Well have read and read and read I think I am ready to begin my install.

The car: 1997 Toyota Corolla DX - un-modified factory stereo
The plan: remove existing head unit, replacing with tunerless-Empeg feeding a 200w Kenwood amp and using existing speakers for now.

I spent Sunday afternoon poking around the car, with lots of staring at bits trying to figure out what will go where, what additional parts I need and so on, and I think I am ready to begin work, but just posting my plan here so other more experienced people can poke holes in it.

Interfacing with the car.
This I believe is the correct one for my car, and will give me a set of pigtails to solder to the pigtails on the Empeg ISO adapter. Question it also has speaker wires so presumably I solder the output from the Amp to this or is another connect method more suitable?

Powering the Amp.
On the same site I found this installation kit. As I plan to mount the Amp under the passenger seat and feed the power cable through the firewall just above the drivers feet via an un-used hole - is there anything else I need? I have found the nice wiring channel on the passenger side door sill - so the positive wire will be pretty hidden until it peaks through the carpet and runs under the seat. For the negative side I plan on using on of the seat mounting points.

Fitting the Empeg
Like other on this board have found, the Toyota radios are partially hidden behind part of fascia. Looking from the other side & playing with the sled I feel I have only a few millimeters to trim off - so no problem there. My fear is that I have no anchor point at the rear, so other then a few bent bits of metal at the front there is nothing supporting the unit. Is this okay? Or should I dig around behind the dash more and make use of that screw point on the rear of the sled?

Empeg to the Amp, and back.
Two pairs of RCA cable and a remote turn-on wire go down from the Empeg to the Amp, and four pairs of speaker wire return from the Amp to the car harness mentioned above. Is that it? Granted the awkward part of getting the cables in place and nicely hidden out of site is where experience comes into play, but I think I can run them inside the plastic cover that sits over the gear shifter & parking brake area, with just a little hole to allow them exit under the passenger seat.

Misc. questions
Anything flaming obvious that I have missed, that is a sign that I should fork over money to have a pro. do the job?
Should the connections between the two wiring pigtails be soldered or crimped, and what about where the speaker wire attach to the car harness? I'd prefer to overkill then to have to redo it all as I don't want to go behind the dash again except to add a tuner.
Finally, what are the wattage & size are the factory speakers in a Corolla? I believe the rears are ~5-1/4" and the fronts are 4" in size, but what wattage? I believe the are 4omhs. Just wondering if the 200watts the amp pushes out will blow them easily.

Quick PS: Has anyone dealt with partsexpress.com? Any problems? They look professional, but just want to be sure.

Has anyone dealt with partsexpress.com? Any problems? They look professional, but just want to be sure.

Taking the last part of your query first (because it's the only part I feel qualified to answer).. I have dealt with partsexpress.com and they delivered everything I wanted in a very timely fashion at the prices quoted. Can't ask for more than that!

As for the installation -- I think you will do very well, if for no other reason than it is obvious you have given it a lot of thought and are not going off filled with nothing more than optimism.

tanstaafl.

Personally while you are at I would go ahead and run separate speaker wires to each speaker from the amp and bypass the stock wire. That way you have good speaker wire between the amp and the speakers. You have the power to blow the stock speakers yes, just dont turn the gains up too much and you should be fine.

I just got my first delivery from partexpress.com today. Yes, the service was fine. Not just that, but they have an interesting mix of stuff in their catalog -- I just finished 30 minutes flipping through it.

Phoenix42, Like Doug says, sounds like you really do have a plan. Yes, running speaker wires back up to that harness adapter lets you use the factory harness with no cutting (I just couldn't get fired up about pulling separate 10G wire into the car doors!) . Soldering to the harness adapter is fine. I took a different route and used shrouded spade connectors (from good old Radio Shack) reinforced with heat shrink tubing. They have worked fine-plenty of friction in the connectors. To reduce chances of reverse polarities, I used the male connectors on the postive/feed side of 2 wire connections like power, speakers. If you go the crimp-on shrounded spade route, just make sure to use a good ratcheted lug crimp tool (partexpress has a few for under $30) -- the non-ratchet, cheaper type don't put enough pressure on the crimps so might lead to a failure.

Lastly, if you're using a seat bolt ground, just be a little extra careful to make sure you have a good, clean metal-to-metal connection.

Interface - you got it.

Powering - looks good, two things: 1) Remember to put the fuse as close to the battery as you possibly can. The amp has a fuse to protect itself already. This fuse in the kit is designed to protect THE CAR. Any length of wire hanging right off the battery is a potential for shorting the entire electrical system (I killed a Mercury Tracer this way - fuse was under the hood, but too far from the battery ) 2) You might need some more connectors, or - a soldering iron, solder, and shrink wrap are even better. Overall the kit looks fine though.

Fitting - try some digging. You might be able to remove the glove box (it usually unhinges and pulls off) to get behind it. If you can't do that, don't use foam to support it, as it will squeak later!

