New Alpine CDE-172BT Stereo Install

Early in my restoration of the Mustang, I purchased an inexpensive Alpine radio on eBay.  The radio met my needs in that it had a CD player and worked as expected.  During the trip to Goodguy's last year, I noticed the CD player was not reading discs properly anymore.  I made a mental note and planned to get a new one at some point.

I purchased an Alpine CDE-172BT radio last week and installed it this morning.  The new radio is quite nice as it has bluetooth connectivity, CD player, AUX input, USB input, and high pass crossovers for the main speaker in case I elect to add a subwoofer.  The radio is no doubt more technologically advanced as it was made 16 years after the one it replaced.

In the image below, the old radio (CDM-7874) is pictured above the new (CDE-172BT).

I purchased another Alpine as I sold and installed them many years ago and was always impressed with their quality.  Additionally, I prefer a radio with a volume knob and Alpine continues to use them almost exclusively in their radios.

I spent about three hours installing the radio which is rather excessive.  I soldered all of my connections, used heat shrink, and then spent some time organizing the wiring under the dash with some zip ties.  Finally, I added a thick bracket to the back of the radio and attached it to the bottom of the dash to hold everything secure.

I do expect to add an amplifier and subwoofer later.  I actually have both available from a previous vehicle I owned.  I'd just need to take the time to make a custom enclosure for the Mustang.  I'd like to work on this in the near future to finish up the stereo install.