Double Din Radio How To

[Spydie]

Alright so first thing first, I read somewhere else where a forum user said "It's not worth it unless you got one for free and it's really nice" well, I got this radio for free and being a kenwood..was too nice not to. So the adventure started. Warning, this requires an extensive amount of trimming so if it's going to kill you, might as well not try it, I for one could care less how it looks behind the dash since no one will see that anyways and if I really messed up on the dash, could always replace that easily. I'l be pairing this radio with a set of Polk audio DB series 6.5" component speakers with 1" tweeters in the doors and a set of Polk DB series 4x6" component speakers with a 4" round and 1" tweeter in the rear. Should be a nice sounding manche!

 

So what i started out with was seeing how far down I would have to move the vent to know if i would have to trim farther down or not. What i found is if you cut the plastic to follow the metal bracket, you can move it far enough that you don't have to trim the bottom area of the dash like so

 

Here's how i have the vent itself shaped to sit that far down

 

Here it is in the dash, on the bottom you have to trim off two tabs but if you leave the excess that goes the full length on, then you can set it on the metal bracket and have it at the right height.

 

Here is how close it sits, you still have the ability to point the vent up and down without the dash trim getting in the way

 

Now for the fun part of what to trim, basically everything inside, Yes you need to cut into your air ducts. My plan is to fix "patch" the ducts and make new skinnier ones that allow the air to flow to its proper location but still lets me have my bigger radio. For now I'm just going to do a ductape and aluminum air duct tape job but eventually i hope to use some bondo fiberglass sheets to mold some actual solid ducts but that's not a priority right now.

 

I just realized while writing this up that I don't have a picture of how i cut the duct that is below the temp controls, you have to cut and trim that area as well to properly move the temp control unit down farther. I'll post pictures of that once I get home. 

 

For the temp control unit what i found is that moving it down far enough to where you use the bottom mounting screw holes on the top of the unit will let you fit the double din radio with ease. I moved mine up a quarter inch so that you can't see a seam between the two with the dash mount kit on the radio.

 

Here is it mounted in the actual screw holes, notice the small gap, with the temp unit moved up slightly that is gone. 

 

Then to test the dash trim on with everything in place to see how it all looks together. One thing that's going to drive me nuts is the gap/seam between the temp unit and the vent itself since there's no trim piece to go over it.

 

However I did save one of the cross pieces that I cut off and just might be able to make something work. For some reason I'm recalling from previous experience that i might be able to use some JB weld and be able to get a texture pattern like the dash already has with the JB weld. Might also buy another dash trim piece and play with making an even cleaner looking one.

 

I'll continue updating this to as i make adjustments and do a bit more and finish it off. I hope this helps some guys out and if you have any tips or suggestions please let me know as this is my first write up. Thanks! 

[NC Tom]

You're a BRAVE man! It's looking good though. I'd push for playing around with different trim pieces to clean in up. As you mentioned.

 

Soon, you'll be jamm'n that Justin Bieber!!!   :rock on:

 

(if you do like Justin Bieber, then I'm laughing WITH you, not AT you.)

[Spydie]

You're a BRAVE man! It's looking good though. I'd push for playing around with different trim pieces to clean in up. As you mentioned.

 

Soon, you'll be jamm'n that Justin Bieber!!!   :rock on:

 

(if you do like Justin Bieber, then I'm laughing WITH you, not AT you.)

 

Thank you! I'm with you on the trim pieces, just have to find the right parts I'm looking for. I was hoping to be jamming out last night but had some family emergency come up so the tunes will have to wait. And I was thinking more along the lines of some Led Zeppelin or something like that :laughin:

 

I'm wondering if somewhere online I can find some snap on trim to cover up the edges. I've never seen anything like that but who knows?