Wiring - you are correct on that one, but don't forget that you also have to run the power wire from the battery all the way down to the amp as well... Sounds like your'e putting it under the seat. You will likely find some good bolts down there, a seat mounting bolt should work well. Make sure you get a good connection! Also, at all costs, keep the power wires away from the RCA cable. If they run along side each other, you will hear the alternator whine induct (?) over from the power wire into the RCA's, onto the amp, and through the speakers. More flex loom tube will help, or it is acceptable to apply duct tape over the wires to stick them to the car and keep them away from each other (acceptable as long as no one ever sees it that is).

Misc - looks like you got it pretty covered. tanstaafl put it well. www.crutchfield.com should have an online guide to tell you what speaker sizes you have. If you can, I'd replace them - you will get a HUGE improvement in sound with almost any aftermarket speaker in the $50 plus range in the 4" or $80 + range if it's 5-1/4.

Good luck! I think you'll be fine.

Thanks all for the strong approval that I have my head screwed on correctly.

tracerbullet:
There is an in-line fuse with that kit, and I gather it should be within 18" of the battery - so hopefully no fires!
The power wires only run near the RCA cables when the power cables traverse the car to the passenger side as the power cables enter the passenger compartment on the drivers side - I have not given up hope of finding a hole on the passenger side that would eliminate this X between the RCAs and power cables. For the most part when the RCA cables will pass on the passengers left and the power on their right.

acurasquirrel_
I am not sure what I'd gain from running fresh speaker wire. Yes I under the factory wiring is basic stuff and probably bears little resemblents to speaker wire, but routing it would be a large challenge. Is there that much to be gained from it? This is my first venture into car stereos so explain using small words and simple concepts so I can understand!

tanstaafl.
Thanks for the solid vote of confidents. I think my employer is to blame for my excessive on-the-fly planning, finally it is paying off!

One last question: Has anyone had the RCA connection to the sled become loose, or do the hold solidly enough? Just wondering if I should tape them up while back there.

Finally: If I get the chance I'll photograph and detail the install for the benefit of others - although I don't know if I'll have the patients to stop the install to snap a pic every few minutes!

Patiently waiting for a tuner to fall out of the sky.

I am not sure what I'd gain from running fresh speaker wire. (...) routing it would be a large challenge. Is there that much to be gained from it?

There would be not much gain from running fresh speaker wire. The only time it would be useful is if you upgraded your speakers to something that was extremely high power and required much heavier gauge wire. Unless you're doing this, running fresh speaker wire would needlessly complicate your install and should be avoided.

Has anyone had the RCA connection to the sled become loose, or do the hold solidly enough?

If you are referring to the wiring crimps pulling out of the docking connector, there was a known problem with a certain batch of Mk2 connectors that were not well-crimped. If you find that your wiring pulls out of the docking connector, you should get a replacement loom from support.

If you are referring to the male RCA plugs coming unplugged from the female RCA plugs, this is rare as they're usually pretty tight. However, you should be taping or shrink-tubing around them anyhow to prevent the metal shrouds of the connectors from touching any metal frame parts inside your dashboard.

Thanks Tony, it was the male RCA plugs coming unplugged from the female RCA plugs that I was concerned about.

The devil is in the details.

Yes Im putting 100 watts to each of the front speaker so I ran some nice speaker wires to them. I mean the stock wires had like 4 strands of copper so I figured better safe than sorry.

Hmmm, actually i was worried about the docking sled wires coming off too. i mean from the connector itself where all the wires are crimped together. When i look at mines, i have the feeling the wires can be pulled off easily, or if i move the wires around enough the wires will just break off (like flexing a paper clip back and forth until they break). i'd like to take a picture and post for opinions. Maybe i'm just paranoid and i am pretty obsesive when it comes to handling the sled. (Still playing around with installation)

Well, you can always check it by tugging on the wires to see if they come out. Don't tug hard, I mean you can break anything if you try hard enough. I mean a reasonable little tug. If they fly right outta there, then you have one of the defective connectors and you need to contact support. If they don't come out from hand-tugging, then they won't come out when they're installed behind your dash and you don't need to worry about it.

The other option is to solder the connectors yourself. I actually have a movie file from David of doing precisely this, but I'm working out kinks in getting all the movie files posted at riocar.org at the moment.

Re: partsexpress.com
Ordered the parts I needed on Monday morning.
Relalised a few hours later that I also needed speaker wire. A quick e-mail and they confirmed adding it to my order.
Everything arrived yesterday (Thursday) evening - including some popcorn!
A very professional company, running a smooth operation.

Still waiting on my Monday order from an established company that supplies "Everything Automotive". Only communication so far includes an order number, but there does not appear to be anywhere on their site to use this order number to get the status of the order. Ah well!

Yahoo!
Installed my Empeg this weekend, all went well.
Did a perfect job IMHO of hiding the wiring - now I understand why installers charge what they do.
Used this 4*35 watt amp to power my factory speakers after throwing out my old head unit.
Will post some pics of the install over at RioCar.org later in the week.

