Aftermarket double din head unit

[Loris]

awesome!!!!!!!!! i will buy one when i get home tonight..
RJO89 thank you so much for the help, all this info is great!

[BlackLS]

Thin spade connectors crimped onto the Aftermarket unit's loose cables plugged into the OEM plug and secured with some leccy tape should do the trick.

No cutting wires or anything.

[Loris]

I got my fascia today and it fits in pretty well, nice and tight! If anyone is wanting to get one and are worried about the quality, dont be.. they use the same type of plastic as the one used on the original head unit.. so it blends in with everything else in the interior and seems pretty tough.. bit pricey though $70 inc postage but it was express postage.

now im just waiting on the iso-adapter which i ordered yesterday from the link RJO89 posted and i need to find a double din head unit with the lot :P

[AnthonyTDCi]

nice cant wait to see pics of the setup

got a HU in mind?

[RJO89]

Go all out and get a Pioneer AVIC-HD3!!!! Nothing better !!!

[Loris]

Originally Posted by RJO89

Go all out and get a Pioneer AVIC-HD3!!!! Nothing better !!!

Out of my budget unfortunately :(

[MW_WA]

Just got my LT installed today with an Alpine system with the W502E deck (which is double DIN).
Sweet unit it is, too. Highly recommended. (Not cheap though)
Also allows plenty of extra fruit, which I loaded up on, such as cables for iPod and USB stick, bluetooth unit, and my personal favourite - the digital tv tuner

Used a facia from Stinger Electronics, but got it all installed professionally so I couldn't tell you how easy the process was. It came up pretty neat.

(Tried to take some photos but it is too dark so they came out bad. Might try again in the morning)

[RJO89]

Sounds good mate. Those units are sweet as. Take a photo if you can. Did they cut off the old harness and resolder all the wires onto the new harness?

[MW_WA]

Originally Posted by RJO89

Did they cut off the old harness and resolder all the wires onto the new harness?

That's a good question. (Tried to ring them this morning to ask but none of the installers are at work today)
I'm guessing they got hold of some kind of harness adaptor, because there is no chopped-off plug in amongst all the original gear they returned to me.
I will call & find out for sure next week, because I'm sure it would be of interest to others if such an adaptor was available.

Here are some happy snaps:

Amps managed to fit on one side without even needing to remove the baby seat anchor, which was a bonus. (Sub moved out of the way to show amps)


They also managed to install the 6" Type-R splits into the doors without needing to chop the panels, which I was stoked about:


Picture of the centre console:


Closer shot of just the deck:


Gratuitous shot of my custom leather interior

[AnthonyTDCi]

man your car is hot! HU looks so sweet!

are those optional leather seats or did you get a new trim done?

[RJO89]

HU looks good mate. How does it perform? Looking at upgrading to a double din 8" screen soon.

[MW_WA]

Originally Posted by AnthonyTDCi

man your car is hot! HU looks so sweet!

are those optional leather seats or did you get a new trim done?

Thanks Anthony .
When I chose my car spec, colour, etc. I wanted the Ford leather seats option, but there wasn't a car in the country at the time with both the paint colour I wanted and the leather seats.
I was happy to wait for one but I guess the dealer was keen to get his sale done so he suggested getting a car in standard cloth trim and doing the leather through a trimmer here in Perth. I hadn't even considered that, but as it turns out the leather not being available turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Paid not too much more than the price for the standard leather option (which is all black, btw) and got to design it myself. Came up a treat I reckon.
Maintaining it is no doubt going to be a b**ch though.

Originally Posted by RJO89

HU looks good mate. How does it perform? Looking at upgrading to a double din 8" screen soon.

Picture quality is excellent. Tried it on a DivX movie today and that worked a treat as well.
Audio-wise I'm not the type to annoy the neighbours with bass but of course I had to put the thing through its paces when I picked it up. The ears were well & truly ringing by the time I got it home let me tell you. (That's no really reflective of the deck itself, as I've also got an amp for the sub and one for the front splits)

Alpine make excellent decks. In my search it was also the only brand that offered a digital tv tuner. (Everything else I came across was analogue, which apart from the inferior picture & audio quality also doesn't do justice to a widescreen display).
The bluetooth unit integrates nicely as well. Even loads the contacts list in from my phone so I can make calls straight from the touch screen, which is pretty cool.
I also like the fact that I can just keep a few USB thumb drives in the glovebox and have my entire music collection with me.

