In my hunt for the best looking Aftermarket stereo Dash kits I have poured over Google, Camaroz28.com, z28.com and the a.a.camaro.firebird usenets. I have seen a lot of people suggest the Metra kits so I checked em' out. They look good and everything, nothing fancy (which would be fine with me) but I also found www.bestkits.com and saw that they actually got a little innovative in their designs. Some of the GM dash kits have the stereo mounted at the top of the kit and have a small cubby formed under the stereo. (Link below). I am going mostly for looks, I don't want anything to look cheesy in any way so if the Metra kits *look* better then I'll go with them.

To make a long post short, BestKits looks pretty cool but info on them (and pics of their F-Body kits) is hard to come by. I am looking for an opinion from anyone who has purchased one of these 'BestKits' dash kits, or maybe found an even better one.


Link to Best Kits: http://www.bestkits.com

 

They have two options. A Universal Unit with several peices and a one peice unit. I have their kit and I am not impressed with it, to many peices to put together and doesn't look too durable. It has the one peice p/n though?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3058830731

http://www.bestkits.com/app_guide_20...le+Years&ID=66

 

Their GM kit does seem kinda plain compared to the others. Also, last time i checked the LS1's and LT1's already had a huge storage area under the head unit.

I don't know that I'd ever use that tiny bit of additional storage.

The Metra Kit that I have is more rounded and centers the DIN (2" tall) sized Head unit in the DIN and 1/2 (3 1/8" tall) sized opening.

If you want to go for looks, maybe you should just buy a DIN and 1/2 size aftermarket head unit, which will just bolt right in, and take up the entire space like the stock head unit.

Pioneer makes a few nice ones.
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...6_4043,00.html

If you look to other brands make sure they specifically say they are GM/Chrysler special fit head units, otherwise you may end up with double DIN size, which will not fit.

 

Ok, thanks for the advice, I think I'll go for the Metra kit. Your right, After looking at the size of the 2" high radio and the space that leaves under the radio, it that would be a very small/thin cubby hole. Was just hoping for something to store CDs since GM decided that my center console should be sized to hold Tapes and not CDs (even though the car came with the Monsoon CD

I would love to get one of those Pioneer radios that were made to fit the GM style but they are missing one feature I am looking for - MP3 compatible and I sorta wanted to keep the price of the head unit below $250. I did see on eBay some other GM sized radios from no-name brands and after looking at the radio specs I can see why they are no name

Guess I'll be fine as long as the trim from the Metra blends with the car trim.

Thanks again and I'll post pics of the installation once complete

 

Buying a no-name radio...Koss, Boss, Pyramid, Visonik, Legacy, etc... is probably the worst mistake someone can make in car audio. Even a Jensen head unit would be better than the above, and we all know how great they are.

 

or you can do like I did... and make your own mounting bracket...

1/8" Aluminum sheet, drill and a jigsaw... along with some files, sandpaper, and a polishing wheel/compound...

 

Bestkits one peice is listed as a double-din ??? Are holes are 1.5 DIN! I'd be werry of that if I were you.

I have owned two pioneer units, Premier DEH-P350 and the DEH-45H that came with my 94 Camaro. Very good units, sold them to fund buying a unit with MP3 capability. I wouldn't mind having the Premier DEH-P550MP, has all the features I would want, and no fancy display that attracts thieves however I decided to go with a Panasonic CQ-DF583U which has no signal processing units so that I can have external units do the work!

 

Wow, great minds think alike I have order this Panasonic head unit. The price on Panasonic's site is a little high. I found one on eBay for just under $250 with shipping and wiring harness.

This is actually my wifes christmas gift for me so she won't let me have it until xmas. I am very curious though, the specs on the panasonics all seemed pretty good. Are you pleased with the sound of yours? Also, did your stock have the Monsoon amp and if so, did you have to disable that?

 

the ghost display units are really sweet, but I wouldn't pay another $100 bucks for it. Thats money better spent on other audio aspects, like towards a real amp for my E12A. Looking at getting a Tsunami DB1100 and then have to build a box. Still deciding on the box. My amprack from Subthump arrived, its so sweet and looks like it belongs there from the factory!

It would suck to have to wait till christmas fo the HU. Mine arrives via UPS on Friday Let you know how it sounds. I don't think I'll use the integrated amp to long, as I want to finish polishing my Pioneer GM-X972 and put that on my front speakers. 150wrms X 2 on the frontstage