This is one of the craziest things I've seen (and maybe someone on here can explain it)...having speakers as standard equipment, but the radio is optional/extra. I guess they were thinking about guys like us, who might want to add one in the future (albeit many years in the future
). Boy.....am I thankful they were there and the wires already ran.
So, I searched around and found
this stereo. It looked like a decent deal, although I wasn't able to find many reviews on it. I took a chance and ordered it anyway because I really wanted something that could play video also (DVD's and MPEG-4 files).
Since the speaker and stereo wiring are in the middle of the front upper cabinets, that's were we decided to mount the unit (where the blank panel is in the center)
This unit is just a single-DIN so it doesn't take up much room.
Started by blasting a hole into that center panel that was just big enough for the stereo sleeve to fit through.
I wanted the stereo to be secure and I new that using just the sleeve supported by that 1/8" panel would not be enough. Well, dad was digging through his shop and happened across these adjustable L-Brackets. They worked like a charm considering the stereo already had 5mm holes drilled and tapped into the side of it's chassis. We had some old hardware left over from a TV mount and out of that, we were able to find two 5mm bolts that were probably 15mm in length. Given the thickness of the L-Brackets, these worked perfectly.
I wanted a way to cut all power to unit (we're not worried about preset stations and what not). So, I added this switch that supplies power to both that ACC wire (Red wire) and Memory wire (Yellow wire) of the stereo.
Connected all of the wires to the wiring harness of the stereo, slid it into place, and connected it to the L-Brackets. Best of all...IT WORKS!
Now, seeing as how it outputs video (and does it well, we temporarily connected it to the TV using a spare RCA cable we had laying around), I've got to come up with a way to get a single RCA cable from the stereo...over to the TV area above the Fridge (on the left as soon as you walk in the door).
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