Ryou's Mod Shop
Disclaimer : This is going to be mostly a photo blog entry. Warning, heavy graphics ahead. So finally my packages arrive. Surprised that the Connect2 Install Kit box was actually bigger than the JVC box! Then again there's actually 2 complete kits in there, so. As expected, quality packaging from JVC. The screen came detached from the main HU and stored in a protective cloth bag. You can use this bag to store the screen in future if you need to detach it (ie parking in dodgy places). The Connects2 set was also impressive to say the least. It is truly a complete install kit. Everything you will need to slap on a spanking new 2DIN HU into your precious Golf GTi, including the double fakra antenna adapter (powered) that is almost impossible to find in Malaysia. Lets go right ahead to installing the goods. I'm not going to blog about how to remove the panels and your existing player, there's already plenty of guides available on the net. Google and you'll find some good guides. Lets prep up the new JVC. Turn the HU to its side.
Look for the holes I circled in red, that's where you'll need to screw on the bracket that came with the Connects2 fascia kit. The bracket looks like its bent towards the middle a bit : DON'T TRY TO STRAIGHTEN IT! Its meant to be like that, so you can insert the copper lockpiece and slide it around. For my application, I used the 2 holes as per circled in red above. Just after the 2nd small line indicator on the bracket. You can adjust it further in or out depending on how much protrution (or otherwise) you want the HU to have. My setting above will make the HU flushed with the fascia. Screw tight to secure the copper lockpiece in place. Repeat the same on the other side of the HU for the bracket and copper lockpiece. After you are done, test fit the DIN cage (that came with the Connects2 kit, not the JVC one).
Slide into cage REAR of HU first. It should lock into place similar with the picture on top. If it doesn't lock, you might have accidently secured the copper lockpiece with mismatched lengths on either side. Check again. To remove the DIN cage from the copper lockpiece, use the 2 DIN removal keys (they look like 2 identical thin metal pieces) and insert them into sides where the lockpieces are. Slide out the HU from the DIN cage. Now's a good time to plug in the fakra antenna adapter. There's a label there to identify the white fakra cable, so don't get it wrong. The blue cable is meant for Power Antenna input, so we'll save that until later to connect that. Time to prep the dash area for the insertion of the fascia. Provided with the kit is 2 foam padding. Don't take out the white backing from the foam, its meant to be there so you can glide the DIN cage in.
Whack on some double sided tape and stick it around the middle of the left cavity in your dash (like above). Repeat for the other side. Screw on the plastic fascia faceplate using the 4 screws that you took out from the old headunit. Then slide in the metal cage through the fascia. You might have to do it carefully as the foam on the sides will make it a tight fit. Pressing on the foam as you slowly slide it in will help you from dislodging the foam. Once done, it should look like above. Bend the tabs in the DIN cage (using a flathead screw driver) to secure the cage onto the fascia faceplate. You would only need to press the ones closest to you (outer most). Do this for all 4 sides of the cage. Should look like the picture above with all the tabs bent in.
DON'T OVERBEND as you might break the tabs! Lets prep the wiring harness now. Take out the rest of the Connects2 stuff. The little black box is the signal converter for the steering buttons. Plug the black box to the Connects2 wiring harness. Only one head will fit, so you can't get it wrong. Plug in the other end of the blackbox to your brand of HU specific (mine is JVC) wire. It comes in a seperate packaging, and the wire looks similar with the above, with a different terminating head for different brands. Grab the wiring harness that came with your new HU. Seperate the wires as per above. One cluster with red, yellow, black and orange wires. Another cluster for speaker wires, these come in pairs for each color (dark green, purple, white and grey). The remaining wires in the last bundle. Leave the light green (handbrake signal) and dark blue (power antenna) longer as you will need to connect these later.
