My installation is complete!

I have my setup like yours with the stock hu in its original spot and my sony hu in the lower din. This is definitely the way to do it if you have the security system installed, so you have access to the disarm button. To get the sony in I used the DIN sleeve that came with it, but the slot was < 3mm too small for the sleeve, so i used a rotary saw with a conical sanding bit to make it tall enough. My expansion job wasn't perfect so there were a lot of uneven edges around the slot but the bezel for the hu covers all the imperfections so the install looks very clean. Once i got everything together, the hu with the ant and RCA cables and the wiring harness on the back seems just a little too long for the space behind the cup holders, but i forced it in there and it works. (had to yank on some wire conduits to make them go beside the stereo instead of behind it)

After goofing around with my modified butt-connectors to hook up the factory stereo, I remembered that I had a $50 best buy gift card in my wallet left over from christmas:doh: , so I bought a reverse harness for 20 fricken bucks. I spliced the acc, mem, gnd and illum cables from my other harnesses to the reverse harness and snipped off the rest.

The problem is that none of the harnesses i found included the illumination control wire (so the stock hu dims with the pot on the dash). I made one splice to the car's wiring to get the illum cont wire. I took the other end of my spliced wire and shoved it into the empty pin slot on the reverse harness and secured it with epoxy repair putty. It makes the connection and seems to be holding up well.

So mission complete. Thanks for the help and suggestions! :goodjob: