87-93 Mustang Stereo Relocation And HVAC Control Removal

I was tired of having trouble changing CDs, because the CD player was so close to the shifter. Since I had no heat or A/C, I decided to remove the HVAC controls and move my stereo up. I have noticed that people seem interested in switching the locations, or just moving the stereo up, but seem reluctant. It was a simple process for me, and not too time consuming. Please note, use my advice at your own risk.

Here are the stock locations (with an aftermarket stereo and adapter).

Basicly, I started by removing the stereo, trim panels, and HVAC controls. This only took about 10 minutes, mostly spent unhooking all the harnesses to the HVAC controls. My A/C and heat were previously removed, so all the vacuum lines were already taken care of. If you are removing the A/C etc..., be sure not to leave any vacuum leaks from unplugged hoses. With all of that out of the way, I just had to tuck the HVAC wires and harnesses off to the sides. In some vehicles with airbags, there will be a small blue box behind the HVAC controls. If it is present, it will probably have to be moved. I removed the blue box in mine because I no longer have airbags, so now I have a clear space up top. Next, I routed the wires from the stereo up to the HVAC's old area. Some people may need to lengthen the wires to reach the CD player.

With all of the above finsished, it's time to move on to the new panel to house the CD player. I chose to make mine out of 3/16" black ABS laminate. I picked up a large sheet of it from http://www.selectproducts.com for only $15 and some change with shipping. The ABS is easy to work with, and matches my black dash very well. I measured the area as a square, I believe it was 9x9 1/8", but it's best to measure for yourself. Using a metal T-square and a utility kinfe, I scored and cut the square out. I used sandpaper to round off the corners to a proper fit with the dash. I also tapered the top rear of the panel just a bit to go with the angle of the dash using sandpaper. At this point it was basicly a perfect fit.

Once the basic shape of the panel was complete, I just had to drill holes for screws (in existing holes for HVAC). After all the holes were drilled, I cut the hole for the CD player. I just traced around the old Scoshe adapter to get the correct size for the opening. Once the panel was all ready, I installed the sleeve from the head unit to the panel by bending the tabs on the sleeve. I then put the panel in place, and pulled the stereo's harness up into the sleeve. I plugged the harness in, and slid the stereo into the sleeve until it locked. Last but not least, I tightened the screws to secure the panel.

Here's a pic of the end result. *Note: The CD player is missing because it died on me :(, and I still need to get better looking screws for the panel.

I have been very pleased with the appearance and function of this swap. No more squeezing the CD between the shifter and the player.