OK looking at Crutchfield and the Musiclink instructions, still a hair lost. Do you have to remove the cables for the duct/blend door, or the wiring harnesses back behind the glove box, or both? I had the lower panel under the hvac controls off, the glovebox out, and was looking around back there. Pretty sure I saw the 2 screws up under the dash that need to come out, but realized I really wasnt gonna have enough time to get it done so put it back together for another day when I have more time. Oh and also, the 3 dials for hvac, do they need to be pulled off before removing the whole assembly? Haven't seen that mentioned anywhere.

 

To remove the head unit you have to disconnect the cables to the AC stuff, orange/blue/purple i belive. You actually don't have to remove the knobs if you are keeping the stock unit. There is 1 screws at the bottom trim piece of the AC. Then you can pull out that trim piece. If I remember correctly there are 2 bolts that you have to remove that are up inside the stereo. They aren't that hard to get to, you just have to find them preferably with a flash light. Not sure about for installing the music link but nothing else needs to be disconnected, except for perhaps the battery (have your radio code).

Josh

 

I am actually putting in an aftermarket radio, and I have the Schoshe kit with my Alpine all mounted up to it, so thats why I asked about the knobs, since the kit doesnt come with those.

 

Yea the knobs have to come off since you are going to have to move the AC unit from the stock pannel to the Schoshe pannel. Sorry its 1 bolt in the trim at the bottom of the AC unit. The way that Metra explains it is exactly how I do it. http://documents.victorytechnologies...oduct/9496.pdf

What head unit are you putting in?

Good luck,

Josh

edit: when i installed my head unit I lost one of those clips that you have to transfer to the installation kit, it fell out a week later. I put it in there today when I ran my RCA and remote turn on. And be careful when pulling out the stock stereo to not mark up the dash any, may seem obvious but its suprisingly easy to do.

 

I'm putting in an Alpine CDA-9887 with an XM Direct tuner, so its all run through the head unit. The stock AUX jack means nothing to me, other than to hook up my XM Roady 2 until I get the Alpine in. The Schoshe kit has new clips attached to it already, so no biggie if a clip goes flying. What trick did you use to get the stock assembly out? I dont have any trim panel tools, and I know what you mean about marking it up, I dont plan to do any screwdriver prying or anything.

 

The first time I used a screw driver and made a little mark (was at home, all my tools at school). The second time I used my panel remover tool. The other way I would try is with a very thick knife. I have a knife that I use a lot when working on cars. Since it has a lot of surface area it doesn't mark up the car. Other than that, you can use a screw driver. They often recommend a screw driver wrapped in some thing to protect it from hurting anything (you still want it thin, so electrical tape???). I think that it is okay to use the screw driver at the bottom and perhaps on the right side. DON"T USE ON THE TOP! This second time I just kinda manhandled it. You're more likely to hurt your hand than the assembly when removing it. Nice choice on the 9887, I moved my old 9833 into my Fit. I also have a set of prybars that I would probably use before a screwdriver, because of their large surface area.

Josh

Edit: Buy a KCA-121B adapter from Best Buy and connect the AUX input up to it so you or your friends can connect an ipod.

 

Thanks, I'll have to just play with it and be careful to pry it all out. About the aux port, I dont have an MP3 player and really dont have a need for one or plan to get one, I just play my MP3 files burned to CDs, so the loss of that port it no biggie to me. I listen to XM more than anything. I went through about 6-7 headunits before I settled on the 9887. I had an old 9855 that I loved, I just hated that glide strip instead of preset buttons. I also could care less about graphics on my radio, I just like clean text, and more than one line of it at a time as well.

 

FYI...I had the same question about whether the knobs needed to come off in order to get the HVAC controls off the stock dash kit. I said a prayer and pryed them off w/ a flat-head screwdriver. It popped right off.