First problem was getting the old cradle out. In the end I got annoyed, and just yanked it out - which seemed to work!! As the previous stereo was not original, a DIM connector has already been fitted which saved me time. Otherwise I would had to splice a new adaptor into the exiting wiring. On modern cars you simple buy the wiring harness adaptor. Fitting the new one was basically a case of plug and play. The only slight problem was that there didn't seem to be a permanent live - only switched. I ended up connecting this to the switched power (see diagram - red wire) and securing it with some electrical tape. The finished result:

Connector blocks are good for making temporary connections, but for a permanent connection, make sure you solder the wires and seal with heat shrink tubing.

NEW Stereo

The first stereo didn't last too long, and it had really bad FM reception. I scoured eBay and found a Sony C5000R CD player with the box and original leads. I was after a Sony stereo as always thought sony walkmans, CD players, etc sound much better than anything else. It certainly sounds better than the Kenwood one in the Fiesta.

The main job was to get a constant live feed, as I found it really annoying losing my presets every time I turned off the engine! I decided to take the 12V feed off the clock, but you can take it off the cigarette lighter or run a new one from the battery and add an appropriate fuse. The only thing I would recommend is to push the clock from behind, NOT lever it out with a screw driver, as you'll make a mess of the centre console. The red wire on the left is the one I took from the clock Once I had wired everything up to the ISO connector and had fitted the cradle it was just a case of plugging the unit in.