Tricky installation: Front door speakers, 96-99 Taurus

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

Who has done this?

I recently ran into a bargain on a '99 Taurus SHO.

I am slowly planning the transplant of what was in my old car.

One of the issues is that the door speaker location isn't very deep, and the door panel is concave in front of the speaker meaning you can't add much of a baffle to the door.

My comp woofers are Opti65's which are 2.7" deep. I'm just curious before I open up the door if anyone knows if a speaker this size has any chance of fitting.

This has to be one of the most UN-modifiable stock sound systems ever built. There's not even a head unit in the dash. it has auto climate control and it's integral with the radio controls. The unit in the dash is just a control panel, the physical head unit is in the trunk.

If/when I install amps it will be through an LOC.

If I can't even get my door speakers in my days of car audio "hobbying" might be coming to an end.

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[ejschultz 10+ year member]

They make a kit to install an aftermarket HU in the dash. As far as speakers go, your days of CA "hobbying" may be developing into something a little more serious because you may need to start fabricating things to make speakers fit where they weren't design to fit. I ended up using some adapters to make my 6.75s fit in my Caprice where there was supposed to be 4x6s. It required some trimming as well. I also have my A-pillars housing my tweeters, another option that wasn't from the factory. I also modified the stock tweeter brackets in my Jeep to get my tweeters to fit into the stock locations. If you're willing to "hack" some stuff up, you can get things to fit. I'm not saying make the car a hack job, I'm saying it may require some modification you haven't performed in an install before.

 

[Desmond Audio 10+ year member]

fiberglass the panel make your speakers come out more from the door

 

[nateberrier 10+ year member]

First off, your fault for buying a POS taurus and not looking at the radio first. If you did look at it then dont complain. Also I would mount the mids in the door panel itself if I were you, it really wouldnt take that much work and glassing isnt rocket science. Also be careful because the door panels dont stay on those cars well, they have a tendency to fall off if youve removed them once or twice.

Also if it hasnt been replaced, you might want to go ahead and save up for some window regulators and a new alternator as this is about the time when they go on those cars. Welcome to hell.

Only thing good about them is the fact that they get up and go but any way you spin it, its still an ugly family car. Quite possibly the ugliest, backasswards american car you can buy. The dash kit is like 80 bucks and it comes with an awful harness, you would be better off running new wires to the doors or youre gonna have 30ft of wire before the signal hits each speaker. Again Im not hating on you I just hate the car, could be a focus though.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

They make a kit to install an aftermarket HU in the dash.

For the manual hvac controls, yes, for the digital auto climate (eatc), no. If there is such a kit the massive and well informed taurus enthusiast group isn't aware of it. I have only come across 2 people who have gotten an HU in the stock control panel location. It is a 100% custom job, and with the oval dash it doesn't look good anyway. I'm ok with the stock HU.

As far as speakers go, your days of CA "hobbying" may be developing into something a little more serious because you may need to start fabricating things to make speakers fit where they weren't design to fit.

I've done a bit of customization.

I cut the 5.25 openings in my old Tbird doors to fit 6.5's. Spent 20+ hrs building a fiberglass (2) 12" sub box molded to the trunk floor too.

I built a plywood baffle for 6.5's in my contour doors. Also added tweets to the sail panels. Had to drill out the molex door wiring connector for speaker wires which was quite a project.

I don't want to slice and dice the Taurus door panels, at least not yet. The car is likely to have some collector's value some day as a lot of them have camshaft failure since many owners aren't aware they have to have a weld mod done to correct a design flaw.

If my drivers won't fit I'll either find something shallower or move on. Stock sound is tolerable. It has JBL speakers and a 20x4 amp.

I may be able to get by just adding my sub and amp.

First off, your fault for buying a POS taurus and not looking at the radio first. If you did look at it then don't complain.

No where did I complain. I did, however, state some facts.

I knew of the sound mod difficulties before the purchase, but a 235hp/235lb-ft v8 that gets 25 mpg w/91k for $1,600 FAR outweighed the fact that I couldn't load it up with sound in an hour.

The car is FAR from a POS. I think this gen SHO would be one of ford's all time greats if it weren't for the cam failures and not offering a manual option.

Also I would mount the mids in the door panel itself if I were you, it really wouldnt take that much work and glassing isnt rocket science. Also be careful because the door panels dont stay on those cars well, they have a tendency to fall off if youve removed them once or twice.

Door panel builds always interested me, but I can never "see" how I would join the glass work with the panel w/o it looking like my 2 y/o did it, and if these door panels are so weak maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to hang a 4lb speaker on it.

Also if it hasnt been replaced, you might want to go ahead and save up for some window regulators and a new alternator as this is about the time when they go on those cars. Welcome to hell.

At ~$50 and ~$100 respectively, I think I'll survive.

No alt lasts forever. I've had to replace an alt in 4 of the last 5 cars I've owned.

It's the ***** that's going to ****.

Only thing good about them is the fact that they get up and go but any way you spin it, its still an ugly family car. Quite possibly the ugliest, backasswards american car you can buy.

Fortunately that's purely subjective and I find it to be a very good looking, good handling, comfortable sports sedan that I can actually fit my family in.

The dash kit is like 80 bucks and it comes with an awful harness, you would be better off running new wires to the doors or youre gonna have 30ft of wire before the signal hits each speaker. Again Im not hating on you I just hate the car, could be a focus though.

I'm coming from a Contour. Comparatively the SHO might as well be a bentley.

Hate away. I'm loving it at this point.

Still waiting to see this dash kit you guys are talking about.

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

dbl post - where's the delete option?