Connecting the aerial to the 12v- point on a car?

Not a good idea.

No, no, no that's not what I meant. Perhaps I used the wrong terminology? lol

I meant the points on the body work where there is no paint etc, just a bolt where the grounding cables are connected.

Nick, you know cars use 12v earth don't you?

The negative from the battery is connected to the body of the car to save wiring.

You'll blow the thing to pieces

Ah I see.

Well no I didn't know that. I know very little about cars at all.

Well the books in the post so hopefully it'll arrive soon (before you blow things up)

I had a 1997 106 and used the manual method to remove the stereo, i.e. a couple of pointy-type objects down the sides and a brute force. I was replacing the HU so it didnt matter if I knacked it but as far as I remember it went pretty smoothly. Be brave

Just incase people were wondering, I did manage to get it out in the end. I broke two knives in the process though.

Turns out the connection at the back of the head unit was fine, so I'm hoping it was the head unit. It can only be that or the cable so I'm hoping it's not the cable.

I bought an Alpine CDE-9850Ri on eBay today so hopefully it will arrive soon.