cannot see any gaps whatsoever. the head unit is flush with the kit, and the kit is flush with our opening. plus, i can still close my radio door without any modification. so the bottom line was that it was a pain in the a** to install, but once it was in, it was definitely worth it. i didn't have to drill holes or anything, thank god. i'm sure that must have been a nightmare.

 

I too would like a metal brackets. It's so easy to rip out a head unit using plastic brackets.