[whytcolr]

OK, I've been away from the forum for a while. In fact, I haven't had time to post here for months. Work's been extra super busy (which is, I suppose, better than dead) and there's no sign of it letting up.

Yesterday, I purchased a beautiful Eclipse CD head unit (model CD-3421 if anyone's interested). Because of the way Eclipse's warantee works, if the place I bought it from installs it, I get 3 years (and 1 year 3-day theft replacement); if they don't, I don't get anything... Needless to say, I'm having it installed. My appointment is on the 9th of February.

Which leads me to my idea. The thought of having this nice, expensive unit sitting in plain sight is giving me a bad feeling, so I'm considering pulling the front panel off the stock unit, and fabbing a way to mount it OVER the new unit. This would require mounting the new unit recessed from the normal location, and then somehow mounting the faceplate in it's stock location.

I've looked around at all the mounting kits and am pleasantly surprised at the variety that's available. Here's what I've found.
From Metra, there's the 99-6503:

This thing is pretty basic. It provides for a flush mount of a DIN radio. Unfortunately, flush mount is no good. To get a recessed mount I'd have to cut away a good portion of the kit...
Also from Metra is the 99-6504:

You can't see it very well, but there's a nifty little pocket under the radio. Looks like it could hold a CD... That'd be pretty handy, and I'm leaning heavily towards this kit if my plan doesn't pan out.
Another one with a pocket, from American International, is the CD-K636:

This one ties with the Metra 6504 for options if the plan doesn't work. Just as the Metras, this one is designed to flush mount with the dash, just as the stock radio does.
Also from American International is the CD-K640:

This is almost exactly the same as the first option. Again, lots of cutting involved.
And, last but not least, the lovable CFI-K509 CL:

This is the most promising of the group, as it looks as if it mounts behind the front trim panel (thus, if the Eclipse was mounted flush with it, the fake radio panel should fit perfectly...)

Has anyone here used one of these jack-of-all-trades mounting kits? Will it even work? Am I a idiot for trying to make this work? Will Mr. Wilson finally beat Dennis the Menace over the head with a golf club? Comments? Ideas?

 

[JoeKD]

I'd say that since you have the theft replacement anyways why bother?

plus with it being a high end recieiver doesnt it have a detachable face or retractable face as one of its features?

[ January 06, 2002: Message edited by: joekd ]

 

[Warlord187]

Well, you said you were going to have it installed. The place you are going to have it installed at will have their own mounting kits. With your idea of using the face of the old reciever to cover the Eclipse (which I have seen done before), you may want to discuss that idea with your installer.

 

[whytcolr]

I'd say that since you have the theft replacement anyways why bother?

Since I don't leave my doors unlocked, and thieves generally pick the shortest route in, my windows and dash are very likely to be broken and horribly disfigured in the process. I'll have a new radio to put in my mangled dash.

plus with it being a high end recieiver doesnt it have a detachable face or retractable face as one of its features?

Eclipse doesn't offer any of its units with detachable faceplates (even the top-of-the-line $900 one with built in line driver). The logic is that most people take their faceplate off and put in somewhere else in their car. Since thieves know this, your car will still be broken into. Even if they don't get your faceplate, they can buy a replacement from most deck manufacturers for around $50. The logic seems pretty sound to me; my old Pioneer faceplate usually spent it's nights in the glovebox (locked, but that wouldn't make much difference to anyone with a screwdriver).

you may want to discuss that idea with your installer.

They're already charging me an arm and a leg to install it (nothing out of line from other Eclipse dealers I've been to, though) and I'm not really keen on the idea of paying them to do custom fabrication. It'd be much easier to walk in and hand them the trim kit and say, "use this" than to explain exactly how I wanted them to do it. Besides, I like to tinker, and it'd be nice to be able to do something in the install without voiding the warantee...

Does anyone here have a broken stock deck they want to get rid of (for a faceplate donor)?

 

[MathWiz]

Originally posted by whytcolr:
Needless to say, I'm having it installed. My appointment is on the 9th of February.

You must be busy to wait a month to get it installed

Charles