Upgrade ‘97 stereo….somehow
5 Year Member
Joined: May 2015
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The OEM Ford radio is not actually double din. So yeah you're going to have to trim the frame out a little bit. I think in the early model years like yours there may even be a support bracket in the back that may need to be cut out some or removed. On my 2003 I did not need to do that.
Trimming the frame is not hard. You can do it the easy way or you can do it the hard way. You will find people on YouTube doing it with aggressive power tools like drills and sawzalls...and making a tremendous mess, and something that looks like crap.
But if you score that plastic with a sharp utility knife and a straight edge.... Then cut some small kerfs down to the score line... You can grab the individual pieces with the end of a pair of pliers and simply bend it and snap them off on the score line. Or you can use an oscillating tool which won't produce too much debris. I simply made a score line, and used an exacto razor saw I had to cut the small kerfs down to the line and then snap the pieces off with channel locks. Took about 10 minutes, minimal mess and neat.
And you can still put the stock radio back in no problem
Any modern stereo is light years ahead of the stock now.
Trimming the frame is not hard. You can do it the easy way or you can do it the hard way. You will find people on YouTube doing it with aggressive power tools like drills and sawzalls...and making a tremendous mess, and something that looks like crap.
But if you score that plastic with a sharp utility knife and a straight edge.... Then cut some small kerfs down to the score line... You can grab the individual pieces with the end of a pair of pliers and simply bend it and snap them off on the score line. Or you can use an oscillating tool which won't produce too much debris. I simply made a score line, and used an exacto razor saw I had to cut the small kerfs down to the line and then snap the pieces off with channel locks. Took about 10 minutes, minimal mess and neat.
And you can still put the stock radio back in no problem
Any modern stereo is light years ahead of the stock now.
Last edited by mbb; Jun 26, 2023 at 07:55 PM.
Member
Joined: Jan 2022
Posts: 71
Likes: 32
I bought a Pioneer sph-da160dab and four new 9x6 Cervin Vega speakers. We only have digital FM in Norway (DAB).
The Pioneer is short, so it does not interfere with the sloping cavity roof, but the outer frame must be trimmed about 7-8mm. I trimmed only the top, so the unit sits a little high in the moulding, but everything works good. Also comes with telephone handsfree and Apple CarPlay.
The Pioneer is short, so it does not interfere with the sloping cavity roof, but the outer frame must be trimmed about 7-8mm. I trimmed only the top, so the unit sits a little high in the moulding, but everything works good. Also comes with telephone handsfree and Apple CarPlay.
