L
Liam
Guest
I have just fitted a Sony T-69 autochanger to my Marea. Incase anyone is thinking of doing the same to their Bravo/Brava/Marea I have listed the costs involved and a step by step instruction guide. This procedure was very straight forward and should be even more simple for people with Bravos as they are three door obviously.
COSTS:Autochanger-£117 (online store £109+p+p)
Cabling-£50 (Halfords)
Araldite-£5 (B+Q)
Removal of head unit-£free (FIAT)
TOTAL:£172
Step 1 - Take car to FIAT and have them release the head unit for you. You will have to drive home very slowly as the head unit will be dangling from the dash board.
Step 2 - Release blue blanking port or Grundig cable port (depending on model) from rear of head unit.
Step 3 - Plug the new adapter box into the newly created empty space at the rear of the head unit.
Step 4 - Feed the entire length of the autochanger cables through the left hand side of the head unit port through the hole you will find there. The cables should drop down into the passenger foot well unhindered. You may find it helpfull to tie a piece of string to the cables and feed that through allowing you to pull them through all together.
Step 5 - Connect the three cable ends to the box at the back of the head unit.
Step 6 - The adapter box should now be stored in the pocket to the left of the headunit. This will take a little while to squeeze in, but if you try offering it in different directions it will fit fully into the pocket without any real problems.
Step 7 - The head unit can now be positioned back into place. However do not fully lock it in untill the end of the procedure just to make sure no connections have came loose.
Step 8 - Remove the front and rear plastic door slam trims. Siply unscrew the retaining screws and slide the trims FORWARD to release them from the car undamaged.
Step 9 - Unscrew the lower retaining bolt of the passanger seat belt. Doing this will allow you to loosen the interior B pillar cover.
Step 10 - Run the cables along the back of the dash board and down into the carpet edge which runs along the bottom of the door slam. When you reach the B pillar simply push the cables through the channel you will find there and continue along the rear door slam untill you reach the rear or the cars interior.
Step 11 - Remove the insulation padding underneath the rear seats and disgard. You will find here a series of cable/wiring tidies which you can clip the cable into to keep things tidy.
Step 12 - Attatch the brackets supplied, onto the autochanger preparing it for HORIZONTAL installation and position it in the gully provided under the rear seats. The front of the autochanger should be offered up to the rectangular access hole.
Step 13 - Araldite the brackets of the autochanger onto the base of the gully. This provides an extremely strong bond and avoides drilling the metal frame of the car.
Step 14 - Attatch the three cable to the autochanger and check the system is operating correctly.
Step 15 - Once you are sure the system is working fine them simply cut a flap in the rear carpet of the car to allow access to the autochanger form the drivers seat. It is best to use a fresh stanley blade as the carpet backing is quite tough.
Step 16 - The head unit can now be fully locked into place.
Step 17 - Screw the door slam covers back in place ensuring they do not pinch or compress the cabling at any point.
Step 18 - Screw the lower bolt of the passenger seat belt into place untill it is completely secure. Your C.D autochanger is now fully installed.
The Sony T-69 offers superior sound quality to the Grundig mcd-36 and if fitted beneath the rear seats of the car it never jumps.
COSTS:Autochanger-£117 (online store £109+p+p)
Cabling-£50 (Halfords)
Araldite-£5 (B+Q)
Removal of head unit-£free (FIAT)
TOTAL:£172
Step 1 - Take car to FIAT and have them release the head unit for you. You will have to drive home very slowly as the head unit will be dangling from the dash board.
Step 2 - Release blue blanking port or Grundig cable port (depending on model) from rear of head unit.
Step 3 - Plug the new adapter box into the newly created empty space at the rear of the head unit.
Step 4 - Feed the entire length of the autochanger cables through the left hand side of the head unit port through the hole you will find there. The cables should drop down into the passenger foot well unhindered. You may find it helpfull to tie a piece of string to the cables and feed that through allowing you to pull them through all together.
Step 5 - Connect the three cable ends to the box at the back of the head unit.
Step 6 - The adapter box should now be stored in the pocket to the left of the headunit. This will take a little while to squeeze in, but if you try offering it in different directions it will fit fully into the pocket without any real problems.
Step 7 - The head unit can now be positioned back into place. However do not fully lock it in untill the end of the procedure just to make sure no connections have came loose.
Step 8 - Remove the front and rear plastic door slam trims. Siply unscrew the retaining screws and slide the trims FORWARD to release them from the car undamaged.
Step 9 - Unscrew the lower retaining bolt of the passanger seat belt. Doing this will allow you to loosen the interior B pillar cover.
Step 10 - Run the cables along the back of the dash board and down into the carpet edge which runs along the bottom of the door slam. When you reach the B pillar simply push the cables through the channel you will find there and continue along the rear door slam untill you reach the rear or the cars interior.
Step 11 - Remove the insulation padding underneath the rear seats and disgard. You will find here a series of cable/wiring tidies which you can clip the cable into to keep things tidy.
Step 12 - Attatch the brackets supplied, onto the autochanger preparing it for HORIZONTAL installation and position it in the gully provided under the rear seats. The front of the autochanger should be offered up to the rectangular access hole.
Step 13 - Araldite the brackets of the autochanger onto the base of the gully. This provides an extremely strong bond and avoides drilling the metal frame of the car.
Step 14 - Attatch the three cable to the autochanger and check the system is operating correctly.
Step 15 - Once you are sure the system is working fine them simply cut a flap in the rear carpet of the car to allow access to the autochanger form the drivers seat. It is best to use a fresh stanley blade as the carpet backing is quite tough.
Step 16 - The head unit can now be fully locked into place.
Step 17 - Screw the door slam covers back in place ensuring they do not pinch or compress the cabling at any point.
Step 18 - Screw the lower bolt of the passenger seat belt into place untill it is completely secure. Your C.D autochanger is now fully installed.
The Sony T-69 offers superior sound quality to the Grundig mcd-36 and if fitted beneath the rear seats of the car it never jumps.