Stereo Install

The term’s ended! With nine days worth of break, I got starting making good use of it immediately by installing my new stereo! Bought it used on craigslist, which took quite a bit of searching! But in the end I actually found what I want. =D The wiring harness is made by Scosche and didn’t include an illumination signal wire. I didn’t want to have to modify the stock harness since that would make it difficult to put the old deck back, so I put a new wire in myself by using an old wire from the lab. That meant that I had to cut up one of my beloved banana plugs, though. I taped it onto the harness with some electrical tape so that it would stay in place. Other than that, the wiring was pretty straight forward. I used some butt splices to connect the wires. It was a pain because I don’t have a crimping tool, so I had to use a pair of pliers and a good amount of hand strength.

Scosche wiring harness

The ground wire from the new deck needed to be connected directly to the car’s frame. If connected to the stock harness ground, it introduces alternator whine into the system. A small AC signal on top of a supposedly stable DC reference. Wow, I can’t believe that EECE 254 stuff is actually relevant to real world stuff. Anyway, I spliced one of my alligator clips into that line and clipped it on the frame. I wanted something that would be easy to remove later.

Alligator ground clip

Don’t worry – I bundled up my wires and made sure all the colors matched before stuffing them in there, like any self-respecting EE would do. =)

Bundled up wires ready to be put in!

I ran into the same problem most people do when trying to install an aftermarket unit. Mazda put a big rubber support on the back of the stock radio to hold it in place and stop vibrations. Nice innovation… NOT! It doesn’t fit on anything else! And they didn’t put any holes on the firewall support to attach other radios. But I figured, theirs is probably the best way to do it so I’ll make my own! I took a banana plug, an M4×30mm screw, and two M4 nuts, and wrapped lots of electrical tape neatly around it, making a nice bolt that screws right into the back of the new deck!

“Custom” rear deck support stub

The original radio was double DIN, which meant I needed to find a way to cover up the gaping hole that my single DIN unit left. Mazda’s radio pocket off of a Mazdaspeed Protege cost $120. I said no thanks, $120 is ridiculous for a piece of plastic with a little door on it. So I found the part number and ordered the doorless radio pocket from an MX-6, which costs $12. Wow. It fit right in and snapped tightly, no problems at all. Now I have more storage space too! Nice place for cell phone.

Closed, plain face

The deck, though, was a bit more of a pain to actually put in. The mounting cage it came with didn’t really fit in the opening so I had to bend it to fit. And then it was too loose and didn’t hold anything up at all. The issue is that the opening is designed for a double-DIN unit, so there’s no support in the middle. An MSP radio support costs $20, so I wanted to try to avoid it. The answer? Cardboard! I stuck a folded piece of cardboard between the pocket and the deck, and it holds everything snug! Pretty ghetto in there, but it works!

Yep… looks pretty stock…

Installed, I think it looks pretty good! I wanted to go for the stock look as much as possible, and I think the folding mechanism is a good compromise. Looks like a blank panel when off.

Finished product, with face open!

Final result! It’s a pretty nice radio. I got it mainly for the MP3 playback. It was pretty annoying having to play regular CDs on the old deck, which meant that usually in a single trip I’d be done the disc. And plus the old deck didn’t read CD-R’s very well. I like having radio text too. I always find myself wishing I knew the name of the song playing, but now I won’t be! =D Good security features, too. The face is detachable, and the whole unit is useless without it. And there’s a security code, too.

An easy install, overall. Getting the dang thing into the dash was the hardest part. Wiring was a little time-consuming since Mazda’s colors don’t match conventional ones. And I didn’t have my wire strippers. Some wires ended up a lot shorter than I wanted because scissors cut pretty well! Somehow I lost the strippers in the lab, without knowing! Think I lent them out but forgot to who… I guess it was a reward to myself for finishing the term. Though I probably don’t deserve it. That’s for another post, though. For now, GO CANUCKS GO!