On a 97 hatch, is it possible to put my head unit down by the cup holders?

 

It would take some creative work, but I see it as being possible.

If it looks anythign like mine, its possible, it would just be tight, and what would you do with the opening in the dash ?

 

Well I thought I would put an empty compartment there.
I just wanted to put my head where theives couldn't see it. I've seen enough aftermarket stereos stolen.
I would't want one for that reason but I found one w/ SD & USB, plus I lost my stock wire connector from previous head being installed.
I like stock cause they don't get stolen.

 

Or I could leave the stock stereo in place and unhooked for an added deterrent.
Can I hook both of them up so that I can hit the CD button on the stock radio to run the aftermarket CD player?

 

I think that would look pretty nice, but a good thief is going to look everywhere, he's not stupid, he does it for aliving.

A good idea would be to figure out how to cable lock your head unit somehow into the car, maybe a cable look bolted into the back of the head unit, then bolted into the framing somehow, That would keep him busy long enough for someone to notice, maybe.

Or just an alarm system could do wonders, you can get them dirt cheap some places, ones that will at least give you a power circuit monitor and door/window sensors.

If you install the HU down in the area you want it, you will probably have to do some cutting, and figure out some way to install some mounting brackets. If its not screwed in tight, then a thief will have no problem ripping it out.

 

Well I was thinking that if he would glance through the window at my dash he would see the oem stereo and keep kreeping to the next car.
When the cup holer lid is flipped up it would further hide the HU.
As far as a bolt if he got that far he would already have broe my window or popped my lock or handle with a screwdriver, I don't want for him to get that far. The unit I want is only $80 anyway.

As far as an alarm I have seen plenty of cars with alarms broken into also.

 

True, they really arent reliable if you are in a high crime area. I guess the idea of hiding it would be good.

I haven't tried it myself, but I would think a visit or two to a Lowes or Home Deopt would give you all the metal you would need to mount it. Then all you need to do is take that factory compartment out and cut some plastic here or there to make room. You can JB Weld the plastics if needed. I am not looking at it right now or I would be able to remember if it would even be needed. You could JB Weld some mounting brackets for that matter.

It would take some trial and error I guess.

 

I forget where I saw it, but some guy removed the front panel from his stock stereo and set it up so that he could remove the face plate of his aftermarket stereo and put the modified front panel of his stock stereo in it's place, making it look like it was stock.

 

Fiberglass son.......................fiberglass. Go buy some resin and start learning, its cheap.