Not that there aren't plenty of other nice units out there as well of course. I gave Pioneer & Clarion a good look (and listen) as well. Also saw a well-featured/priced JVC unit on the net as well but didn't check it out in the flesh.
There's no shortage of choice - just do your homework on exactly what features you need. I was surprised at how few units did everything I wanted. (and even my Alpine doesn't do a GPS add-on at the moment. I didn't want one anyway, but you would expect that something with a nice big screen like that would have it as an option. It does in the USA version, but not here)

Now I need to go for a looong drive to really put it though its paces. I keep asking the missus if she needs me to pick her up anything from Geraldton or Kalgoorlie, but no requests so far.


The only thing that didn't work out for me was the unit that lets you use the steering wheel stereo controls with the deck. The installer got it in from the UK but it turns out it didn't suit the new Focus, so hopefully they can get to the bottom of it and find the right one, coz that would be the icing on the cake.

[RJO89]

Where did you mount the bluetooth unit? I assume it would be somewhere around the glovebox area, or under the steering column..
Sounds good about the unit mate. Disappointing about the steering controls, but with a CL, I don't have to worry about that!!
You've made me want one though, especially for the digital TV tuner. When they installed it did they connect the ground to the handbrake, so that you can't watch movies when the handbrake is off?

[Loris]

i got the adapter today, i just test fitted it and it fits in there but it doesnt clip in, :( ill probably need to tape it on...
On the weekend im gonna check if each wire on the original harness corresponds to the one on the adapter..

heres some pics

[MW_WA]

Originally Posted by RJO89

Where did you mount the bluetooth unit? I assume it would be somewhere around the glovebox area, or under the steering column..
Sounds good about the unit mate. Disappointing about the steering controls, but with a CL, I don't have to worry about that!!
You've made me want one though, especially for the digital TV tuner. When they installed it did they connect the ground to the handbrake, so that you can't watch movies when the handbrake is off?

Sorry about the late reply ... been away on site.
Bluetooth I believe is in behind the deck somewhere. It's a fairly small thing. TV tuner is under the front passenger seat.
Digital TV is a work in progress. They've wired it such that I can watch TV & DVDs any time (hand brake not required), but my TV reception is problematic while the car is in motion. Some channels worse than others, and it obviously varies by area too. Part of the problem is supposedly the fact that both my aerials are mounted on the front windscreen. Normaly one should be on the rear, but my tinting made that not possible. The tuner actually has 2 separate antenna inputs, and actively switches to whichever is getting the better signal. In my case both would be giving it something very similar all the time.
Going to look into ways of getting something from the back, such as maybe mounting an antenna inside the rear spoiler.

[MW_WA]

(sorry ... double post)

[RJO89]

Hey Loris how'd you go with the wire checking? They all match up?

[Loris]

didnt get a chance to check unfortunately.. ill post back when i do get a chance

[Loris]

was able to have a look at the wiring today.. and it all pretty much matches up to the adapter!! so good news there

bad news though i left the head unit out to long and now i need a bloody code, which i dont have.. anyone know how to get the code quicker then going to the dealer on Monday.. two days with no radio :(

my new deck should be arriving early next week so cant wait :P

[RJO89]

Unfortunately no, you need to get it from the dealership :(

[FORCUS]

Hi All,
Sorry to be pulling up an old thread but Loris was it the CT20FD04 that you ended up purchasing and was it all good?
I am in the process now of looking for a harness to add an aftermarket blue tooth to my wifes car.

Cheers
Phil

Originally Posted by Loris

was able to have a look at the wiring today.. and it all pretty much matches up to the adapter!! so good news there

bad news though i left the head unit out to long and now i need a bloody code, which i dont have.. anyone know how to get the code quicker then going to the dealer on Monday.. two days with no radio :(

my new deck should be arriving early next week so cant wait :P

[Mal H]

Old thread I know but...
Aerpro do a plug adapter kit for the "02-06 Fiesta" which is a direct fit for the focus, complete with steering wheel controls and everything. I fit my new alpine stereo up on the weekend using one.

[FORCUS]

Hi Malcolm,
Thanks for the info!
Yes I have that harness as well as I originally bought the one for the focus but it isn't right.
Just haven't had time to install it!

[Mal H]

The best double din fascia is from https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/auto...l-adaptor.html
It fills in all the edges and looks as close to stock as possible. It is a little pricy though.