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If you reviewed my equipment that I had installed you can begin to
understand the quality of sound I wanted within my stereo system. Before I began installing, I had to become familiar with the wiring
within the car.
At that point, I began to trying to located the wiring codes for
the stock stereo system. After about a week of looking, I realized, It's
not going to be easy to find the wiring
codes for this car and resorted to local install shops which were not so quick to help.
The last thing I wanted to do was have to trace every wire.
But Alas I found a site which had 80 percent of all the wiring
codes (Wiring code). I tested the rest of the unknown wires and made sure the polarity
was correct. They were, so I
began the first step in the installation. |
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Step
1: Installation of Head unit
Required:
Dash Kit - Scosche
Industries I first
removed the wood trim from the front dash.
It was tight as first but can be simply removed.
The key is to get a tool that is flat and thin.
You have to wedge it under the trim starting from the right side
passenger. When
you have it in, gently wedge it up.
Slowly make your way leftward toward the radio and the
ignition. It
takes some time, but be careful you don't snap the trim or scratch it up.
The way its held in is there are pegs or pins about 1"
in the back of the trim that are pressed into place into the dash.
I believe there is 4 pins on the passenger right trim and the center
console trim has 1 pin which is far left. In order to remove it you must also wedge it up slightly and pull out toward you. You'll get the hang of it, but make sure you pull evenly. After having removed trim, you should see 2 screws holding in the radio. Remove the two screws on the left and right. After removing the screws gently pull out the factory head unit. Disconnect the Main harness. It's a little tricky because a piece has to slide outward before it can be disengaged. pull out the rest of the wiring, which includes the steering wheel controls (if applicable) and the antenna adapter. Having it out of the dash, I began testing the wires needed. I needed the Constant 12+, Switched On 12volt +, Ground. After finding what I needed, I disabled the power going in the vehicle. Next I got the wiring harness designed by Scosche soldered and electrical taped each of the three connection (ground, 12+ and Switched 12+) To the Alpine CDA-7969 Head unit. Then I ran the remote wire from the din opening to the trunk area along side the right side panels since the Main power lines are running down the right side of the car and speaker lines on the left side. I also ran one pair of Stinger Dream Series RCA cable and Ai-Net CD Changer cord from that same din opening down the left side of the car to the trunk. The next thing left to do was solder the remote wire that I ran to the trunk to the head units remote wire from its harness. After that was completed I Hooked up the harness adapter to car harness and connected the RCA cable to the Rear Output off the Head unit. All that was left to do was plug in the antenna. Here I used the Scosche antenna adapter since it was small. There is very little room behind the head unit so I recommend popping out the climate control unit below the din opening. That can be easily accomplished by pushing it out from the inside. With that out of your way, you can maneuver the wires in place so they fit and slide the head unit in place. Attach the Battery back on to make sure everything is functioning properly, if so; fit the dash kit over the head units face. Be sure that the head unit down not have the plastic border around its front, otherwise it won't fit. Line up the hole and screw it in with the same screws as before and push it into place. After the head units properly in place, attach the wood dash back to its original place. Step
2: Installation of Changer
Required: Mounting
Brackets I decided on mounting the CD Changer to the top of the Trunk area. The only thing needed to determine was the distance from each side and how far I want it to protrude outward; keeping in mind, if it rains, will water seep in? Once I determined the center I attached the brackets to the changer. Then placed the changer against the top of the trunk while laying on my back and held it in place while I marked the holes with a marker that will be used to mount the changer. I removed the changer and proceeded to use sheet metal screws to screw them into the metal where I had marked so it will be easier to put them in when holding the changer in place. After doing so, screw the actual changer in place using the sheet metal screws. Connect the Changer cord that had be previously wired to the trunk to the changer. Find the best path up to the changer so little wires are seen. Step 3: Installation of 3 Amplifiers
Required: Main Fuse block(250
Amp Fuse) Start out by removing the power going into the vehicle from the battery. Next you have to remove both plastic panels on the left and right side of the trunk. Next you must pull away the side molded carpet on the left, so that the stock amplifier is reveled. Disconnect the harness from the amplifier. This is where we will be tapping in with the new speaker wiring. Since it will no longer be hooked up to the amplifier no power will be getting sent though it except from the new amps we will be installing. Using the wire chart I've provided on my Factory Stereo Wiring page, identify the proper wiring, mark them (+,-) and if its front or rear woofer or tweeter. You may need to peal back some of the tape around the harness. After having marked all the needed wiring You need to then strip away one wire at a time, and connect it to the 16 gauge speaker wire that you had bought (Do not cut the factory wiring). Be sure to keep track of what wire is for what speaker and (+,-). It is very vital you do that so it will be easy to identify the wiring when it comes time to hook it up to the amps speaker terminals. After every wire you strip, connect it, solder and then tape it with electrical tape. Do that for each speaker wire. After every wire has been connected and taped. Tape all of them together, and make your way attaching the wires you just attached to the harness. You could stop taping once you are able to get under around the side carpeting. Next place the left plastic piece back in place and secure it. Now we must deal with the power and ground wiring. Power will be fed directly from the battery which is under the right floor panel in the trunk. You will need to run the 4 gauge wiring from the battery to main fuse holder. Be sure that it is at least 8 inches from the battery, no more (Do not connect the wire to the + Battery terminal Yet). Next, run 4 gauge power wire from that main fuse holder to your power fuse block. The power fuse block can be located anywhere inside