My new install (with pictures)

mastarecoil
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Indiana
Hi all,

Just wanted to make a post showing off the new stereo in my car. My dad and I worked all summer on this, just a few hours at a time, whenver the free time came up. Overall I am extremly pleased with it and am very glad we did it. We also put new cd player and speakers in his car, but it was all hidden so I cant really show pictures of that.

This car is a 2003 Ford Taurus. The Taurus is designed a little differently than other cars. The "stereo" up front is actally just a bunch of buttons and a cd player, combined with the heat and AC controls. The radio and amplifier are in the trunk, in a box combined with the heating and AC controllers. You can hook up another headunit if you want, but it takes a $60 adaptor plate and a lot of unessesary work running wires. I didnt think it was worth the hassle, so I kept my stock radio and got a Navone LOC. I am sure there are many who will think I am crazy for not getting a new cd player, but it works pretty **** well. I am sure my system is 98% as good as it would have been without a new cd player and that sacrafice is well worth the several hundred dollars savings. I also got an aux input adaptor for the stock radio so I can hook up my xm radio and ipod.

I put about 50 sq ft of sound deadening in the doors. 2 layers on the rear doors, 3 on the front. Would have done the floorboards and trunk if I had more time. Maybe I can finish that up in a couple months.

I wanted to build a stereo that didnt hog my trunk, as I travel with this car a lot. I think I accomplished that pretty well here. I made the subs facing the rear seat, which keeps them save from my trunk contents. It also let me mount the amps facing outward, which gives a look I absolutly love. I also designed the box to be able to come out easily. The power and ground wires are on high voltage quick disconnects and all the speaker lines are wired to overmolded connectors (like on a trailer). Sorry, did not get pictures of the wires. The power lines disconnect at both the battery and the box. I also kept stock wiring intact but added on new connectors, so when I take the sub box out I can easily plug back in the stock radio and still have something.

We designed the box to have a channel on both sides. This is where the high voltage quick disconnects are (though hard to see in the pictures), all the speaker wiring, straps to hold the box in place (so I didnt have to drill into the trunk), and a big steel cable to lock it to the car.

The subs were a tight but perfect fit. They are the 12" overstock Image Dynamics subs that were on ebay a while back. In my front doors I put a set of Diamond Audio M651 speakers. I am still not sure how well I like the speakers, only time will tell. I will try to get pictures of those soon. The speakers are powered by a set of Aura 2300 amplifiers, which are some **** nice amplifiers, especally for $100 a pop. I love the way they look in my car too.

Now...for sure pictures...

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~gkaste/car/subbox1.JPG

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~gkaste/car/subbox2.JPG

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~gkaste/car/subbox3.JPG

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~gkaste/car/subbox4.JPG

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~gkaste/car/subbox5.JPG

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~gkaste/car/subbox6.JPG

Hope you all enjoy.

Garrett

 
I would extend the baffle out more, to seal it off more as well as hide all those wires.

Overall, great job and nice budget beat //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif.

Any pics of the speaker install?

Btw, hawkeyes FTW //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/tongue.gif.6130eb82179565f6db8d26d6001dcd24.gif

 
Wow guys, fast replies! Thanks for the compliments.

zthumper - I am in West Lafayette. How about you?

benvaldi88 - Too long, haha. This was a project done over almost 2 months, just whenever we had some time to go out in the garage and work. A couple of full days on weekends in there too. It was so spread out I couldnt even guess how many total hours it was, but it was definitally a big project.

bimma85 - the box is as up close as possible to the rear seats without having the subs hit. The side channels for the wires are very tight up against the features of the car. It is very well sealed off because of its size and insulation that is around it. I used grey foam stuff that you usually put around pipes for heat insulation. It packs in all the cracks and seals it perfectly. Will try to get pictures of the front speaks for ya.

 
is that box strapped down with the silver cable? if so how did you do that?
The box is strapped down by the blue straps. They are normal racheting straps like you use to strap stuff to a trailer. They are looped through an eye bolt in the back of the box(through the side channels) and then go foward and down to the bar the rear seat pivots on (for the folding seats). There are rubber bumpers at the top of the box to hold the box in position. Those bumpers and the shape of the box (tight fit into the car against the sides of the wheel wells and the rear deck above) stop the box from rotating. That box is **** secure, just as good as bolting to the trunk floor would have been, amd very easily to quickly remove when I need my trunk space back.

The silver cable is actually a heavy duty bike lock cable. It goes all the way around the box down those channels. Its hidden from view by the panel that covers the amps. I have that in there to stop anyone from stealing the box. My $10 insurance policy. In reality, pulling hard enough you could still get the box out, but you would break the box. If they want to steal my amps and subs at least they will be broken. Poison the well.

 
Nice install, I miss Dave navones columns in car audio review!!!//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crying.gif.ec0ebefe590df0251476573bc49e46d8.gif

 
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mastarecoil

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