So I've just bought my black ST today after selling my Opel kadett of 12 years old. I had a great ICE system in my previous car which I'd like to now put in my ST. Before purchasing the new car I asked if I would be able to put my old head unit (JVC front loader) in place of the current (in my opinion rubbish) front loader. The salesman guaranteed me they could get a replacement console unit which would allow my head unit to fit.

Upon taking delivery today I was politely informed that they'd called around everywhere and NO ONE has the cover for the console. I have the holder for the new head unit. But no cover.

Is there anywhere I can mail order this part to South Africa? The salesman also told me it was possible to simply cut the console to the shape of my front loader, but this sounds a bit barbaric for such a lovely, new piece of machine!

Hi Peekay, the sound quality of the 6006 is actually very good, the problem lies with the ejection mechanism (with both original & CD R's I've had jams, lucky one can sort it out by yourself, replacing the unit with another 6006 doesn't help either cos its a design problem, plus, replacing it means taking the whole dash apart...) so ya, yanking out the stock one is a good idea, unless u can make peace with the fact that u will get a jam every now and again (luckily with 6 CD's one doesnt have to eject very often). But putting in yr ICE system will be cool 'if' it suits the dash...but that DIN adaptor aint available in SA as far as I know, so ya, hopefully one of the UK guys (or gals) can post it to ya...good luck, cheers

Thanks Jos. Really is a bitch this. Cant believe you have to literally cut the console to fit it! I mean what must I do when I wanna sell it.

Hey Peekay. I had an aftermarket headunit fitted to my ST here in the UK and I had the little strips of plastic cut. I didnt want to pay £80 to Ford for a sat nav fascia (I dont know if you can get that in SA) so a local audio company took a look and cut the strips. Here's the result:



I dont think they did a bad job either I was really anxious when they were going to cut it but I cant really see any lines, ragged edges etc etc

Wow that doesnt look too bad actually. Hmmm. Thanks Pinkrinse. If I don't manage to get any results this week maybe I will give it a snip next!

No offence to any of you people who have changed your head unit, but the ford stereo looks so much better than after market ones. I don't like the way you have to put a little filler underneth to fill the gap, the ford one just looks neater, just a shame its rubbish or more people would keep it

Agree with you fully on that one crofty. Really is a shame but I need my mp3's! Once you've been spoilt with em there's no going back.

There's mine! Had them cut it too, did a fantastic job!

The space underneath is actually quite handy to be honest, holds my sunglasses for a start!

On the subject of aftermarket systems, has anyone attempted to put in a double-din sized unit (ie, filling up the hole completely)? If so, are there any pics?

I havnt attempted this, but was looking on the net for some the other day. Theres some pretty good looking players available. Having features like 6.5" lcd screen plays dvds etc, and are a similar colour to the interior so wouldnt look too odd.

You can also get cd/mini disc combo units etc

Cheers Marc - do you know of any decent websites where I can see these 'double-din' systems? I like the idea of having a 6.5" lcd screen that plays DVD's!

al - theres a few options you can go for:

Units from the more "known" brands (blaupunkt, pioneer etc) These cost a few hundred more but your paying for the brand and the usual quality that comes with it.

Theres also the cheaper, less known brands. You can have these from a few places on the net (even ebay) but they are brands you've probably never heard of before, so not sure how they would perform.

There is a PYLE Headunit available at caraudiodesign.co.uk for £229.99, this is the double din size unit - plays dvds, vcds, cds etc but has not tft screen.

I prefer the look of the kenwood range though (DDX-6027 or DDX-8027) They cost more (prices vary greatly on the internet) but i personally think it looks better, and would prefer this than a cheap unknown brand.

At the moment theres quite a few available "buy it now" on ebay...

Check them out

Cheers mate, that's great - i think the Kenwood units do look much better so I'm going to save saving my pennies and perhaps get one in the new year. It would be good to see one in the ST, esepcially as it's a standard double-din hole in the dash.

Thanks for your help.

You would still either have to cut the strips out or buy a ford sat nav dash though, so its still not as simple as just swapping the head units

yeh true, but IMO it would like a damn site better and blend in better than having a standard headunit and the space underneath.

So they are busy cutting my console and fitting all the sound as we speak... To say I'm a little concerned for my car is an understatement. God I hope they get it right!

Will post some pics when I get it back.

I know how you feel Peekay because I was fretting until I got my car back when the strips were being cut. I just used the best known and best reputation audio company in my area and they werent even expensive, which was nice I'm sure your baby will be fine

Am i right in thinking this stainless steel pannel *Here* is designed to fill the gap if you fit a standard stereo? quite a good idea but i'm not sure if it would look any good in the car might look better than a gap though

I've checked it out and I think it would fill the spare half if you don't want an empty space. Just not sure the stainless steel effect would look alright there though, it might have been better being black to match.

Looks like it'll be a biatch to fix in place, would look cool backlit tho.

Tom (todge2k) has one of these to fill in the gap. Personally I dont like them because the stainless steel looks a bit too harsh plonked in the middle of the dash and I'd prefer them black.

Well got the car back and am not a happy camper with the fitment. The cutting didn't go very well at all it seems. I'm going to take it back to get the front loader refitted as the plastic cover around it fell off a day after I got it. The fitment centre gave me a number for a plastics company that will cut a piece of skirting to make it look cleaner around the jagged edge's where they cut, but I still don't think this job was worth the money. The saga continues.

you got any pics peekay??

I'll take some 2moro marc!