OK guys so my cd player went out and I purchased an aftermarket single din radio. I have a few questions about the install. I have a 99 disco 2, and the subs in the rear door are blown and I have just unhooked them and don't really care to fix them.

1- Where can I purchase the plastic kit? And where can I get it the cheapest?

2- Where can I purchase the wire harness for cheap?

3- How do I know if I need the amp harness? or the non amp harness?

4- Should I just purchase the universal harness I found and just wire it up myself?

5- If i get the universal one, where can I find a harness layout for the land rover to match wires up without just hoping the colors match?

 

DO NOT cut the factory wires and use a universal install kit.
I had Best Buy install mine, it was free with the stereo.

 

you need the amp harness, or you could just rewire to the amp like I did. Any mobile audio shop (I wouldn't suggest best buy for this) will be able to order you what you need if they don't carry it.

if you want to rewire yourself you can get power and ground behind the radio then you will need to run 4 sets of speaker wire from the radio to the stock amp, unplug the amp, determine which wires are your speaker outputs (I can help you do this), and then tap into them there. I would suggest this route if you paid for a decent head unit that will provide a good amount of power with a decent quality of sound. I run an alpine that sounds much better than my stock amp!

an amp integration harness which will most likely either require your aftermarket radio to have front and rear RCA outputs (or be more expensive with a built in converter) will utilize the factory amp for the power and sound quality instead of the new radio.

and on a side note I don't believe your truck needs a "plastic kit" I think the radio fits as it should and then the dash kit is a small strip of ABS that just pretties it up a bit, but most install shops probably wouldn't even use it if they had it.

 

just wanted to add a little explanation on my reason to not recommend best buy for land rover owners, as they are a great company and they are cheap.

best buy offers free STANDARD install on all radios $99 and up (they almost always have) however as you should all know, your disco is not a standard truck and neither is the stereo install that they require, the labor SKU for this install is amp integration ($50 install) or amp bypass ($65 - $150 depending on the store you go to) now if Phil got the free install and didn't have to pay alot for the required parts (harness,kit, ant adapter,etc.) then I would say he got pretty lucky on that one.

as a former best buy tech (and I say this in no way to bad mouth best buy as I still believe they are a great company) they hire ALOT of techs that cant do to much in the 12 volt industry (kids) and then use there experienced techs to teach them. most best buys might have 1 or 2 MECP certified techs but they may not have gone to school for it (as an example they can wire something but they dont understand how the circuit works) and this can actually not only be dangerous to the installer, but it can also damage vehicles.

so go in to the bay and ask! if the installer that will be working on your truck sounds like he knows what he is talking about, and quotes you a good price go ahead and get the work done, but if he doesn't sound to sure, I would suggest a custom shop.

 

I have to agree with Rover Chris. On some things Best Buy install is fine. I had them install an alarm/keyless entry in my old Dodge and didn't have a problem. But my Dodge is much simpler than my Rover. I trust my own wiring on something complex like the Rover than I do the installers at Best Buy.

 

go here they will have anything you need as far as wiring and plug and play harnesses, also they will have everything you would need to fix or replace any speakers or amps in your rover.... i ordered my new head unit and wiring from them and within 2 hours of placing my order i got an email saying it had already been shipped with an included tracking number...

 

thanks for the input guys. I'm not going to take it to any shops due to the fact that I have installed many radios in my past. I also don't really care to have the amp at all because I mainly just have the radio as background noise to break up the silence. Once gain thanks for the input.

 

I didn't mean to have a shop do the work I was just saying to go to a custom shop to get the parts. you will have a much better chance of them having it, and if they don't they will know to order the correct parts not just the "standard" European ones. like I said I will be more than happy to help you do a rewire as it is not to difficult and IMO sounds better with a decent aftermarket head unit.

 

In order to avoid the factory amps in the system you'll have to run new wires directly from the head unit to the speakers. An aftermarket wiring harness is going to be set up to use the factory amps, The speaker wires in the plug on the back of your factory radio go to the factory amp, not directly to the speakers.

 

Do all discoveries have an (external) amplifier? Would my 1994 have an amplifier or are the speakers powered by the head unit?
If they do. how can I tell (where do I look for the amplifier)?
Thanks