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Stereo solution...project creep!

6K views 22 replies 8 participants last post by  65Wimbledon 
#1 ·
Hey VMFers, it's been awhile. I thought I'd update all a trick and inexpensive hidden stereo solution. People are always looking for solutions for good looking QUALITY sounding solutions so I thought I'd share what I did.

It all started with leaking heater core. I had an underdash pioneer without a remote and it sucked to reach over. I had to remove it to pull the heating unit. While I was at it I redid all the heater box gaskets, put new heater ducting tubes, painted up the heater motor, and put in a new plastic heater plenum. If you have the heater out do all this!!! It works great now!

This is my old stereo setup.



It was less than ideal.

So here is what I did.

I went to best buy and bought an underdash mount and 3" machine screws and nuts (to lower the mount) and mounted it in the trunk to the package tray.






I'd like it to be a little lower but it works. Then from here you can do a few things. You can buy a wired remote and run it up to the front, but I bought an IR repeater off amazon. You can see that little glass bulb in the above picture. That relays the signal from inside the car.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K4YVL0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

An antenna extension and some wiring and you're in business. Stereos are cheap now. This pioneer has bluetooth, xm capable and has a mic (I had to buy a 2.5MM extension) so you can have hands free calling too. I mounted the mic at the top of the A piller and tucked the wire in the windlace. Sound quality is great, better than speakers are, and you can use the remote to skip tracks on the phone with bluetooth. Set you presets and you're good to go.

Here is all you see inside the car.





I have less than $200 in the setup and it works great. Still doesn't sound as nice as a singing SBF but nice to have a radio sometimes.

Hopes this helps someone.

Nate
 
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#3 ·
Am radio speakers wires are capped. Still backlit with dash. New stereo is 50w x 4 (max) I think. Sounds very good, has all the bass you'd want. I have a dual speaker setup in front dash location I got from larrys t-bird 20 years ago. I should probably upgrade that at some point.
 
#6 ·
I thought about going this route, but was worried the sound would be terrible not amplified. I am not an audiophile by any means, but I'm venturing to guess that receivers are a lot better than they used to be back when I had a nice stereo.


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#7 ·
The face plates and graphics are cheesy looking (really shiny) on a lot of them today but sound quality is definitely a lot better than even 15 years ago, IMO.

Displays now show what song is even playing on your phone and background color can be changed. Not too big of a concern for me since it is in the trunk. Definitely don't need an amplifier. I think it sounds very good.
 
#9 ·
Mid-level 6x9 pioneers from about 2000 in the back. Under mounted, then I cut holes in the package tray liner and wrapped that with fabric to make it look more factory and hide the speakers.

Front is dual 4" I think in the factory dash spot, so it is 4 channel.
 
#10 ·
So, you wanted the radio mounted lower just for your own sake right? The repeater that you have under the AC unit is all that is needed...you have the repeater wire hooked up to the stereo in the trunk and mounted under the AC and you just use the stereo remote to control the stereo from the drivers seat?
 
#15 ·
I think you got it all!

I wanted to avoid CAS. I have not heard many good things so I thought this was a great option at a great price all in. Plus, if the head unit did crap out or there was some great new technology, it would be a few hour fix since it’s all in the trunk.

Mine does have the usb I’m sure, but I haven’t tried that yet. That would be annoying if it always started on the same song!
 
#11 ·
I have one of those Pioneers in another vehicle and like the USB option best. Load a bunch of MP3's on a thumb drive and leave it in there. I set mine on "random" play and hardly touch the radio anymore. I have a LOT of MP3's. If you have more than 999 you have to split them up into multiple folders. Random play will happily jump back and forth among folders without your input but if you just throw all your music on a drive, it will only read and play the first 999.

I moved up (I thought) to a somewhat higher end Kenwood in another car. It has a lot more audio tuning features but the USB "random" play sucks. Every time you start the car it goes to track 33 of folder 1 and plays the same succession of songs. If you fiddle it back and forth you can finally get it to play some different music. When the Pioneers say "random", they mean it and kick Kenwood's butt coming and going. So I'm giving 66notch's choice of radios a big thumbs up.
 
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#12 ·
Take a look at the Custom Auto Sound's "USA 740" head unit. I recently did an install on a mid year Vette using this head unit as it universal for knob position. I converted the dash 6x9 to a woofer only and by using the sub out feature then bridging an alpine mini amp allowed for good tuning . Then installed did hi end 4" speakers in the kicks. The 740 allowed for good freq control over the fronts as well. This car sounded amazing and the foot print was very small. I am currently working my 69 M1 dash to create a nice woofer sound that fits w/o interfering with the defrost. Its a challenging problem for sure. Next week a 62 Caddy for a similar install. I like the 740 but except for the cheesy surround for the 65-66 mustang models. Maybe they can be convinced to leave it plain.
 
#17 ·
Good to hear. I wish you well and I’m not knocking CAS. I have no personal experience with them. The models that were released 5-10 years ago apparently had a lot of problems and I haven’t looked into the newer models at all so I can’t comment on them either way.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Thanks to @1966notch, I ended up doing a trunk mount of a single DIN Kenwood KMM-BT728HD unit as well. I ran 8 gauge power wire straight from the battery, alongside the factory harness under the driver's side door scuff plate to the rear of the car. I tapped the accessory fuse for the stereo switched power. Put in a Retrosound 4x10 in the factory dash speaker spot and two new 6x9 Pioneer speakers in the rear package tray.

I also used 1966notch's recommended Pac IR-X infrared extender and added a microphone and antenna extension so that I have AM & FM with the factory antenna. These were all run along the passenger side, under the scuff plate and thru the rear quarter panel.

The system sounds great is very discrete. I am so happy to keep the look of the factory radio and remove the old aftermarket tape player that was under the glovebox. And I can add an amp or replace the single DIN unit any time I want.

Cheesy wiring diagram:
762310



Bundled wire under passenger scuff plate. Used zip tie mounts.
762288


Rear of head unit. Blue box is an electrical box from the hardware store that is just for shielding the power terminal from junk in the trunk.
762290


View from outside car into trunk:
762291
 
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