Foo - 01-05 Honda Civic owners... Help me out...

I just got a Sony CD deck installed by Best buy, and it looks like they butchered it. THey told me i didnt need a dash kit. But when i picked it up, there was a dash kit in it. The dash kit they put in looks very cheap and crappy, and they took out my little pocket underneath the factory deck.

So, if there are any civic owners out there with aftermarket decks, can you take a pic of your deck and show me what it looks like. I would like to be able to keep my little pocket, and have an aftermarket stereo that doesnt look like its recessed into the dash half an inch.

grrrrrr best buy...

try civic forums =P

be sure to recruit more cyclists!

Your stock radio had the radio on top and the pocket on the bottom right?

try civic forums =P
im also on honda forums, but trying to explain my problem to them is impossible! they're all idiots!

Your stock radio had the radio on top and the pocket on the bottom right?

yep,

before:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC01420Large.jpg


After:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC03492Large.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC03491Large.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC03490Large.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC03489Large.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC03488Large.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC03487Large.jpg


The dash kit looks crappy and cheap, and the whole stereo/climate control panel isnt snug with the whole dash anymore.

go on ebay and get a rice-boy translator then go back to the civic forum
jkjk plz dont run me over!

Looks like instead of getting the faceplate trim piece to cover up the gap between the stock pocket for the HU, they just replaced thw whole thing with cheap crap to be cheap. If i were you, i would find a wiring diagram on how to wire up the HU in a civic, and redo everything. Because my brothers friend had some Bestbuy people install a radio in his car, it all ended up with the main wireing harness of the car getting a shortage causing two wires to melt together and causing even a bigger shortage which made the whole dash not work.

go on ebay and get a rice-boy translator then go back to the civic forum
jkjk plz dont run me over!
how long did it take you to think up that doozie?

i'm just bored
and to be honest there are so many riced out civic crap on that forum
just my opinion

and to be honest there are so many riced out civic crap on that forum

couldnt agree with you more. One guy suggested to fill that space with switches or lights.

believe it or not that is the right kit for the car. If it doesnt fit snug then the installer was just sloppy. You cant use your factory pocket with that kit, you would have to have a custom kit made for your car to do that. It has been done before but most people dont want to pay for it. I made a custom dash to put an aftermarket pioneer radio in a 2006 porsche caymen last two weeks ago. the guy paid 800 bucks for the installation and it took 2 days of my time to have it painted perfect and polished to match his interior. vs....cheap 15 dollar dash kit made by metra or scoshe or best kits. your dash isnt secure anymore because the idiots at bestbuy didnt put the two 10mm screws under it back in.under the dash where the center console meets the upper dashboard there is a cover that you can pop off that is held on with snap ins. pop it off and you will see where there is a metal bracket inside missing two 10mm screws...unless they removed the entire metal bracket then your boned.

believe it or not that is the right kit for the car.
im not really doubting its the wrong one. As you said, its just a lousy installation. But is that the only one available? Surely there can be a kit so that i can use to still use my pocket?

the three major companies dont make one, there all similar kits. you can search but I have never seen one and I have been doing this for about 17 years. I dont mean to make it sound hopeless either, I see stuff every day that I've never seen before. anything's possible, but I think you may be looking at something custom. You could make one yourself. all you need is some half inch mdf and alot of patience.

alot of patience.
that i dont have :)


I think i'll go to some of the local places that do custom work, and see what they'll charge to go it. Im sure it will be far too expensive, so i'll just end up sucking it up.

I'll head back to best buy and see if they can seat the panel and kit up properly so it looks better and doesnt move.

This could all be avoided if all factory car stereo's came with Aux-In inputs. :mad:

if it had cd changer control you can get an adapter for it.

if it had cd changer control you can get an adapter for it.
i dont think so, but im no expert..

Here is the back of the factory deck.

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC03493Large.jpg

There's two separate issues here and we have to deal with them distinctly. The first is electrical compatibility. A lot of manufacturers have adaptor harnesses that'll let you plug their deck into the stock connectors. If not, it's not that hard to wire it up one wire at a time using the diagram in the manual.

The second part you're having issues with is the mechanical fit. Why couldn't they have install the stereo in the stock location and kept your drawer/tray? It's most likely laziness and profit motives. With the parts you have on the car, they could've left the bottom half the double-DIN opening alone and just cut out the upper-half of the face-plate to install the stereo. That would've been a little more difficult, but would've give you the results you want. The mechanical mounting brackets in back are also not that difficult. At most, you're looking at a couple hours of time max. You can even do it yourself if you've got the patience.

couldnt agree with you more. One guy suggested to fill that space with switches or lights.
ROFLOLMAO! seriously i laughed for minutes on the floor. where do they come up with ideas like that?! PRICELESS!!!

ROFLOLMAO! seriously i laughed for minutes on the floor. where do they come up with ideas like that?! PRICELESS!!!
yeah, i had a pretty damm good chuckle at that too...

he even showed me a pic of what his chump friend did to his early 90's accord. Here it is..

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/8/web/620000-620999/620742_4_full.jpg

I dont think he saw the title of my thread and the MANY references i made to the year and model of my car. I was even in the CIVIC forum... Im suprised the guy knew how to turn on his computer.

if it had cd changer control you can get an adapter for it.
wait a minute.... is it changer compatible??

See buttons 5/6

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g157/free_pizza/DSC03494Large.jpg

Mine looks crappier:

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/622/civicpj3.jpg

Yeah, if you want easy, you have to deal with a crappy looking kit.

OEM cleaness costs bucks. A proper DIN kit for my old mustang, that kept the original pocket was around $200. I opted for the $10 Merta kit, and dealt with having 4 screw holes in my dash.