[tallguy]

I own a 2000 insight, with the factory standard stereo (AM/FM/Cassette) and factory standard speakers.

I'm thinking of having a new stereo (50 watt x 4 channel) with a CD player installed at Best Buy. They are also offering to install a free pair of speakers (round, small) if I get it done in the next few days. I'm alos looking at stereos at other electronic stores, but probably wouldn't get the free speakers.

What sort of pitfalls and caveats to I have to watch out for? How difficult is it to remove and replace the stereo? Is this something I want to leave to "trained professionals"? Does the Insight use a standard Honda stereo connector, or will they have to cut the wires to remove the old one and hardwire the new one? Are there any special size or power restrictions on the speakers?

I was thinking of taking the old stereo and install it in my other car, a 92 Honda Accord. Can I use the old Insight stereo in another Honda?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Mitch53]

Tallguy

I also have a 2000 model - Don't know where your at so I can compare $$'s to (your) Best Buys offer but here's what I found in Denver. Three of the 4 places I went to offered free install when purchasing a unit from them .... At Car Toys I got a 4 X 60 Panasonic AM/FM/CD with MP3 capability. At the time I also got 2 Boston NX 67's @ 60% off ( I've since installed Boston's in the rear speaker) all for $205.00.
Only pifall I ran into was the minimum depth the Insight has for speaker installs in the front speaker spots. Be careful here cause if the installer cuts the plastic covering inside your door it'll cause a leak through your speaker grill and dealers frown on you trying to claim a design flaw !

 

[dazey]

Replacing the deck is not too difficult, but pulling on the molding around the deck to pop the clips can be a bit scary the first time. I thought for sure I'd break something on it. There are 8 screws/bolts all together which hold the glove box, molding around the deck (also has a few clips holding it), and the deck itself. NO cutting of wires is required, the Insight uses a standard Civic wiring harness.

Mitch53 is right about not getting deep or wide speakers as the installers don't seem to mind cutting holes larger to make them fit. I bought my Insight used and whoever installed the speakers cut the holes as big as they could and I had a bad problem with water leaking in.

In my attmpts to fix this issue I started wondering if it wasn't only the fact that they cut away some critical piece of plastic or metal, but maybe that the deeper speakers were actually catching the drops as they fall off the bottom of the window. But I'm starting to get off topic here.

 

[Will M]

My discovery about replacing the radio is that it is a piece of cake, SO LONG AS YOU CAN ATTACH THE EXISTING BRACKETS TO THE SIDE OF THE REPLACEMENT RADIO. It is very easy to pull the old radio in order to see what I'm talking about. Don't worry. It is also easy to put it back together after you've done this.

As described briefly above, remove the two screws under the glove compartment to remove the glove compartment. Now, remove the two screws (one high and one low) on the left edge of the area now not hidden by the glove compartment.

Now, just pull along the edge of the plastic piece that covers the area below the radio. Think of the radio as a face. This plastic is the chin and neck. Got it? There are maybe a dozen or so spring-loaded clips holding this in place. Be bold and just keep pulling straight out. You don't have to pull very hard. Take care to unplug the wire from the back of the cigarette-lighter socket, a.k.a. the 12 volt accessory socket, before it hits the end of how far that cable reaches.

Once this plastic piece is removed, the radio is held in place with four screws. Two point straight out at you at the sides. Two more are below these screws, angled downward. When you remove these screws, the radio will fall into your hands. The antenna cable plugs into the back, next to the one big wiring harness plug in the back of the radio for everything except the antenna connection. You don't need to remove either of these to look at the brackets I'm talking about.

Note that you didn't just drop the radio. Still attached to the sides of the radio are the two brackets that you will need to use to attach the new radio. There are two screws holding each of these brackets in place.

Maybe there is a way to mount a radio without using these brackets. Maybe not. I wouldn't bet on it. There isn't much there to attach a radio to without these brackets.

Apparently, many radios have the four holes needed (two on each of two sides) to mount these brackets. Your first choice in a replacement radio would have these four holes, already threaded for the screws holding these brackets.

Your second choice would be a radio with the holes, not threaded [Mine, a Blaupunkt "New Orleans" was one of these second choice radios]. Go to a hardware store (I went to Sears) and get the right tap to thread the holes for the screws.

Third choice would be a radio without these four holes. I'm clueless as to how anybody would mount such a radio. Good luck.