So I've seen pictures of Empegs in 3G Eclipses, but they all appeared to have little cutouts on the side of the player for the sled lip. My car is leased, so that wasn't the best option. (I'm sure the center dash part isn't terribly expensive, but I would have liked to avoid cutting it if at all possible. Cleaner look, too.) Also mentioned were problems with actually mounting the sled, since the radio mounts from the side, not the back. Welding, strapping, and drilling were all proposed.

Well, with a little bit of creativity, it turns out it isn't that hard.

The trick is to remove the center dash piece and then put the sled in from the *front*, that is, back of the sled pushes into the front of the hole in the dash. It's mildly tricky to push it in, but once it's in, it slides through and around pretty easily. Reattach the radio mounting bracket to the car using the bottom two screws only (the ones by the pocket). From there, push the sled/dash piece combo into the mounting bracket (which is a tad too small, and will bend slightly. You'll probably have to bend (very slightly) the mounting bracket off of one of the little plastic tabs that it rests on, or remove one of the tabs. Then put the dash back on. It won't go on quite as solidly as before, with a little bit of give at the top, but the screws on the bottom hold it on pretty securely. The resultant friction between the sled and the slightly-too-small mounting bracket, as well as the dash piece, keep it from moving out, and the sled lip overlapping the dash piece and pocket prevent it from moving in. There's no problem inserting or removing the Empeg.

It also looks really clean. Maybe I'll post pictures later.

I haven't driven around in this configuration yet, so maybe it being slightly loose will shake it to pieces, but I doubt it's that bad.

Electrical install comes later, as I don't have the parts yet. Kind of sucks being able to see the Empeg in my car but not able to turn it on or play music.

More after that's done, maybe a week or so.

Alex