mleary

I successfully installed my new hu, speakers and sub yesterday... Only thing is I wasn't able to mount the hu in the dash it's just sitting there. How did everyone mount theres? Did you use the black clips off the oem unit? The screws that came with my hu (clarion double din) are two big for the holes on the oem clamps... I'm going to try to widen them today. Only thing is the new hu does not have holes in the side like the oem to accomodate the clamp so I'm afraid if I put it in with the clamps I wont be able to get it back out...

Also... I made a few small nicks/scratches in the bronze colored dash piece surrounding the stereo/climate controls... Is there any way to get a replacement either online or from the dealer, and how would I go about getting the old one off and replacing it?

This is a '02 ES btw.

-Mark

Sir Nuke

IF you are talking about the trim piece that surrounds the stereo and climate controls....the piece with the fake carbon fiber trim....It just pops off...held on with same type connections as the cup holders....here is a picture with the whole thing removed....the SIX square holes are where it snaps in at...you just have to be real careful getting it off.

CrappyBoy

Dave Cameron

GREAT photo of the dash Sir Nuke! It would nice to get a set of photos that would help folks doing installs, like this one, an exploded view of the dash.

azrakain

try this link: http://www.astolfo.com/p5/p5.asp It has pictures of the whole system install on a Protege5. That is where Nuke got the pic from actually.

mleary

Yeah I've seen that site, he doesnt really say how he mounted everything... I wish I taped up the trim like he did then I wouldn't have the scratches

-Mark

azrakain

I had a feeling that was gonna happen when I was about to install my deck, so I had a local shop do and they scratched/gouged the silver stuff. I made them replace it and I know it cost more than the $35 they charged me to install the deck. They were pissed. I believe it was about $100-150. Not cheap at all.

Racer91

Dosnt the head unit just ussually sit in the passanger seat

hihoslva

The replacement trim is expensive - I nicked mine, too, but plan on doing some interior painting and will cover it up. I'll definitely post pix once that's done.

Anyway - I had said that I had a hard time with a double-DIN deck. But I mounted it this way eventually:

What I did was, I bought "T" brackets - generally meant for cabinetry, and shaped like "T" - since only one hole of the top of the bracket lined up, I only used one hole on the side of the deck to mount them to the deck. So basically, the "T" bracket was now laying on it's side, with the tops mounted to the deck, and the bottom portion sticking out past the faceplate.

Do you see in Sir Nuke's pic - the holes on either side of the deck opening, about midway? You can guess it - I bent the botoms of the T-brackets outward, lined up the holes, and put a nut and bolt on 'em. It was a BITCH and a half to do. Took hours. And I wound up ditching it anyway because the trim was all wrong and I didn't really care for the deck.

Basically, I was only able to custom mount the thing - nothing else I tried would fit right. MIght be time to ry a shop if you don't want to go any further.

And as a correction to previous reply: THE CENTER TRIM PIECE DOES NOT JUST "POP OUT". Do not somply yank on the thing. The HVAC controls are mounted to it. You will need to get under the dash on both sides, and disconnect the HVAC control cables - if you turn the dials while looking under there, you will see the moving parts and the cables. Once you get the cables off, you can then pull out the trim and disconnect the wiring harnesses - don't forget about the one for the hazard lights, too.

ZZOOOMM

I used the factory radio rear pin and mounted it to the aftermarket deck to hold up the rear of the head unit. Then I went to an install shop and asked for some backstraps. I mounted the backstraps to the side of the unit with screws. Then I took the factory dash bezzel and trimed off the two plastic pins that fit into the dash holes. I screwed the deck into those factory holes to hold the the deck in place. I slipped speed clips over the holes in the dash and screwed the deck into place. Then I went ot Circuit City and bought a two foot square piece of ABS plastic and made a trim plate to cover the remaining hole. It looks like it came from the factory installed in the dash. It is a clarion MAX-2256 monitor/am/fm cd tape combo. I would take some pics of the radio install, but I hate removing those crappy Mazda dash bezzel. Those cables are a pain in the ***. If you want to see pics of the install after the completion E mail me. mazdaman1@***.net