Anyone know an easy way to get a Panasonic aftermarket head unit out of the DIN sleeve? It's in a car I bought used, so I don't have the little metal things that should pop the unit out. The removable face says E15U, but I don't know if that's the model of the deck or the removable face.

Anyone have an idea?

Meh, thats rough. My buddy had a similiar issue with a used car he purchased. I imagine you've already thought of it but a local car audio shop will most likely have some handy. I'd just drive straight to the install bay and ask the installers instead of dealing with whoever actually sells the stereos. The guy we asked was pretty nice and just handed us the key we needed.

It's possible that you need to dismantle the dash itself and unscrew it from the sides. Have you gotten the dash bits off?

If not, and if you're worried about damaging the dash, <insert plug for Crutchfield master sheets here>.

I'm actually not installing an empeg in this car because I don't plan on keeping it very long. I do, however, want a better head unit. It's unsure whether anything made by Dual can be better than anything made by Panasonic but this seemed like a good deal for $80.

I guess I got lucky because the Panasonic HU I was trying to take out actually had a little tab that clicks into the DIN sleeve. So, after discovering that, taking it out was a snap. The Dual HU is in now and seems to be working as advertised. If it breaks in a year I won't care because I won't own the car anymore.

PS- I recently acquired a ColdHeat Pro and used it for the first time on this job. It is THE BUSINESS.

I don't exactly know, but when I use it sparks come out the tip. It heats wire like it's nobody's business.

Those cold soldering tools were discussed elsewhere on the BBS before, perhaps someone has a link? They scare me. From what I understand, they work by pumping wattage into the piece of metal you're trying to solder. Potentially dangerous to some jobs I would guess.

I'm just soldering wire together and for that, it dominates. If I have to build a tuner kit or something like that, I still have a traditional soldering iron. The ColdHeat makes it a lot less of a problem to solder in a car. I give it two thumbs up.