Thanks to all for their advice and suggestions.

You really threw away your old head unit? Was it the factory one? If you ever want to sell the car or trade it in, it would be good to have something to fill in the hole left from the Empeg, assuming you would never relinquish your Empeg.

Stu

No maczrool I just threw it out of the car, as in I am not feeding the Empeg through it or visa versa.
It is sitting on a shelf and will return to it's orignal position in about 100,000 miles - although I will need a new dash piece as I had to enlarge the radio hole.

Finally got time to put the pics up.
Sorry about the lack of detailed steps etc, but I was kinda in a rush to finally get it into the car , so if anyone want more detailed descriptions of what I did and how I did it - just ask.

Link
Ops, forgot to provide a link!

Now that you're done, how did you end up mounting the rear of the sled? I was going to suggest what I did on my Toyota pickup (I hope you had more room to work with than I did!). A few inches above the rear of the sled was a round steel tube - some kind of structural member. I looped a length of flexible metal strapping around it (the kind with holes along the it), then placed a clip-on blind nut onto both pieces of the strap hanging down. Drill a hole through the sled at the apropriate spot and bingo. I originally used the threaded hole in the sled, but that was *exceedingly* difficult to do. When I had to pull the sled out, I thought of the blind-nut idea.

About you original head unit. On mine, it was an AM-FM only cheapo. I found I could disconnect the front of the unit. It all came off as one piece except for the LCD. So I placed a piece of greenish-colored paper (cut from a magazine) behind the window and affixed it with tape. The knobs are held on by screws. And then it slid into the sled just right. Push on the right side, and left pops out to remove it.
Not a perfect stealth cover, but at a cursory glance, it looks like just an AM-FM is installed.

I didn't, I found the the sled rested alot on the AC controls below so there was little need IMHO.
But, I did find something back there that was useable when I was orignally planning on supporting it. If you look at the third picture you can see some white plastic in the back, this is the AC pipe that feeds the center consol vents above the DIN slot. It has two bolts which are hidden in the photo behind the AC controls, but they are just about reachable, and I was planning on use two stiff metal strips to run from these to the mounting bolt.
But due to space considerations, haha, and the support from below this idea was nixed.

I like your idea for the stealth cover, but current plans call for the radio to return to it origanl place. But I'll keep my eye out for one - the shine from the sled does make it noticable that the radio has been removed and that there is probably epensive stuff worth nicking in the car.

One of those pockets that are used when a DIN slot isn't used might be good concealment... The pocket used in my Polo fits a MkII sled perfectly (a MkI is a bit tighter fit) if one shaves off all the extra bits and pieces outside the basic pocket.
See http://www.tempsch.org/empeg/misc_empeg.html (it's on an ADSL line that has been slightly shaky lately, so try again later if down)

IIRC someone tried to look up that part# at a US VW dealer, but had no luck finding it. Might be that the Polo isn't sold in the US...

/Michael

you can see some white plastic in the back, this is the AC pipe that feeds the center consol vents
Mine also has a white plastic structure directly behind the sled. Which gave me an idea... I drilled two holes - one where the red RCA connector is, and one where the AC connector is. Then screwed the cut off threaded section of a plastic pen body into each hole. Add a short length of plastic tubing over those to reach the MKII. Presto, Air Conditioning for the player, that only blows when the floor vents are selected. I thought it might be needed here in the Arizona desert. (and man, is it ever hot here.) It actually seems to work pretty well. I have not done any actual tests, but when I pull the unit out, the top is noticeably cool.

current plans call for the radio to return to it origanl place
On mine, I can easily reconnect the ribbon connector and snap the front back onto the unit. No harm done. Of course, the dash fascia is another matter altogether.

the shine from the sled
I hated that. I tried spraying some tool handle grip spray stuff on the front. It works for a while, but is not durable enough. I was thinking of trying the plasti-dip stuff, or perhaps a variation on Tony's idea of a cut out binder cover. I really wish they had not made the sled shiny. Or at least they should have manufactured the fascia so that it covers the exposed areas of the sled. Having the fascia slightly wrap around the lip of the sled would seem to have been a trivial feature when designing it.

Your install looks good in the dash. I envy everyone who has such a clean way to place the unit. I really need to figure out some way to clean mine up. The way Toyota built the trucks, the radio didn't sit in a nice clear expanse of dash, but in a this stupid enclosed thingy. It supposedly is a DIN slot, but only if you trim the hole. And trimming it meant the the holes edges are now in a beveled lip area (the lip used to fit over the face of the radio). On top of that, the section actually had the radio on top, and a pocket underneath. But the top area only had about 5 inches of depth (that tubing crossmember is right there). So I had to put the sled in the bottom, and move the pocket to the top - inverting it in the process. Argh!

Next time I buy a vehicle, some consideration is going to be paid to potential audio upgrades.

Being so observant, I just noticed your screen name. Are you in Phoenix, or is that a mythological reference of some kind?