Fg Stereo Install

[PHANTMXR6]

Hey guys.

Anyone interested in installing an aftermarket stereo in an FG sedan, watch this space.

I've found, the only hole in the firewall to run a power cable from the battery to the boot is on the inlet manifold side almost directly behind the manifold.

I spent ages trying to find somewhere to run a cable and spotted this grommet all by it's lonesome with nothing going through it.

How thoughtful of Ford for a change.

Anyway, all my powewr, speaker and signal cables have been run, with an additional covering of noise suppresion material to the floor.

I'll add a couple of pics for starters and if there's enough interest I'll post what I've done to date and add more when I start installing components.

[smicky]

Dude!!!!!!!!

Nice start!!!

Work well underway on that car... Keep the pics coming...

What gear are you installing into the beast?

Amps? speakers? sub? etc...

Edited 15/01/09 12:25 PM by smicky

[PHANTMXR6]

Give me ten or so and I'll get some more pics up.

It'll be a complete Alpine system.

I've already got Type R 5 1/4" splits with the woofers in the front doors and the tweeters in the factory locations.

Rear doors have Type R 5 1/4" co-ax's.

At the moment all are running off the factory head unit.

When I installed the speakers all the doors were covered in noise suppression material.

Not dynamat but a cheaper version off ebay that does the same job for less than half the price!

Could still do with another covering though. They don't make panels like they used to!!

Anyway, iDA-X001 head unit going in with MRP-F250 amp for the speakers, and an old favourite of mine, the MRV-1507 carrying out sub duties.

Subs are two 10" Type R 4ohm DVC units that are 2004 vintage. Done no work, been sitting in a box.

I've got a 1 farad cap to go in as well.

I'm hoping the bootlid will be able to cope as it feels a bit flimsy. lol

I need to lay a covering on the roof too as the wind noise is a pain in the ass.

[smicky]

Not bad man... It sounds like u have a soft spot for Alpine, either that u you used to work there! Alpine used to be my first choice 9/10 - generally nice gear!

You got your sub box all sorted? (im sure you will, if not and need any help with the design/box tuning) let me know, more then happy to run it through the simulator and tweak it a little for you! Just did one for two of the other members this week!

[PHANTMXR6]

Thanks mate. Yeah, I've been following the other threads that you've been advising in.

Never worked in car audio before, just always had a passion for good clean sound you can feel.

I'm a mechanic by trade and enjoy messing around with car audio.

Plus there's no one here that does car audio and buggered if I'd pay someone to do something I can anyway.

This will be my third full custom install.

I've always found Alpine gear to be good, mostly due to the fact that's all they do.

I've got a few mates that stand by Kenwood, but my argument has always been, how can a company that makes blenders make good car audio gear? lol

Gets a few diehards going.

I reckon I'll just be sticking to sealed enclosures for each sub in a full 'glass enclosure with the amp as the showpiece between the two. If it'll fit.

I don't want to lose too much boot space hence the Type R 10's.

All the pics I took today during the fitting of the wiring.

And the veins are there just waiting for a heart.

If anyone's interested, it took me 7 hours from disconnection of the earth terminal on the battery to reconnection and startup to get the cables run.

Not bad considering I did it myself with no guide but some parts pdf file pics for the centre console and never pulled an FG apart before.

I reckon I could do it in about half the time next time around, using pneumatic tools and knowing how the jigsaw works.

[smicky]

Yeah good idea mate...

with the glass/perspex box, just make sure you used some seriously think panels... and its always a really good idea to use some sort of lining like dacron... soft open dacron is about the best bet... long hair sheet wool - treated is better but far to exe...

when you use it in a clear box but it does look a little crap, but will improve the sound to no end!

10" subs are great to work with, 9/10 my recommendation, with the exception of a few like the 13" focals etc...

Must agree with you on the Kenwood comment, have never and would never touch their car audio, specs over rated, and well just doesnt seem to last all that well (in most applications)... on offense to lovers of kenwood who may be members of the site... just MO...

Looks like you've done everything pretty much right and on the money!

Terrific job bud!

One thing you might want to do however - http://www.fastfoursforumscarclub.com/temp...zda_5_large.jpg extra grounding points, some say over kill, however I have always thought better to be over kill then find something killed!

Love some of Marty's work over there... and for anyone that cares, looks like his got the 200sx focal show car up for sale!

CVR12_2.pdf

that's what the box design sheets I do look like... (btw- this one was not tuned, just a run through from the sim itself)...

Edited 15/01/09 01:40 PM by smicky

[sicklaser]

gees poor old Kenwood is coping a hiding lol. Definately not up to alpines scratch but in mid range gear it sh*ts on quite a lot of other brands. decent reliability as well.

anyhow...

can I recommend you put some split loom-tube over your power cable in your engine bay if you havent already. it will camoflage in with the rest of the cables then and be near impossible to see unless someone was looking for it.

Dan

[Nolz]

Great effort mate. looks like you've really gone to town on the beast. The extra sound proofing should improve NVH and SQ a great deal. Should see damn near limousine levels of NVH now. Very slick.

Looking forward to more updates

[PHANTMXR6]

Not going to be using perspex in this build.

I've used it before and found it to be a pain in the ass to work with and without the right tools can be very frustrating.

I've always used dacron in my boxes. Keeps the tinnyness down I've found.

I normally go to Target and pick up 2 of their $5 special pillows and gut them.

Worked so far so might as well keep using them.

I was thinking of upgrading all the earth leads on the car also as they are smallish cables and would benefit I reckon.

Nolz, the extra insulation is helping, but the bloody tyres are so noisy.

I'm going to be looking at removing the splash guards from inside all the wheel wells and coating the inside of the panels with some sort of

noise suppression product also. Haven't decided what yet, but it'll come to hand one day in the hardware store.

Hopefully that will kill a lot more noise.

I haven't touched the boot yet except the bootlid. I did the lid and fitted the trim panel a few months back. I found it added a bit more weight, as in it feels more solid now. Every panel in the car is so bloody thin. I reckon once it's all done and cranking the car will flex like buggery. lol.

[smicky]

Mate, again it sounds like its pretty much all sorted!

So glad your not using perspex - when you said something about using a glass box I thought you were referring to perspex... my bad!

$5 pillows - well that will work too! good thinking... rip into those pillows and get them doing some real work rather then just lying around on the bed sleeping all day!

Extra earthing always helps if even you dont 'notice' the difference...

Panel flex in the FG - WHAT THE? AND THEY SAY THIS WON 5 STARS IN THE SAFETY RATINGS!!!!!! hehehe must be the crash bars behind the panels!!! heheheh

I remember there was a spray product a few years back I saw which was meant to work like matting, never tried it, but might be worth a shot if you can be bothered...

again - the setup looks great so far bud!!!

big