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replacing stereo
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 12:52 am
by Rozzie
Yo,
Away to replace standard gti stereo with JVC and 6 by 9 speakers. Is it tricky removing old stereo and CD changer? Also Can you run with all original speakers and two additional ones? What have you guys done and did you manage it yourself or is it a job for the professionals??
Cheers
Roz

Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 4:18 am
by cyhliu
Iwon't be able to help with the speakers but the HU should be easy to replace, even I can do it! You may need to take it to dealers so that they can use the keys to remove the old OEM stereo, or you could purchase them off eBay or VAG Parts or even make it to the VW Festival in Leeds and you could borrow mine...once the stereo is out, in goes the new one, provided you have the correct cabling and off you go...oh and another thing the space behind the stereo is tight...pretty f****** tight!
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 7:58 am
by PoloGTi
I just fitted some ICE yesterday trying to squeeze more wires at the back of the Head Unit and I only just (with a bit if brute force) got the bugger in.
Oh and if you're gonna wire up an amplifier you better get some vaseline cos its extremely handy when trying to squeeze your power cable through the grommet in the bulkhead (no jokes please, me and my mate went through them all yesterday)
Speakers wise, the guy who had the car before me had already fitted Kenwood direct replacement speakers so Ive never had to mess with them!
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 9:53 am
by inder
I used two strips of cut up credit card to remove my OEM VW Radio from the car, works well
And yes, indeed there is such a small amount of space for wiring behind there, a trick is to tie some string around the bundle, pass it down behind the dash and into the footwell, then you can pull the string as you push the new headunit in, helping to stop the wires just bunching up and giving you no space to click the new one in place in the cage
Also, you may have to swap a couple of wires over, so the new headunit retains memory etc.. as I think the VW loom is not true ISO wiring standard, see
www.installdr.com for pinout
Hope helps

Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 11:48 am
by wul3er
inder wrote:
a trick is to tie some string around the bundle, pass it down behind the dash and into the footwell, then you can pull the string as you push the new headunit in
Cheers for that. I never thought about that when changing my stereo, and the stereo i bought has loads of wires at the back. Each time i have always struggled.
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 12:24 pm
by inder
No probs, stupid me only thought about doing it after I finally squashed it all in place lol

Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 2:16 pm
by moynas
I had to cut plastic away from behind my stereo to get all my wires in!
Got two phonos, two vision cables and that crappy antena boost thing plus all the wires for my second screen nightmare! plus the stock stuff and headunit wires!
You wont be able to run another set of speakers without an amp or disconnectin an original set?? well you can splice into an original cable and run two but they will sound pants! (not good practice)
To get into the Car for a power lead look behind the airbox there is a massive gromet which will take big cable (ive got 2 gauge which is fat) it will come out just behind the pedels and then can be passed over the fuse box and so on!
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 3:13 pm
by toXXin
My MK4 Ibiza has a similar setup to the 6N2.
To get all the wires in, I cut the lower stereo blank tray in half, taped up the back and this allowed all the wires to be out of the way of the stereo.
HTH.
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 3:34 pm
by wul3er
I got my GF to put her hand in the bottom DIN and pull the wires back as i was pushing it in, (sounds dirty, lol)
It took a while, but got there in the end. The stereo is curretnly out but will have to go back in soon.
Just now i have The usuall wires (ie front spkr & power) The aerial, 3 sets of phonos and a Remote cable. But on the back of the stereo theres is a big bunch of wires too.
Its going into a ICE place when its back on the road for more stuff so i might just let them fit the stereo to. Save me the bother.
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 4:40 pm
by Rozzie
Hey cheers guys all good advice. Looks like puting the new head unit in will be easy. With regards to the speakers, to keep the original speakers all working I'll need an amp to run the 6 by 9's off. Anyone know where I could pick up a cheap one? Dont really want to lose any of the original speakers.
Cheers again
Roz
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 5:03 pm
by Rozzie
oh and sorry wont be at the VW festival, Live way up North in Forfar, dont get to these things much

. Anyone else out there from Scotland?
Oh and how do I display my car at the bottom of my messages?
Cheers
Roz

Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 5:34 pm
by Si_GTi
Signature image: go to
www.imageshack.us and upload your image. Copy the link into your signature in your Profile and place the [img] tags around it. Voila! My sig for example has the text "[img]
http://img240.exs.cx/img240/7546/sigtisignature4sh.jpg[/ img]
Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 5:41 pm
by Rozzie
Well Just testing this picture business.

Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2005 5:43 pm
by Rozzie
Cool it worked. How do you like that? Thats my wee baby!
Ta
Rozzie
