cutting plastic

[bonnieman17]

What does everyone use for cutting the plastic behind the radio? Im kinda afraid of sticking my dremel in there cuz of all those wires and ribbons.

[harofreak00]

Dremel is about your only option for power tools.

You could try a tin snips and/or file.

I personally used a dremel bit like this, however my dash was out of the car at the time.

[bonnevillain]

I used a drill to drill some little holes, a little hand saw, and a a vice grip to tear pieces out.. lol. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

[harofreak00]

If you cut it out like I did, and leave that little notch on the right side of the connector, you can still use the dock'n'lock connector if you ever go back to a stock radio.

[bonnieman17]

k thanks guys i think im gunna do it ur way haro so i can still go back to factory just in case

[bonnevillain]

I needed to cut out a lot more than that to fit mine in

[harofreak00]

Thats what I had to trim for my Nav unit. Granted the wiring was pretty tight behind there, but it worked. I guess it really depends on the HU.

[bonnevillain]

yeah, the nave unit is taller and not as deep I would imagine. I have a single DIN HU, and it sits at the very top of the cavity.

[TenGHz]

Yeah, ditto to that. I had to cut a bunch out to make my old deck fit in my SE. I think there was a picture with a drawing to follow where to cut. I just put the mount together and put the radio in and looked at where it would need to slide my deck in compared to back of the dash.

I used a dremel for the big/long/safer cuts and a file for the smaller/more dangerous ones. If you just use a file/small saw your arm is gonna be sore the next day. haha

Good luck with whichever you pick - just go slow.

[bonnieman17]

Thanks for all the ideas guys. I ended up using a dremel after all and it turned out great.