Just to let you guys know, a hot knife works great to cut/notch the black plastic piece behind the head unit. I used the hot knife attachment for my Weller Portasol butane soldering iron and it sliced through the plastic smoothly. Just be careful at the top that you don't go to deep and start melting into the air duct.

Jamie

 

yeah i used the ghetto hot knife which was a bic lighter and a butter knife

 

so in order to install a deck you have to cut out the plastic in the back??? or is this just with a deck taht has big rca adapters?

 

Well.....

If you go on crutchfield it will tell you which decks will fit without modification and which ones you will have to cut the bracket for. My Alpine 9853 is listed for fitting without modification; which is true, as long as you don't plug RCAs or use a PAC SWI-ALP with it. If you plug RCAs into it, you will have to notch the plastic on the left side of the deck, and if you use the PAC SWI-ALP, you will have to notch the plastic on the right side to give clearance for the plug. I would imagine the same is true with other decks; but I know the RCA jacks on the Kenwood in my old car were actually on pigtails so if the deck you get is set up like that you might not have to cut the plastic at all.

So in short, the answer to both questions is: Depends on the deck.

Jamie

 

I just installed a new Kenwood deck in my base Coblat, and it fit, but it sticks out a bit, I had to use the adapter that came with the dash kit. doens't look bad, just wished it would have fitted flush with the dash. Is there anything I can do to have the deck fit flush, or are they all the same?

 

do u have pigtail rca's?

 

There are two RCA on the back of the deck. Is that what you mean?

 

Yeah, cut the plastic out in the back like I described in the post.

 

What is the plastic back for anyway? What would I be cutting into? The ventilation system? Or is it just a cover ? I'm hesitating to put a hot knife to my leased car...

 

I hear ya. If I remember correctly the plastic is connected to the black plastic around the radio opening. The plastic there was already pretty stiff(I was worried about comprimising something by cutting it as well). I even unbolted the plastic from the metal piece in the back to see if it was supporting the front a lot and everything was still stiff and perfectly in place, so I wouldn't be too worried about cutting it. If you put the stock radio back in they'll never know you even cut it.