your car. I chose to install all my amps and crossover and Fuse block on a 1/2" MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) on the floor of the trunk. Next lets do the ground. You should be able to see with no problem where the - battery terminal is wired to the chassis. I choose to wire 4 gauge Ground wire from that point where the Battery wire is touching ground. From there I Cut a short piece and attached it to my ground distribution block, and attached that to the MDF. Now that you have Both Power and Ground run to your Distributor and Fuse block. Attach the amp to the MDF using small wood screws. Locate the Remote wire and attach the remote wire to your amps remote terminal. For more amps you may consider using a distribution block. Then using 8 gauge power wire wire power wire from the Power Fuse block to your amps power terminal. Using 8 Gauge ground wire, wire from your ground distribution block to your ground terminal on your amp. Repeat the above paragraph for multiple amps. Required: 10 feet of Remote Wire I took the Epx2 and screwed it with the same wood screws into the MDF. Then I attached its remote wire to it. Note: I wanted to use thicker gauge for the power and ground, but I was only able to use a wire that was 18 gauge because of the connection size. So if your able, use thicker wiring for power and ground to your EQ. Next I attached the power from the Fuse block to the eq's power terminal, and also attached the ground from the Distribution block into the corresponding terminal on the eq (ground). Step 5: Wiring RCA's & Speaker Wires
Required: 10
feet of Remote Wire Wiring the RCA's was very easy. Just think before you attach. Since I have 2 - 4 channel amps. Each channel will control either the mid-driver speaker or the tweeter. So we know that we want the tweeter to have the high range (HP) and the mid driver to have the mid range (BP). I designated one 4 channel amp to power the front speakers and the other amp to power the rear speakers. So lets take care of the front speakers first. On the Epx2 there is a front and rear channel RCA's Output. I place one of my RCA's From the front (HP) of the Epx2 to the Front channel of the amp. Then I connected the Front (BP) of the epx2 to the amps Rear Channel of the same amp. So that takes care of the RCA's for the front Speakers. Now do the same for the Other 4 channel amp except use the EPX2's Rear Channel. Remember, Tweeters go to the amps Front channel and Mid-Drivers go to the amps Rear channel. Next you have to get the Speaker wire in which we previously connected to the stock wiring by the factory amp. Since we have everything labeled, it should be easy. Starting with the 4 channel amp, connect the corresponding wires to the corresponding terminals. Remember again, The Front channel on the amp will handle the tweeters and the rear channel on the amp will handle the Mid-Drivers. For example: Lets take the Front, Right Tweeter, That speaker wire will hook up to the Front Right channel of the Front amp. Just make sure you have the polarity set. Now lets take the Front, Left Mid-Driver, That wire will be hooked to the Rear, Left Channel of the Front amp. You should get the idea by now. After completing the amp that controls the front speakers, work on the one for the rear. Its the same idea, except your hooking up your systems rear speakers. The subwoofer amp is next. To wire the RCA, just connect the (LP) output off of the EPX2 connect that to the Sub amps RCA input. As for the speaker wire connection, all I did was bridge the amp, +L, -R and used 12 gauge speaker wire that ran into my custom sub box. After that reconnect the positive terminal on the battery and place fuses into the Fuse block (Note: If you don't have the speakers hooked up to an amp, don't power on the amp, remove the fuse so it stays inactive.
Required: Speaker
Terminal In designing my
subwoofer box, I started off by measuring the L x W x H of the trunk
area. Because I decided to add 2 - 12" woofers and create
sealed duel channel box the total box enclosure had to be 2.5 cubic
feet. Each chamber would have an internal volume of 1.25 cubic feet.
To calculate cubic feet you must use this formula: Box Volume
(ft3) = (Height x Width x Depth) / 1728. Because the MDF is
3/4", Be sure to use the inside dimensions and not the external
dimensions, because your enclosure is only as large as the internal volume
and your result will be flawed. Another thing to keep in mind
is the speaker displacement. The speaker displacement is the amount
of the sub that is protruding into the box when it is placed into its
appropriate position in the box. In my case it was .21 cubic feet
per sub. I now had to deduct .21 from each result I got from the
internal volume of each chamber. Don't worry if you have to fiddle
around with box size. Just be sure you work out everything on paper
before starting to do any cutting. I also had
to account for the angle Pitch of the rear seat. I found that angle to be
72 degrees. This was later helpful when cutting the wood with a
table saw. Click the above box for diagrams and dimensions that I
used.
Required:
4 - 1/2 inch MDF 3x5" sheets After my box had been
completed, I now had to determine where to remount my amps due to the lack
of trunk space. I decided on moving the 400.4 amps to the left and
right side of the trunk mounted vertically. I'll mount it on custom panels
that will be cut out and carpeted. But before I can measure and cut out
the side panels I had one other thing to do. I didn't want the sub
box to be seen, so I had to cut out a piece of MDF that will overlay in front
of the sub box and will cover the whole box area so it looks flush and
fluent. I also cut out the sub circles making it 12 inches so that the
board will fit flush up against the sub box. It was carpeted and
drilled holes so that wires can be passed though the board to the sub
amp. Step 8: Adding Digital Readout Sensors
Required: Solder
Gun
Required: Capacitor When do you need a
capacitor? Usually when you have dimmed lights when the bass hits
signifies that you may need to add a capacitor. A good rule of thumb
is for every 1000 watts = 1 farad. Before hooking up the
capacitor to the amp you need to charge it up. Locate the amp you plan on
adding the capacitor to. Disconnect that amps power.
Wire the negative terminal of the capacitor to ground. Locate the
power terminal of the capacitor and wire that to the the resistor.
Next wire the other end of the resistor to +12 volts from the battery or
power splitter. Next start the car up and let the cap charge up for
approx 20 minutes. Finally shut your car off, and remove the
resistor and attach the positive terminal of the capacitor to +12 volt
source 3 way Power Splitter. Lastly wire your positive terminal of
the Amp to the 3 way Power Splitter. Start up your car, and
your capacitor is set up. |
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