03-04 Center Console/Radio Swap

[MR.ADAMS]

If you wanted to delete them I would suggest doing what SoCal Harley did. Fill in the holes and paint/dye the whole piece. I think that would be the cleanest method. btw Harley definitely get some pics up!

I'm going to make an attempt to wire up the buttons to make them functional. Unfortunately I don't have the New Edge dash harness to take the connectors that plug into the buttons from, so I'll probably be rigging up a bunch of spade connectors.

 

[95SC]

I'm running 03 Radio but my car has complete interior and wiring out of 03 Cobra

 

[realitygt]

what about the wiring though?

 

[Gallows]

The newer stuff is charcoal only. I've made several attempts at colormatching the SN95 black but haven't found an exact match yet. Awhile back someone posted a Ford part number for the SN95 black interior dye but Tousley says that it doesn't exist anymore.

The black in my Cobra looks identical to what is in my 06 FX4 so you may want to see if that will work for you.

 

[DisposableHero]

oh.. I've done the swap.. But wouldn't waste my time with a POS factory deck

I think I just contacted you on stangnet before i found this thread...

What harness did you end up using for this? What year is your car? Is it as simple as just getting the right harness to hook it up (besides all the dash work)?...

Is the amp thats under the dash left in or removed?

I had tried to swap in a cd6 but gave up and am going to a avic d3 now. thanks

 

[mmustangsrus]

op: for later i`ve already did most of this swap when i had my 97 cobra & i eventully want another one

 

[MR.ADAMS]

I got some good info from a user at SN95forums about wiring for a factory 6-Disc double DIN specifically. This can be applied to other units as well so long as you have the appropriate harnesses

Here's the PM:

Well it depends on which unit you are using, the 01-03 or the 04 unit. slightly different, with the 04 unit being the better choice.

You will need these harnesses:

Metra Part # 70-5511 (METRA 70-5511 Allows installation of an aftermarket radio using the existing factory wiring and connectors Ford Amp Integration Harness Factory Amplifier Integration harness Power and 4/Speaker One 8-pin power plug and one 8-pin speaker plug A 1.5K O)

Metra Part # 71-5700 (for the 01-03 unit) (METRA 71-5700 The 71-series harnesses are designed to plug into the factory radio 98 Ford Premium Sound into OEM Radio HARNESS;)

Metra Part # 71-5520-1 (for the 04 Unit) (METRA 71-5520-1 The 71-series harnesses are designed to plug into the factory radio 2003-Up Ford/Lincoln/Mercury Into OEM Radio Power and 4-Speaker Fully pinned One 24-pin plug, one 16-pin plug and one 8-pin plu HARNESS;)

for either one, you will need to bypass the amp under the radio and send the signal from the radio unit directly to the rear amps, which can be done by wiring the AMP Signal OUT harness directly from the new unit to the harness leading to the rear amps, the connection located behind the drivers side kick panel. this is a tricky part as i couldnt find a connector to use to plug into the factory harness until i went to a junk yard and cut one off, but you could always just spice the wires. the AMP Signal OUT harness is the smaller of the three connectors that plugs into the back of the radio.

So there, with the right harnesses, all you need to do is skip the factory amp in the dash and go directly to the rears to solve the "No Bass" issue. Should take some of the troubleshooting out of it.

Much thanks goes to reivaxtorres.

 

[SoCalHarley]

I am swapping in a double din setup soon and have the radio bezel. I took a differenet approach you may want to consider with the three buttons. I removed them and filled the holes and repainted the entire bezel. I will post pictures today if I can. I really had no use for the buttons and I think this will look good. I have a 6 disc that I was going to splice into the stock system but I think I am going to go aftermarket.

Here is a picture to the finished product. I used Rustoleum Chalkboard which is almost a perfect match to the stock paint and very durable. I blocked off the holes with a piece of plastic cut to size and glued into place then automotive bondo, sand, prime, and paint.

 

[MR.ADAMS]

That looks nice man! The paint is a good match too. Get us some pics when you get it installed.

 

[crash549]

that looks great. this idea is still on the back burner though but if i do go this route, i will definately delete the buttons.

