Head unit, '93 to '96 Camaro?

[Bismarck318]

Greetings, dunno if this was the same board I used to frequent in the late '90s or not.

Is there any tips or hints on swapping out the the Factory Stereo head unit in the Early 4th generation Camaro? ('94 to be specific & I believe this is a non-Bose).

Looking at this it looks like the whole dash panel under the drivers side needs to be removed, plus the housing around the radio has a curve on the right side. Was told the Metra kits from Best Buy would be the best bet on this but without opening a large can of worms is this an easy or difficult install? Reading certain kits will not fit these Early 4th gen Camaros, & others claim to, & some have specific to these years.

Of course I could always return it too.

Thanks!

[sneitzel]

Go to Crutchfield.com and under Car Audio and Video select Outfit my car. http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/a...r%2fMyCar.aspx
Enter the car information and they will show you all the information you need.
Not saying you need to buy from them, you can find cheaper prices for sure, but I have always found their information to be pretty accurate as far as what fits and what doesn't.

In general, get a mounting kit, get a wiring harness and do as much of the work (wiring the harness to the head unit) outside of the car as possible. If you do that, the head unit should pretty much be plug and play.

I don't find head unit swaps to be that difficult normally but I have done quite a few over the years...

I may eat those words however when I try to do one one my 04 GTP. The head unit there is connected to the data bus in the vehicle, the factory amp, XM unit, OnStar and steering wheel controls all of which I'd like to keep working...we'll see.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

It's much easier in the '98+ cars. You can use my method if you like.

Take out any screws you can see for the dash piece you want to remove. Tug a little. If it doesn't come out. Take out screws for adjacent trim pieces. Tug a little. Repeat until you've dismantled half the interior and have a bag full of misc. screws. Once you're done you can try to figure out which screw went where.

Once you're in there, the headunit swap is pretty easy. Get a decent wire adapter kit and compatible adapter kit if it isn't a 1.5 dim radio.

[Bismarck318]

Crutchfield

TY both, I had gone to the Crutchfield site, but the information there is pretty generic.

I had picked up a Pioneer head unit (DEH4900) pretty cheap, debating on taking this back as my return period is coming to an end.

The Cassette currently in the car does not operate on one channel, plus the backlighting is starting to go.. thought I'd just replace it.

Speaking of Crutchfield I have had mostly positive experiences with them, though when I bought my last head unit from them in '88 for an '87 Camry, it was a learning experience for both me & them, they did not have a kit, & sent me directly to Pioneer for a dual din kit, in the long run I did not need any kit, a Din I or J fit perfectly like a factory unit, so it was money down the drain... After the head units illumnation failed after a month Crutchfield gladly replaced the unit, in the meantime I was able to do the swap in less than 15 minutes, though I don't think this Camaro is going to be all that easy. When I added a rear amp Crutchfield did not tell me the rear speakers I bought from them prior were undersized (although it was a small Sony Amp)... learned the hard way there. On the good side they persuaded me not to Purchase a Signal booster from them, as I found out later they were correct on this, it became more of a hinderance than a help in the area I live in.

I really do not want to get involved in Speaker replacement (or amps) in the Camaro at this point.

Take out any screws you can see for the dash piece you want to remove. Tug a little. If it doesn't come out. Take out screws for adjacent trim pieces. Tug a little. Repeat until you've dismantled half the interior and have a bag full of misc. screws. Once you're done you can try to figure out which screw went where.

LOL Haven't we all been there, I have some plastic wedges that came out of one of the doors when replacing the handle illuminator bulbs, still haven't figured out where those go yet, & that was years ago!

[Bismarck318]

Since no one has done this here...

I currently Have both the Metra & Schochie Kits in hand.

The Scoche kit appears that the unit will protrude out from the dash about an inch at least, plus I can't see how there won't be a gap on the right side due to that curvature. I don't think the Schoche will be feasable. Scoche also reccommends removing the entire glove box assembly. i'm also surprised that the Schochie kit isn't back mounting a DIN unit, seems to be plenty of room plus holes on the side for side mounting support.

The Metra Kit appears that it will have a flush fit & the trim ring will recess slightly (about 1/16"), now what I use will depend on the allowable depth.

Both Kits require removing the Lower dash bolster on the drivers side below the steering, supposevely no clips all screws.

[Bismarck318]

Done, & not as bad as I thought, was one of the easier installs of the few I have done.

Only probleme is the auto dimming feature appears not to be working, may be set to off.

Now just have to figure out how to shut the unit off, & don't any of them display a clock in the off mode anymore?? The scrolling text in it's off demo mode is distracting.