Hey everyone, I'll admit I'm a noob and all. However I need help stripping the Factory Stereo. If anyone has diagrams/pictures doing this, that will be greatly appreciated. I'm planning to replace it with an Alpine I'm getting at Best Buy. Also If anyone has any ideas of where I could get a new center console because the old plastic one sort of broke while I was experimenting, I could use that info too!

 

Ebay or on this forum for the center console, and i used a single din kit off of ebay for an 83, i had to take a dremel to a part of it to fit just right, but it really wasn't too hard.

 

Sounds good, would you happen to know how to take the center console piece off?? that's the problem I'm having here.. Like I need either pictures or diagrams. Once I pull that baby off, then I think I can pull out the stereo and all.

 

to remove the center radio surround you need to remove the folloring:

-remove the shifter ring with boot. it just lifts straight up
-remove the ash tray
-remove the two screws at the bottom of the radio surround that the shift surround covered
-remove the temp control **** and fan speed ****
-remove each 14mm nut behind each **** using a 14mm deep well socket
-carefully slide the surround out towards you and remove by twisting counter clockwise, the light socket for the ash tray and the two smaller sockets for the fan speed and temp control lights.
-the radio is held in by 4 screws. remove those and wiggle the unit out.

keep i mind that the radio replacement is a complete rewire as you will need to bypass the amps. you will have to run new speaker wire to each speaker from the deck's harness and you will need to run a new ground and if the existing harness is cut you can find a 12V switched and a 12V constant power wire. if it is not cut you will can find an adapter harness that will plug in to give you power and ground and speaker wiring to solder or crimp cap your new speaker wiring into with the corresponding wiring colors colors. if you have a power antenna, you will need to wire in a relay in order for the power antenna to work. i also reccomend replacing your stock speakers when replacing the head unit. you can find direct replacement sizes for the stock speakers.

and as mentioned above you will need to buy a radio kit and mount the stereo in it so that the new stereo will fit in the stock location. i have never used a kit tha ti didnt have to trim. if you have never installed a stereo, this is not really an amature job and you should either let best buy install it for youor get a friend that knows what they're doing to help you. dont burn your car to the ground for the sake of installing your stereo.

 

Use a miata stereo bracket. That's what I did. Goes right in, and fits your aftermarket stereo. Did mine anyways. But I have an Arsenal.

 

Alrighty, Sounds pretty good!! Thanks Mazdaverz, all the information you gave me really helps. Just to let everyone know, I am replacing both the stereo and my speakers. Stereo will be an Alpine or Pioneer with Infinity Speakers.. Considering I'm tearing up the whole interior to do some work, I'll be replacing wires and the antennae. These are my intentions just to let you all know. I know I'm being very demanding, but does anyone have wiring diagrams/harnesses that would make life a lot easier? just trying to make things efficient for myself as possible

 

if i get time tomorrow, I'll pull my stereo and take pictures of how i wired it and take pictures of the mounting kit while i do the antenna relay mod. if i remember right, there's going to be a plug with either 6 or 8 connectors on it, and the bottom left and the second to left bottom plug if you're facing it are constant power and keyed power. i just took a spade and attached it to the stereo's wires and put them in the correct spots.

my mounting kit is a little un-centered and sits to far in as i nabbed it out of a car at pick a part, but someday I'll replace it...

Or I'm going to fiberglass the opening for the stereo and make the leftover space a storage bin if i can get my hands on another center console piece..
Until you find the exact mounting kit you want, try the pick a part deal.
also, i've repaired that center console piece. its not cracked or blue in spots anymore, lol.

 

^^dude, what happened to your dash? who painted it arrest me red????

 

one of the PO's - he painted that IM A SPORTS CAR PULL ME OVER RED and one door panel that color before he had to sell it. if you've seen my other thread titled "weird *** paint" in non technical you can see the paint job on the outside of the car, too.

I just recently found the guy by pure luck(his wife saw me and waited in the parking lot for me to come out of the store). the plastics were ELECTRIC BLUE, too. Lol.

Someday I'll get a black dash......I hope.
I've debated using some sort of paint stripper on it, also.

 

Mr. Miles, if you could do that for me, I would greatly appreciate it! And I do have to agree with mazdaverz, really exotic paint job u got going there haha. thanks again man

 

Haha, I'll nab some other photo's of the interior while I'm there, i need to anyhow. it's interesting to say the least.

I'm grabbing a bunch of interior parts tomorrow so i may not get to it until late at night or the next day, but I'll make sure i do get it done for you. also - I'm going to assume you have an electric antenna, I'll make sure to take pics and post a step by step deal about that as well so you can do that while you're doing a stereo install if you're interested.

on a side note, to ensure you don't blow any fuses or throw sparks - buy a test light. they're like 2 or 3 bucks at autozone or any other car place, hardware stores also. i can't stress how helpful they are.

