I bought a Nakamichi CD400 (does any deck better match the volvo? not that i found) to replace the stock tape deck in my 1995 940. However, it has been a pain in the arse to find a dash mount kit. Three stereo shops and three large retailers later, nothing. Two places calimed to have one and the packaging even said it fit, but was a double-din kit with a large pocket, the opening is only 1 1/2 din and slightly sloping. So now I have no radio because I don't have factory codes and can't find a suitable kit. How did you guys get your stereo in? IS 95' different from other years?

If you want to see what kit your car uses, go to www.crutchfield.com , enter your cars information, select any 1-din radio and add it to your cart. The right kit and harness are automatically added. Click on the kit in the cart to see what it looks like. It’s the same kit as what I have in my ’93 945T (though a different harness).

You can either buy it from Crutchfield for $20 plus shipping, or you can buy a metra kit from the stereo shops for ~ $15 plus tax. What I would do is to get a large view of the kit on Crutchfield and print it off, take that in with you.

Here is what my installed aftermarket radio looks like (the ashtray is removed because I was taking a picture of the fuses):

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/brichardi805/detail?.dir=/4f86&.dnm=8afe.jpg&.src=ph&.tok=phXuP9BBEpi8azO3

This is a metra kit, though I can't remember the number of it. Again, any stereo shop can order it, once they know what to order.

(It's an Alpine CDA 7839 (from 1999, it was in my old car))

Heat - I was thinking of getting an original Volvo Radio and CD Changer. Found some 2-Din second hand ones. Was wondering if it is easily fitted after removing the cigarette lighter compartment? The original one looks like 1.5 din. Need to find more space to fit in a 2 din radio. Any ideas?

What is the year and model of your car? I’m not sure which ones use 2-din, 1.5 din, and 1 din (though I know my ’93 945T uses 1 din). You might be able to make the 2 din radio fit into a 1.5 din slot if you take out the cigarette lighter & compartment (and cut out the divider between it and the radio), but I don’t think that it would look good, and you’d probably have to make your own kit. I highly recommend that if your car indeed has a 1.5 din radio slot, that you put in either a good aftermarket 1 din radio in it (with a kit) and not try to stuff a 2 din radio into it.

My second question would be why do you want to go back to the original Volvo radio and CD changer? I personally love newer Alpine CD players, just put one of those in your car (though the original Volvo radio and CD changer are made by Alpine, I like the newer models). If you do want to go to Volvo OEM, stick with a model that fits your car (1 or 1.5 din).

As for information on the CD changer, I don’t have one in my Volvo and have never seen one in a Volvo, though I did install one in my ’99 Honda Accord LX. There is some good information in the FAQ about where to put it, what adapters to use, etc:

http://www.brickboard.com/FAQ/700-900/RadioAntenna.htm#AddinganAftermarketCDPlayer

By the way, keep in mind that I am far from a Volvo radio guru. I have experience in swapping out radios in my cars, but my current Volvo is my first Volvo, thus my experience on Volvos is limited to swapping out a radio on a '93 945T (and replacing the antenna). I can say that taking the radio out of the Volvo was by far the easiest radio job I’ve ever done, can literally be done in maybe 5 or 10 seconds, though the wiring was trickier (mainly just messing with bypassing the amp & putting extensions on the harness from the amp). Not hard, just trickier.

I have to agree, the easiest radio removal ever. No part of my dash had to come off. Door speakers were a breeze, too. I haven't tackled the amp bypass issue yet since I still don't have a kit. Who'd thunk it would be so hard. Places keep telling me the 2 din kit they have is right, when it is 1.5 din. Trying Crutchfield next.