Step by step for a Subaru Forrester (mine's a '99) for posterity & others who may have this car.

This does involve cutting away at your dash unless you: a) want the dashboard in pieces all the time or b)never want the empeg to leave the dash because you're a hot [censored] and have a wireless ethernet and have figured out how to set it up in your car in which case you probably don't need to listen to me ramble on like everyone out there is a moron and couldn't figure this stuff out themselves...

Reqired tools: Stripper Crimper, Phillips Head screwdriver, continuity tester (I really prefer the ones that beep when a circuit's made) a dremel tool (or possibly the roto-zip!) with one of those bladed steel side-endmill looking bits, a flashlight (if you like to start projects at 4 and work past dark or to find the damn screw under the seat), about 2 feet of 12 gage solid copper wire stripped of insulator (you know, Romex or the like for wiring houses) and a pair of pliers, preferably needle-nose.

Step by step:
1. Disassemble the dash. The dash comes apart without any screws. I have a manual shift. There is a piece of plastic around the shift boot and one in the center console behind (towards the back of the car) the shifter. Just pull up here and both pieces will pop up. Remove the ash tray. Pull the plastic that surrounds the stereo & environmental controls. It's held in with two metal snaps on top and plastic snaps on the side/bottom. Be persistent, wiggle and keep it fairly vertical and twist from side to side & it'll come out. Unclip the lighter connections & ashtray lamp cord, these have locking tabs you have to depress when you pull them apart. This exposes the 4 screws that hold in the radio and/or CD player.

Step 2: Remove the stereo. Remove these 4 screws and the whole thing pulls right out. Unclip the Subaru connection to the stereo & disconnect the CD (if you have one). The CD is a funky 9 pin DIN connector with a ring you have to pull up on (I'm getting ahead of myself here, you won't have to do this until the thing is all the way out).

Step 3: Go to your local car stereo place with the whole stereo assembly, plop it on the counter and say "Got anything that'll fit for this harness? It's a big white thing with a slew of (hopefully, depending on brand) labeled wires. Be sure you get a little bagfull of the crimpy connectors (tubes you squish over bare wires - solder sucks). 30-40 should do the trick.

Step 4: Buy an amp unless you have a head unit with line/aux inputs. The OEM head unit does not offer any easy way in, and I'm not patient enough to try the 9 din wires one by one & then cobble same (although if somebody has a pinout diagram I'd love it). If you want to use the OEM as a source (radio & tape as the CD is a separate & quite useless unit b/c of the DIN connector) go to Crutchfield or the like and order a Speaker to Line voltage converter such as the AudioLink one from Crutchfield (www.crutchfield.com) p/n 101PL2 for about $30.

Step 5: Quality time with the crimper. Crimp the connector you bought in step 3 onto the one supplied with your empeg. Test each crimp with a continuity tester as you go & save yourself a hassle. You will have to make your own arrangements for the speaker connections from your amp or headunit/amp or whatever. Not too hard, just continuity test every chance you get.

Step 6: The tricky bit, mating the EMPEG sleeve to the two metal side plates. The Subarus have metal side plates that hold the stereo components in with M5 screws. I suppose you could drill, tap & mount it properly, but I'm WAY to lazy to do all that. Here's where the 2' of 12 gage solid wire comes in (I knew you were wondering). Leave one of the components attached in the upper position between the two side plates. Place the empeg sleeve underneath. You'll see a narrow triangular opening on the side plates just below the empeg sleeve. Feed you 12 gage through both of these slots (ie: slot, across sleeve, through other slot) and get it centered. Bend two free ends back across towards the center of the slot. Position the sleeve where you want it fore/aft and then squeeze (needlenose)the 3/8" between your two wires (now wrapping around side plate) just next to the side plates. This clamps the sleeve in place. Loosely wrap the remaining free 5" of the wire around itself. Voila, sleeve in place, NO TAPPING REQUIRED. This holds the sleeve quite firmly as the sleeve is braced on its upper surface with the remaining OEM component.

Step 7: Mount radio/sleeve combination in your car. Make whatever remaining connections you need to (remote amp on, speaker wire etc). Slide in your empeg and fire it up. Now do one of the following: a)beam radiantly in the glow of the killer visuals and pumping sound of your new system (assuming you loaded a song or two) or b)scowl and say GODDAMNIT which $(*&($*%&^^ crimp did I miss? If b) go back to step 5 and make friends with your Ohm meter. When I did it, I managed to blow a fuse for the overhead lights/clock which is also the amp power line so I had visuals but no sound. Don't ask me how I did that I have no idea. If you do the same thing the fuse for it is under the hood, not in the passenger compartment -15A-.

Step 8: Modify the dash opening. You want to be well rested for this one as it involves some demanding time with your dremel & is not forgiving of ****-ups. You do not want to know how much that big ole piece of ABS/Styrene plastic costs from your dealer. That being said, with your empeg in place in the dash line up the trim piece as best you can and mark the seam where the empeg and your other component meet. You'll be using this as a trim line. You will need to remove almost 3/8" (about 9.5mm for everyone else out there) from the three sides which abut your player. Mark straight lines with a straightedge & sharp object & cut to these lines. You cannot eyeball this. Stick to the lines & remember it's very easy to cut more material, but damn hard to put it back on. Power up your dremel and start making chips. Move slowly, you'll get nicer chips & not asphyxiate yourself with nasty smoke. Cut until you think you have it right, then fit it up & find out where you're wrong. Repeat this until you can get the empeg into & out of the sleeve easily. Once finished you can wipe a little paint thinner on your cut surfaces to give them a smoother finish. Try not to get it on the outer surfaces. Let it gel for a minute & wipe it dry.

Step 9: Snap the sucker in place and go impress your friends. You deserve it.

I hope this was helpful. I don't know if other Japanese brands use the same side plates, but the 12 gage wire trick really takes this from a godawful job to one that's big enough to be satisfying but not impossible. Just try not to cut plastic in poor light or when really tired.

Sorry for the long post.


just say you weren't paying much attention...