Spooky's Ka Site - Audio Modifications

Fitting a new stereo

The audio system in the Ka is adequate, but not particularly brilliant (although I can only speak for the FM1000 system!). It's pretty well known that factory-fitted items are nearly always a compromise and that you don't have to spend a fortune to get a better sounding ICE system. I'm not a 'Golden Ears' listener or a bass junkie, but I've been very pleased with the upgrades that I've done. Mr Ford did a reasonable job of fitting an integrated radio into the Ka's dash and the Ford FM1000 isn't such a bad radio, but being FM only with four presets didn't give much choice. I put up with FM for ages before being told that fitting different stereo was really rather easy! Being a habitual band changer and button pusher this was a dream come true, so I chose a Blaupunkt 3-band CD head unit with a pop-out panel. Replacement facia panels to let you fit a DIN-E sized stereo in the Ka are available from your local Ford dealer. Just to be different, I chose a silver fascia, as it broke up the blue dash nicely.

Before you get going, don't forget to get hold of a suitable wiring harness adaptor. Nearly all head units have an ISO connector and an ISO to Ford harness adaptor is a wise investment. Spending more than a tenner on a connector and a few bits of wire may seem a lot, but it'll save you a lot of stress and frustration if you change your car or head unit later on. Believe me, you don't want the hassle!

You might also need an antenna adaptor for your radio. One Japanese head unit I fitted didn't come with an adaptor to suit the ISO style antenna connector in the Ka. Please don't discover this halfway into the installation like I did! To get the old unit out, I'd recommend a pair of traditional DIN-E radio removal tools to get you started. You should be able to get these from a car audio stockist or a decent car spares store. The removal tools aren't brilliant, but they'll help get things moving.

The factory head unit in the Ka is a pain to remove, but it will eventually come out. To be on the safe side before starting, it's advisable to remove the fuse that feeds the radio circuit (check your veichle handbook for its location). It's also worth putting a few strips of masking tape or similar tape over the removal holes, as the front panel scratches quite easily. Using the DIN removal tools, you'll probably find that it'll only come out on one side to start with and it'll be stuck fast on the other. The culprit is a spring clip (usually on the lower right of the radio I've found). It seems that the removal tools don't reach far enough into the radio to release it. I've found two thin screwdrivers down the keyholes on the right hand side of the unit and a removal tool in the left worked fine. Then it's just a case of gently working the unit out. At this point, don't worry if the fascia comes off (and it probably will!) as it'll clip back on fine.

Blaupunkt CD-30

Once the old unit is out, you can prepare the new one. It seems that you have to perform an 'assemble in one hit' operation, as I found the small plastic support on the rear of the radio wouldn't go through the radio's surround frame if that was fitted first. The trick is to pre-assemble everything (wiring, head unit, surround and fascia) before sliding it all back into the dash. If the fascia is tilting slightly, try adjusting the support bracket on the rear of the head unit. If it still tilts after this, a small piece of wood or plastic wedged under the offending corner will fix it. Colour it black with paint or a marker pen and it'll be virtually invisible. If it's still pushing out and unclipping itself from the lower right and you've tried all the above, then you may need to slightly trim the dashboard radio surround to get it to clip in properly. You'll need to very gently scrape away the dashboard plastic in the area around where the fascia's lower right clip should latch onto. I used a small knife and kept checking the fit several times so as not to overdo the trimming. I'm not sure if the fascia design has changed since I fitted mine, but the lower right clip had almost nothing to clip onto!

Fitting a speaker upgrade

Most people are quite happy with the factory fitted speakers in their car, but it's not until you change them that you realise just how much of a compromise they are! On recommendation, I chose a pair of Kenwood 3-way KFC-6808C speakers to replace the existing door speakers. These are 6 x 8, but fit without any additional cutting and have extra tags that suit the original Ford 5 x 7 speaker mounting holes.

Removing the door cards was fairly easy, but later model Ka's have different style door cards with fixings in different places. Mine was an early P-plate with wind-up windows and has a basic door card without any blanking plates for the electric windows. According to the Haynes book, the window winder handles just pull off. Well, you can pull all you like, but they won't budge. This is owing to the fact that they forgot to tell you about the little spring clip cunningly hidden behind each handle! Annoying, but a flat bladed screwdriver and a pair of long nose pliers sorted the handles out easily.

Before starting to remove a window winder handle, mark the closed position of the winder handle with a piece of tape. Then using a flat bladed screwdriver, open up and hold a gap between the handle and its plastic backing cup. You might need to wind the window down slightly to see the open end of the spring clip that holds the handle on. The spring clip can be removed with a pair of long-nosed pliers by gently prising it open and pushing gently down on it at the same time. You should be able to work the clip downwards over the handle moulding and then release it from the winder shaft. To refit the handle, make sure the window is closed and the handle lined up with your tape mark. The clip can then be pushed back on over the moulding with the pliers and should snap back into place.

With the handles out of the way, it's just a matter of removing all the screws and popping the trim clips out of place. You may find that the clips on the door pull handle snap off when you remove it, but I found that it refitted without any problem afterwards. The Ford speakers come out easily and the screws can be re-used to fit the new ones. At this point, I fitted some fully insulated female 1/4" spade connectors to the leads supplied with the new speakers. I also removed the original Ford speaker plugs and replaced them with fully insulated male 1/4" spade connectors. This gave a generous amount of wire to play with and the ability to unplug the Kenwoods and move them to another car if needed.

So, the time had come to offer up the Kenwoods to the door. The Kenwoods are just a little too deep for the Ka's door and they just clip the window glass when it's wound down. However, fear not, as there's a very easy way around this and you've already got the raw materials mounted on your old speakers! The grille on the old speaker can be prised off with a flat bladed screwdriver and cut up to be used as a spacer plate for the new one. It's just a matter of cutting the raised grille section out (I used wire cutters) and cleaning up the edges to leave yourself with a flat spacer. The small protrusions around the mounting holes on the grille should be cut off flush to the plastic too.

After carefully dressing the wiring away from the window area (some self-adhesive clips work well for this) the speaker fitted fine with the spacer and didn't foul the window glass any more. Although I did find that the top of the speaker frame didn't quite reach the original mounting holes on the door. I found a quick way out of this by making up some washers from an old perforated radio mounting strip. This worked a treat and everything fitted perfectly. The speakers were quickly tested to make sure everything was wired okay and then the door cards replaced. The result is now a much better, brighter sounding ICE setup. The improvement in sound quality makes it well worth the effort.

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