Gen7 Stereo Removal

[System~G]

Yesterday at work (my part time weekend job at Halfords), a bloke came in with a Gen7 wanting to change over the Double-Din stock head unit for a nice £400 Sony unit.

Anyways, I looked at the car and couldn't figure a way to remove the stereo as I figured it was going to bolted in place (similar to my MR2). I then asked him to be patient whilst I trauled and searched TOC and Celica Club for the answer. 45 Minutes later I find a partial result on Celica Club - but there were some differences.

Here I give you the "How-To" for future reference:

1] Push gear gator down

2] Gently pull up on the plastic gear surround near the window switches and lift with the ashtray end still in.

3] Disconnect the cigarette lighter.

4] The whole piece then comes off and lift over gear stick.

5] Remove the two screws exposed just below the ashtray.

6] Pry the centre console out and towards you. Doing it little by little working upwards towards the clock.

7] Once centre console is loose disconnect the clock. You can disconnet the wire down at the botom end to remove the centre console completely, but this is not necessary.

8] You will see the four bolts holding bracket and stereo in place - remove these to remove stereo.

9] Job Done

Fitting The replacement stereo will need a facia adaptor and some clever modification of the brackets (from orginal stereo mounting) in order to get the new facia/stereo aligned properly so the centre console can be replaced properly.

Reverse dismantling proceedure to re-assemble centre console.

Re-fitting the gear gator can be fiddly.

FAO Admin/Mods: This can be made Sticky for Celica Forum or be put into the "Workshop Submissions" Section of the site - your choice