Whew! We pulled it off. 95% there.

Day one (Friday) basically turned into "get the power cable routed." Yes, it was that tricky. We're talking maybe a 2" clearance for two of my fingers (under the dash) just to reach the one decent space to get a 4 gauge cable through safely w/o punching a new hole. I took some pix so we'll have those to share soon. Let's just say it involved some creativity with a utility knife, a coat hanger, two sets of hands and some strategically-wrapped duct tape. (It's OK, only the cable remains and you can't even see that.)

Day two (Saturday) was "almost everything else." That is, everything up to getting the lower part of the dash reattached, the amp secured, the captain's chair back in place, and the overall system tuned. That will happen Sunday morning.

For now we know the faders and balance behave w/no trace of cancellation, the player and tuner work (umm ... exactly how do I step through the frequencies instead of scan? I'll read the friendly manual again), all the dash controls behave, drawers behave (after several attempts to carefully place and store the wires inside), it just plain behaves. "This is a good thing."

Now if I can just find a decent-looking blank faceplate for the open space where the unit normally goes. :-)

I may also want to wedge something under the docking sled too, so that it stays level with respect to the plastic install kit.

Three additional things I did that weren't in my final set of step-by-step notes: I connected the illumination lead to the "lights on" of the unit. Now I automagically get two different dimmer settings whether or not my lights are on. (Magnifique!) I ran a pair of RCAs to the AUX and routed it down below (we'll get a double-female adapter for 'em too), so if we ever absolutely need to connect something else, we've got that. I also routed the microphone input into the blank space to the left of the head unit area, and fastened it down inside. If the time ever comes ... I pop that blank piece of plastic off and fashion a microphone out of it. :-)

For the most part, the recurring issue was sunlight. We got to work around noon and finished around 8pm EST, but we only get five hours of working light. Working in the garage wasn't going to happen (for other various reasons) ... however, I did have a halogen work lamp so that came in handy, as did the lights in the driveway to some extent ... and a few MagLites don't hurt.

I also became acquainted with a few crimping and cutting tools I didn't previously have in my arsenal. That definitely helped with the bullet connectors and getting the power/ground crimped nicely.

Yet to do for another time: the crossovers and the tweeters. Alas, we didn't get those hooked up. Paul was able to get at the tweeters up in the dash, but we were never able to locate the split between it and the mid in the side door, not by sight, not by wiring color. (Any clues? Honda sure isn't telling.)

My hope was that I'd find the split in the door, and just mount the crossover within the door (making sure it was clear of the window mechanism), then I'd be all set. Another challenge for another time.

I suppose there are a few options ranging from drilling holes for the tweeters in the doors (ugh) and the back row (ugh again), and disconnecting those in the dash. Then again I'm sort of going for a very stealth setup (partly at the request of my darling wife who has co-blessed this whole pet project ... can't say I disagree with her).

More to come ...