[Sharky]

Oh Lord, why did I ever take on such a task? LOL. Here goes day two of my
upgrade quest for the Toyota. BTW, I appreciate the help. I just never
dreamed it would be such a hassle to upgrade a simple radio in an import
minivan. I have done lots of stereo installs over the years, mostly
mid-size systems, but I have to admit, they were all done on American cars.
Anyway, I stopped on the way home from work and picked up two kits; American
International dash kit NWH-700 DSF, listed for my van in Canadian Tires'
"Application Guide", and wiring harness American Int. UI-K777 DSF, also
listed in their guide. Now, when I went to AIs' website to double-check
and did a vehicle search for 1998 Toyota Sienna, three different dash kits
appeared. One was listed UI-K777 DSP (instead of F) and the other two were
pocket kits. For the harness, NWH-700 brought up numerous Toyota vehicles
from 1989-1996, except for my van. So when I did a vehicle search, it
brought up TWH-950, which has two harnesses that are similar to the kit that
I have, but are not exactly the same. BTW, I can't open any of these kits
up or Can. Tire will not return them.

So, I called AIs' tech support number, and when I told the guy on the line
what type of car I had, he laughed and said I had better think about taking
it to a pro. Apparently the dash kit I have is one of their hardest to
install, and to make it work, requires cutting into the metal brackets
inside the dash! Now, he reccommended I take that kit back and go to a
Toyota dealership and pick up the factory pocket kit for my van. That way,
I could use the original brackets from the Toyota radio on the new radio,
and it wouldn't require any dash kit at all. But, he also said that I had
better pull out the center console and verify whether there is an amplifier
installed or not, because if there is, I would need "professional help to
bypass it, and more than likely, half of the van may need to be re-wired".
LOL, WTF??? Ok, so I get off the phone with that guy and now I'm sitting
here, wondering what my next step is. I know that I need to go out for
starters, pull the radio and verify whether the wiring harness I have, will
work or not. Secondly, I will have to see if there is a factory amp
installed or not, and if there is, I guess look for a wiring harness bypass
kit, if one is available for it. If I can find one for it, then I will make
the trip to the dealer and pick up the factory pocket kit. The dash kit
isn't a problem anymore, its just that now I have a few new problems than I
started with. One point he brought up is that if I happened to use a
double-DIN sized radio, I wouldn't even need the pocket kit from Toyota.
Well that's all fine and dandy, but I don't plan on buying a new deck when I
already have one that fits the bill. He also brought up the point that
there may be numerous speakers (more than 4 or 6) located all around the
van, and when I questioned him about finding them, he said turn the stereo
up a little and listen very carefully while walking around inside of the
van. Yeah, ok, that could take half a day or more.

I suppose this makes the problem of removing the factory speakers look
non-existent. There won't even be much point if I can't replace the factory
deck. God if I had any idea this was going to be so much trouble, I would
have just forgot about it in the first place.

Any more help is still greatly appreciated, as I now have to potentially
find an amp bypass kit, find the proper wiring harness and god knows what
else I might run into.
Thanks again, Sharky