 

[reivaxtorres]

damnit, i had a write up on how to do all this on lamustangclub, but i guess it got deleted.


anyways, its a fairly easy swap, im rarely on svtp so sorry i didnt chime in til now. (that and the fact that i have a GT and not a cobra......lol)


for all you guys who are wanting to do this, GET THE 04 UNIT!!!!! worth the little extra $$$ you will spend as you can hook up so many different things to this from xm to ipod (and be able to control the ipod from your radio!!! you will need the kit tho)



ok excuse the overly big pictures, too lazy to re-size them.

this is the front of the 01-03 unit, notice the "am/fm" and "CD" buttons are on the bottom, and "Shuff" is on the top left corner....

this is the back of the 01/03 unit, notice the black, almost square ports:

and this is the 04 unit, notice the new location of the "CD" button on the left top corner, as well as the "SAT" button next to the "am/fm" button:

and the back of the unit, notice the gray rectangular ports:

ok, now time to remove the bezel, which is easy. first, remove the cd player and the radio with the ford radio removal tools ($5 at autozone), they come with instructions on how to use them. then simply remove the screws located here...

and follow the "guide" of the bezel to the very back, there is a screw there as well (the guide is where the radio and the CD player attach to, a rail)

next just pop it off with force, it will come out.

now you should have something that looks like this:

now here is where the fun part begins. you will need to modify part of the dash to allow for the new radio size, which means you need to cut some stuff off. circled in red are what you need to cut off:

i didnt have a dremel at the time, so i actually used a kitchen knife. turned out ok i thought:

before:

after:

and after all the cuts:

and now a test fitting of the new bezel:

and this is where you use your own discretion as to how you want to mount up the new cd6. i have heard of some people who go to home depot or whatnot and get some metal brackets to make their own brackets for the CD6 to mount to, but i'm lazy so i simply reused the bolts that held the old bezel on and screwed the radio ONTO the bezel, instead of having the radio bolt onto a bracket and then the bezel slide on top of it.

and the finished product (ignore that little gap under the radio, i fixed that already...just be careful when you screw the radio onto the bezel, make sure its level):

as for the extra buttons on the bottom, i decided to keep them instead of filling them in even tho they werent connected at the time. i had planned on connecting them and making them control what they needed to control, but instead have wiried them up for different uses.


oh, one more thing to note: MOST of the double din bezels you find on ebay will not have the open/close feature for the a/c vents, i honestly didnt notice this until after i installed it and wanted to close the vents lol. this was apparently an option for the new edge cars, and i have already purchased one with the closing vents i just havent installed it yet as im waiting to paint it.






now for the wiring..............


since this is the sn95 cobra section, im assuming you all have the 94-00 style mach460 system, which is what i had.

you will need these harnesses:

METRA 70-5511 Allows installation of an aftermarket radio using the existing factory wiring and connectors Ford Amp Integration Harness Factory Amplifier Integration harness Power and 4/Speaker One 8-pin power plug and one 8-pin speaker plug A 1.5K O

this harness will plug in directly to the cars harness THAT WOULD HAVE GONE TO THE AM/FM/TAPE PLAYER. forget about the CD player harness, that has no use anymore.

the long gray rectangular one is for the basic functions of the radio, ie dimmer lights, controls, etc.

the smaller square black one is the one that sends the audio signal from the radio to the first amp, what i like to call the "tweeter amp".


and you will also need this harness:

METRA 71-5520-1 The 71-series harnesses are designed to plug into the factory radio 2003-Up Ford/Lincoln/Mercury Into OEM Radio Power and 4-Speaker Fully pinned One 24-pin plug, one 16-pin plug and one 8-pin plu HARNESS;

(METRA 71-5700 The 71-series harnesses are designed to plug into the factory radio 98 Ford Premium Sound into OEM Radio HARNESS; if you are using the 01/03 headunit)

USING THE 04 UNIT

the 71-5520-1 harness comes with three connectors, of which you will ONLY need 2: the long 24 pin connector and the small 8 pin connector. discard or save or whatever you want to do with the 16 pin connector.