Are you getting a stereo with a USB adapter for an ipod? if it's a rear mounted usb deal you can run an ipod / aux cable wherever, mine went to the center console storage.

also - if you're interested, get some plastic cement (epoxy) and repair your center console piece. if you look real hard at that picture you can see mine was in two pieces(that was when i was about halfway done with the repair work). a lot of sanding, patience, epoxy and paint will make it look new. it's good practice and i find doing things like that to be mildly therapeutic, lol. hell I'll nab a pic of the rear side of that too, so you can see what I did.

 

i do prefer a stock appearance to a modded one. the S3 was never available with a black dash. only maroon, brown, and grey. i have however been reading and posting in your other paint thread though.

 

Mr. Miles!!! Dude, this all sounds very very good!I can't thank you enough for all the help your giving me. And yeah man I'll take any photos you got on the antennae, stereo, everything... Just to let you know, the stereo I'm getting has a front usb connection for ipods. And like i said before, i'm planning to buy a new antennae. I'll post pics of the stereo, speakers, and antennae I plan on buying, that way it can give you a good idea of what i'm doing. Hopefully when this is all done, my car will be sounding great!

 

Speaking of Dash Jobs.....I'll snap some pics of mine. The wifey had a good idea and I painted the dash...To my surprise it turned out REAL nice. Mind you its not all done but you should get a good idea of it. Its black with cherry red trim.

 

in my 85, i installed my favorite alpine (of the era) and i used a metra dash kit and did the rewire and used an adapter harness for some of the wiring. edit: i also went with infinity refernce series speakers of stock size, front and rear:

 

Pretty Sick Ride!!! Looks amazing.... Do u think you will ever upgrade your rims from stock?

 

thank you. i think if i ever upgrade the wheels i will use the set of 83 Limited Edition wheels i have:




i much prefer sotck restorations and such but the car is upgraded a little however.. i installed a 13B from a GSL-SE and all of the associated hardware to go along with it:



i did a complete restoration on the car (sans paint at this point). i documented it with pics and descriptions in this thread: https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-293/85-l6-gs-se-project-restoration-822222/

 

I'm losing light a little to fast to get too much done, so tomorrow i'll have to nab all those pics. Took me a little longer than i was expecting today, damn traffic.

 

No probs at all Mr. Miles, i'm just thankful you are able to show me when you get to it. Mazdaverx, very nice install on that 13b.. How much and where did you get one? I still have the 12a carbureted, however all though I have it working, those stock carbs are very difficult at hands.. Considering we are just trading ideas here and stuff, would you happen to know a better route I could go for that problem too. I really can't thank you guys enough for everything, this right here is awesome knowledge a noob like me could use haha

 

Ohh soo here is a quick pic of the stereo I'm getting. I don't have pics of the infinity speakers, but just to imagine, I'm getting a pair of 4" for the front, and 6.5" 3-ways for the rear. Later I'll think about putting in a sub, but for right now I've got my hands tied up with a lot on my to-do list

 

i bought the engine for $150 from a friend. performing the SE swap meant installing all of the SE specific parts to go along with the engine. i have a couple thousand in the swap all together. the link to the resto thread i posted has pages of pictures, lol.

carbs are not bad to rebuild and once you do one you'll realize how easy it actually was. you just have to be organized, patient, and meticulous with the rebuild. what problems are you having with the car currently?

 

well my uncle performed a rebuild on it and it runs well, I'm just saying if I wanted to go in there and do anything it would be a little difficult with all those hoses and lines running to and from that carb. Nothing is wrong with it, I was just trying to see if there was anyway to simplify that thing anymore. If not, then I have no complaints at all, I just know that some people use different carbs. that are much more simpler than the stock and wanted to know if you had any experience or encounters with such

 

i have not tried any aftermarket carbs. you'll have pros and cons with each i'm sure. i have found that the best way to have a proper running engine and reasonable fuel mileage is to stay with the stock nikki carb and rats nest. raygreen here on the forum has excellent writeups on keeping the stock carb and emissions vs. removing the emissions. i know he personally sticks with the rats nest. i stick with it because i find it a simple setup, just a little crowded. once you learn it, its not bad to maintain and troubleshoot.

 

Okay I gotcha, i'll look up for that write-up in the mean time.. thanks man

 

I'll put the photo's of my sub install up also - it's not 100% done yet but if tomorrow's weather is nice enough it might be! i didn't even think about that. if you go the route i did with that, you can mount a small amp here.