Stereo help

[oceansoul]

On vivas with out a stereo fitted where is the best place to fit one?
I see some in the gallery have it fitted in the center of the dash at the bottom, where can i get one of these "pockets" to put the stereo in?

Also where are the speakers fitted as "standered"?? Or where is the best place to fit them?

Cheers

[droopsnoot]

I've got a mounting kit that sits below the centre of the dash, as I recall I got it from Halfords - they still had them last time I went it a couple of months ago. The other options is to put it in the small compartment on the right hand side of the dash, but make sure your windscreen isn't leaking first. You'll have to modify the plastic insert to make a standard size radio fit.

The only trouble I find with the radio at the bottom of the dash is that it's a long way down, and I felt a little unsafe using the controls when moving. But my radio has a socket for a remote control, so now I have that stuck on the side of the steering column cover which is much more accessible.

As far as I know, the only proper speaker position is the grille in the centre of the top of the dash. There is enough room in the rear quarter panels above the seat belt mounts, and there's enough room for small speakers in the lower front corner of the doors - take the trims off and you'll see where the hole is. Other than that it's down to fitting speakers in pods wherever you can get them.

On my Sportshatch, I went to some trouble to drill a lot of holes in the load compartment floor and put speakers underneath that - a nice solid mounting point but of course very muffled if there was anything in the boot. The previous owner had cut holes in the big plastic box that covers the inside of the tailgate hinges, better sound distribution but not such a solid mount.

[vx-mike]

When the Viva was new Radios were a dealer fit option.

These were mono and the standard fitting kit positioned the radio in the
lower centre dash area.

On the HA & HB the speaker was fitted in a pod which was positioned below the parcel shelf on top of the transmission tunnel.

On the HC the speaker was fitted in the top centre of the dash, the fitting kit included a grille to replace the plain panel.

With the onset of the new fangled stereo radio/cassette which needed two
speakers> The positioning of the speakers which was much to the owners and/or fitters choice. The radio/cassette was still fitted in the centre lower dash position.

The options were to fit them in pods on top of the rear parcel shelf, in pods on each side of the front parcel shelf, or for the ambitious bod to fit them in the lower front section of the front doors. This meant cutting the door cards and in somr instnces hacking a hole in the door inner panel.

So its really down to what you want, the choice is yours.