24 pin connector: basic functions of the radio + signal to the tweeter amp.
8 pin connector: signal to the rear amps

you will need to color match the wires from the 24 pin connector of the 71-5520-1 harness to the both the connectors of the 70-5511 harness. use whatever connectors you want, solder the connections, or just twist them together and put electrical tape around them like i did (like i said before, im lazy).


now, wiring up the rear amps is the difficult part to do. i only took one picture when i was doing it, so i will have to go back and take more pictures for you guys. here is what it consists of:

that 8 pin connector that comes in the 71-5520-1 kit will need to be spliced into the factory harness. removing the lower kickpanel on the drivers side, you will see a lot of wires and connectors. there is one connector that you will need, which is this one:

that picture shows me bypassing the signal from the tweeter amp to the rear amps and sending it directly from the head unit.


98 mach 460 signal route:

headunit ---> tweeter amp ---> rear amps ---> lower door speakers
------------> tweeters

new mach 460 signal route:

headunit ---> rear amps ---> lower door speakers.
------------> tweeters
(in mine)---> tweeter amp ---> tweeters ( in my case, i elected to keep the factory tweeter amp, works just perfect)


now, this is the difficult part since i couldnt get it to work properly with the 8 pin connector from the 71-5520-1 kit since the original factory wires are shielded. what i suggest you do is try to find an 04 Mach 460 equipped car in the junk yard and take the harness, from the headunit all the way to the rear amp (which is what i did).

simply connect this from the radio to the factory harness behind the kick panel and you are good to go.


if you want to try to use the 8 pin connector and try to wire it up yourself, i will tell you what color wire goes to what pin on the factory harness tomorrow as i cant remember and would have to go out and take a look at my car.

if you do this, YOU MUST unplug the wires that go from the tweeter amp to the connector behind the kick panel.

 

[Gallows]

Nice writeup:beer:

 

[crash549]

good to know. nice writeup.

 

[MR.ADAMS]

Hey Reivaxtorres, might I suggest posting your info in the How-To thread for future reference? I think this is good info to have on hand for all SN95'ers.

 

[DisposableHero]

Has anyone actually hooked up the new foglight/tractioncontrol switches to replace the old locations?

 

[Cookieman00x]

That dash with the screws sticking out and the bottom of the radio that doesnt sit right makes it looks like junk.

 

[MR.ADAMS]

Has anyone actually hooked up the new foglight/tractioncontrol switches to replace the old locations?

Speaking of, has anyone got the dash wiring diagrams for the 96-98 SN95 and the New Edges lying around? I need to check to make sure I wire these up correctly.

Also, if you get the double DIN out of an Escape the radio has the side locks like what comes factory in our cars which should make for a cleaner install if all you have to do is support the unit inside the dash. So I'm looking at Mach 300 units from Escapes to have the sliders and because they are the updated (gray plug). Although I may have just bought an older unit on Ebay accidentally :loser:. Hopefully I get outbid.

 

[crash549]

That dash with the screws sticking out and the bottom of the radio that doesnt sit right makes it looks like junk.

i was thinking the same thing.

 

[reivaxtorres]

i was thinking the same thing.

eh, it was my first time doing it, and wasnt sure if i wanted to keep the radio, so i didnt want to modify the dash more than i already had since to go back to the factory radios i would have to modify it differently.

and like i said, that center bezel isnt the one i wanted, i wanted the one with the opening and closing vents, which i have, i just havent painted it yet.

those two screws dont really bug me too much tho, since then ive painted them to match the bezel and you can barely notice them now.

 

[reivaxtorres]

Hey Reivaxtorres, might I suggest posting your info in the How-To thread for future reference? I think this is good info to have on hand for all SN95'ers.

thanks, ill do that.

Has anyone actually hooked up the new foglight/tractioncontrol switches to replace the old locations?

i wired up the fog light switch to control the reverse lock out of the t56 :rockon:



as for the rest of the buttons, i was going to wire them up to use the new buttons, but then realized i would have holes where the original buttons were.

what i did found out tho, was that the old buttons and the new buttons use the same wires, just different colors. you can get the pigtails from ford, just ask them to look them up in the motorcraft pigtail book (they cant look it up my application)