Friday, March 20, 2009

Radio installed

The next project to tackle - Radio.
I thought about refurbishing the original radio - way overpriced.
But I didn't want to cut the dash, I liked the original look. So I decided to hide the new radio in the glove compartment.To raise a little scratch I sold some old star wars figure still in the packaging on ebay. - Bam $450 instantly. I really underestimated the buying power of 40 year old comic book guys. So time to shop:
Boston Acoustics SX55 5-1/4" 2-way Speakers
Boston Acoustics SX95 6" x 9" 2-Way Car Audio Speakers
Pioneer DEH-P6000UB CD/MP3 Receiver
120 sqft of
eDead sound deadening
Some Speaker wire, a add-on circuit breaker, and a Double pole, double throw switch

So I gutted the interior and took out the carpet, old sound padding, seat, seat belts, console, and rear side panel.
Cleaned the crap off the floor and took a 3M disk to the minor surface rust. Then I clean and reinstalled the floor pan plugs with some high temp black RVT.

Next - POR 15 the entire floor.
After drying - Sound deadening. It came in four big rolls which I cut into 1x1 ft squares. It made it easier to cut to shape and I applied it with the free roller that came with the purchase.

I covered the floor with two layers and covered the seems with roofing aluminum tape I got from home depot. I Put the carpet back in and got started on the wiring and electronics.I took out the glove box and fit a under dash radio mount inside of it, making sure that I had enough room to clear the A/C unit. I cut part of the new mount to better accommodate the wires and shape f the A/C.
I took my time in cutting my kick panels to fit the new speakers as well as removed a little of the metal behind them to give the new speakers room. I ground and smoothed with a grinder so not to cut and wires later by rubbing. I took special attention to location by masking the area that I wanted to cut with painters tape.

Then install the rear speakers - again cutting away some the metal and applying some sound deadening around them. I started running the monster wire from them as well as the front speakers. I taped them down so they wouldn't shift around.


Next radio extensions were soldered on and then attached to the speakers.
Tes
t fitted the new radio again with the wires and sip tied any of the excess wire. I made a trip to Fry's to get a Antenna extension and a switch to raise and lower the antenna.I mounted the new switch under the dash just left of the steering column.

Next I hooked up the power to the already existing gauge circuits and the new Circuit breaker add- on and ran it all from the original box tab marked 'IGN'
Moment of truth - It all powered up and the radio worked. The new switch worked beatifully for the antenna and booster the signal as soon as it started to move.

Then ---- get all the rest of the interior in. That was way more difficult then taking it out. But the good part is that I had no extra pieces left over.
I definitely thought I would need a pro to install all this stuff- but a hour here and there over the course of the last month got it in at my own pace and I know it was done right.

I GOT TUNES