Installing new stereo

[moshyn]

Hi I'm in the process of upgrading audio system in my 1992 gt wagon. I have removed the factory head unit/tape cd player. Any idea what I will need in terms of harness when I install new head unit? maybe a part i can buy here in N.Z??

[dropdfocus]

Metra & Scosche are the most common companies that make harnesses that plug into your factory wiring so you can install the new radio. Metra's part number would be 70-1780. I'm not sure what Scosche's part number would be. eBay usually is a good source for those who are not located in the US.

[chochocho]

i bought one off ebay. the brand was scosche and it was like $11 including shipping.

[dropdfocus]

Congrats. Glad you found what you were looking for.

[Dynamic Entry]

It was a different guy DropD

I bought a fancy thing today (7" motorized touchscreen DVD) and being a noob to audio install have a similar Q to the OP

Do these harnesses plug into the car and then the loose ends I must connect/tap to the head unit outputs?

are we saying that this will definately allow me to install any aftermarket unit?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Metra-wire-harness- ... dZViewItem

PS do I need something like this to integrate my radio reception?
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Antenna-Adapter ... dZViewItem


anyone ever heard of in car TV antenna reception?

so easy to ask questions at three in the morning... so easy to regret it in the morning....

[dropdfocus]

Do these harnesses plug into the car and then the loose ends I must connect/tap to the head unit outputs?

Yes, you must connect the two harnesses together. There are exactly color for color (11 wires total - 8 speaker, 1 contant power, 1 accessory power, & 1 ground). You can hook up the orange dimmer wire as an optional deal. It merely dims the face plate when you turn on the head lights so it's not as bright when you are driving (I rarely hook up this option). Two blue will be left over for remote turn on of an aftermarket amp & powering up an optional power antenna.

are we saying that this will definately allow me to install any aftermarket unit?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Metra-wire-harness- ... dZViewItem

Yes, the older cars had two plugs vs. the 2nd Gen. Legacy had only one plug.

PS do I need something like this to integrate my radio reception?
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Antenna-Adapter ... dZViewItem

No, not for your year Subaru. That is only for the newer Subaru applications (2005+).

anyone ever heard of in car TV antenna reception?

Yes, I had the Kenwood KVT-915DVD which had built in TV tuner. Problem is, the reception was poor at best here where the mountains are abundant & cable TV reins supreme. After Feb. 2009, the analog TV tuners will no longer work via FCC changer over.

so easy to ask questions at three in the morning... so easy to regret it in the morning....

Never dumb questions, only dumb responses that make no sense while drunk & awake at 3am...

[Dynamic Entry]

Very thorough replies Jason! Thanks

so eBay is littered with harnesses that are compatible with "93+" Legacy and only has a few that specify 90-94....

Furthermore, my local shops all said they don't have one for the 92 but have one for a 93 that might work

Can anyone tell me if the 92 and 93 harnesses are the same?

seems like they should be...

[vrg3]

92 and 93 Legacy harnesses are the same, but that store probably has one that's for 93-up Imprezas, which is the same as for 95-up Legacies.

[vrg3]

Oh, also, around here stores like Best Buy and Circuit City almost always have the harness in stock. Metra part number 70-1780.

[dropdfocus]

Very thorough replies Jason! Thanks.

I do what I can. I spent 5 years in these specialty shops, so I hope I learned something... We usually had tons of great stories from newbies who managed to get a job at BB or CC and thought they knew it all. They usually caused the store nothing but problems from opening their mouths. Most intelligent people came to the smaller specialty shop for better advice & MUCH MORE 1ST HAND KNOWLEDGE!!!!

As Vikash said, you can always purchase one of these harnesses from Best Buy or Circuit City. Make sure you purchase the older Subaru harness that has two inside the package, not just one.

[Dynamic Entry]

Unfortunately I have been getting the shut-out when calling such stores

Best Buy said they don't have it
FutureShop said try Visions
SoundSaround said try FutureShop
Visions said we have one for 93+ and it probs works....
local specialty store Grand Audio said we don't got that

eBay here I come

except - why can't I just snip all the wires on the back of my existing deck and use that harness?

[Dynamic Entry]

Thanks for the part number Vickash! That always helps

[vrg3]

Your stock stereo doesn't have wires on the back. It just has sockets that the stock harness plugs into.

