best way to install double DIN OEM replacement head unit

[jdoggsc]

I know there are some threads on this already, but they are all 7 years old, and I don't want to resurrect a dead thread. My question is simple:

Is the Metra double-DIN kit still the best way to attach a double-DIN aftermarket radio to these cars?
http://www.metraonline.com/part/99-7505
The latest I read was this post here, but it sounds sketchy at best. I'm waiting till I get confirmation before I drop my $$ on it.

This Scosche kit (MA1541B) also claims to work, but I haven't found any success stories. It also doesn't require any modification like the Metra one does.
http://www.scosche.com/car-audio/2005-up-mazda-626-prot-g-millenia-dbl-din-kit

 

[ghostpoisonface]

this may be a little too late, but the double din i bought for my p5, this one http://www.crutchfield.com/S-8q6el4Zt1UF/p_105KWR800B/JVC-KW-R800BT.html came with a mounting kit. i bought a metra mounting kit but ended up not needing it. the metra kit would work but some double dins come with one anyway, so you might not need it.

 

[jdoggsc]

this may be a little too late, but the double din i bought for my p5, this one http://www.crutchfield.com/S-8q6el4Zt1UF/p_105KWR800B/JVC-KW-R800BT.html came with a mounting kit. i bought a metra mounting kit but ended up not needing it. the metra kit would work but some double dins come with one anyway, so you might not need it.

Thanks for the response! It's not necessarily too late, either.

When you bought your JVC unit, did you indicate which car it was for, so that they provided the proper mounting kit for it? Since different vehicles' radios are installed differently, I don't expect there'd be any one mounting kit that would work for any car. That's why I ask.

I just bought a double-DIN Pioneer unit. The list linked-to here says that the appropriate Scosche kit is MA1537, but that is a kit to convert the double-din dash pocket to a single-din receiver unit. I'm trying to put a double-din unit in my car to replace the OEM double-din unit, and Scosche's site says the MA1541(B) is the appropriate unit.

A youtube video (here) shows a guy installing a Pioneer double-DIN unit in his Protege using the Scosche MA1541 kit,

and it seems to work perfectly for him--but not for me. The dash has some plastic that the OEM receiver's clamps grab ahold of. The Scosche kit's plastic pieces that screw to the side of the aftermarket unit interfere with the dash. The only way I can see to use this kit is to cut away the dash, but that would make it impossible to ever reinstall the OEM kit, so I'm holding off on that. I have a 2003 Protege ES, and the OEM unit has a 6-CD changer. The OEM unit in the guy's video (mentioned above) was single-DIN. Maybe that's the difference.

I don't feel like I'm treading in uncharted territory, but yet I still feel like I'm coming up with the wrong solution. I'm hoping there's some experience among this forum's members to steer me in the right direction.

 

[jdoggsc]

really? No one's got any advice/experience to share?