After much deliberation I decided on the Alpine head unit. When I was a kid I always wanted to have an alpine, but they were too expensive for me to buy. Now that I am an adult, I am going to relive my childhood a little. :)

Getting the Stock radio was a bit of a challenge.  you can see 4 little holes in the face of the stock radio.  you are supposed to put a "removal tool" into those holes and then just simply pull the old radio out.  unfortunately for me, the vehicle is 10 years old and the tabs that hold it in place were rusted and not budging.  after a bit of wiggling and cursing and I got it loose.

Installing the new radio was a breeze in comparison.  I did have to cut the dash slightly at the top to get it to fit.  apparently Fords idea of double-DIN and the rest of the world is different.

Wiring it was pretty standard.  If you have ever installed a HU, then you know what I mean.  no surprises here.

here it is all installed.  I have the front outputs driving a pair Image Dynamics CD1eMH HLCD off of the the stock XS series crossover.  they are fed 1.3Khz and up.  The Doors have a pair of ID X65 series 6.5" midbasses.  The system currently only gets 18watts x 4.  For what it is, it gets pretty loud, but really needs more power and a subwoofer to round it out.  more to come on that someday!