If you want, you can cut the plugs off your car's wiring harness and splice directly into them. The info you'd need is here:

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/bcstereo/

I don't recommend it because it's irreversible and if you mess up you mess up on your car instead of a ~$10 part.

That's so weird that none of those places have it. Did you give them the part number? If they don't carry Metra stuff but do carry Scosche, try part number SU02B.

Lots of board members have bought that harness to use in making a cable for my laptop-based scan tool. I would imagine most of them just bought one locally.

If you can wait for one to be shipped, I recommend this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0046659167

That exact harness is installed in my car right now. If you click on "purchases" you'll see I just bought one from that seller.

[Dynamic Entry]

calling around and finally found a place that is actually a professional in that they have lot's of stock. the part number came in handy Vikash, thanks again

also have the 1.5 Din pocket coming so this will be a tidy looking install

but it will be interesting to pilot fit the deck b/c it has the motorized flip up screen and I am wary of it clearing the cupholder lip....

[vrg3]

Mount it in the lower part of the console with the pocket above it.

[dropdfocus]

Yup, that's how I have my wife's Clarion setup in her '98 Legacy GT. The cup holder blocked the view of the stereo.

[Dynamic Entry]

I definately thought about it. It being so low doesn't seem ideal though.

I also thought about just deleting the cupholder. I don't use it much anyway.

I will pick whichever compromise seems best I suppose.

I'd like to do a custom install that drops the deck into the top of the dashboard so the screen sticks out perpendicular to the top of the dashboard! Heads Up Display!

[vrg3]

Having the stereo down there actually worked fairly well for me. It was easy to reach the buttons from the shifter and, like we've said, it keeps the cupholder from interfering with the stereo. Give it a try -- it's easy enough to switch, right?

[Dynamic Entry]

Okay, things are coming along pretty easy

I got a 1.5 DIN pocket - part # 66130AA050 - so that the new deck and pocket is the same size as the old combo




I drilled a hole in the back of the pocket and fed the USB and Aux through for easy access


The wires are the same color coding as the wiring harness so that's super easy


and here are the battery, ground and park brake ground leads (park brake one I will ground somewhere else so I can watch video all the time)
there is also a red wire off screen which I realized later is the Accessory one


BUT

my car-o has TWO plugs. the one on the right mates with the Metra harness


so that means i need to snip and splice these for power and ground right....



My Hanes manual didn't show me a diagram for these connections.

but luckily Vikash has keeping it real for years

If your connectors are like the North American ones, this should do:

http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/bcstereo/

Let us know if they match!

So I plan to connect ACC to ACC, Battery to Battery and Ground to Ground.
***Can I connect the green park brake ground to the black ground also or should they be kept seperate?

The car has Illumination + and -, but my deck only has one Illumination. Is it safe to assume I connect this to positive and rely on the main ground?



I am not worried about the antenna power b/c:
The new deck has a much shorter antenna female end and it will not reach to the floor where our male end is. But, my mast is broken anyway so i bought a collapsible antenna and plan to connect it and stuff it behind the stereo with all the other wires. There is a lot of room back there! And I could even reach it from the passenger foot well if I need to extend it out in the country!


Whew.....

[vrg3]

The Metra harness is supposed to include adapters for both connectors; yours was missing a piece apparently.

Yes, Illum(+) should do the trick.

The stock deck has the antenna connector on the back. There's a short (maybe 12-inch) extension that brings it down to the floor. You should be able to use that extension with your new head unit.

[Dynamic Entry]

Aha! Those bastards.... my harness was open package! I be calling them tomorrow.

I will take pics of my deck but I looked long and hard at the antenna cable, even tried taking some screws off, and I couldn't get it to disconnect at all.

[vrg3]

Hm. All three 93 SSes I've owned were how I describe.

Maybe it changed at some point along the line though. Does your deck have the AUX jack on the front?

[Dynamic Entry]

Is the connection encased in the housing? If it is accesible without taking the deck apart then 93s are different than 92s......




Aux-in on the front? helllll no.

[asc_up]

I have a 91 SS and a 93 LS. The SS had the AUX-in on the front.

But both units had a female antenna port on the back of them, and then the antenna cable simply plugged into that...

[vrg3]

Andrew, did you try just giving that cable a little tug?

Because my stereos all looked like those pictures. In my case that little cable on the back was actually a little extension ike this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NWHVU2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

So I could pull it right out of the head unit. In each case it did take a little bit of effort because it was kind of stuck in there with age.