i have a 95 and was gonna put in a jensen that i got for free. anyways. i had to take off both front dashes to take off the center dash. it is a living hell. but thats for a 95. i dunno how it is for a 97. but it might be the same. just wanna tell you now that either way you better have the right stuff to hook up everything and make sure you obserb everything. cus stock wires to the new wiring for your pioneer can be confusin.