I think this would create more problems than would be
worth the gain :-)
- Dockability?
- Ripping CDs in a vibrating environment
- (I seem to remember an external IDE connector was denied by the FCC or similar?)
- Blocking the only spare IDE-"place"
- Where mount the drive?( OK, my car has two DIN-slots, but where would I mount my HAM radio then?) Long IDE-cables? Noise?

My guess for a "doable" install would be a normal CD-walkman "in the glove box" where the buttons are "patched into" through a PIC controller run from the serial port (or maybe the tuner port?)

I have earlier tried to find out the cd-changer protocol, to operate my in-car-mp3-pc (before the empeg era), but
without luck.
It sould be possible to do the other way around, use the empeg to operate the cd-changer, but documentation is needed.

Marius (Escort Cab + Mark II)