After roughly two years of driving around with half of the stock speakers not working, I decided it was time to get started on fixing that. I did bunches of research and then the craziness began. I ordered an Alpine INA-W910, an Alpine PDX-F4, an Alpine PDX-M6,a Stinger dual amp wiring kit, a set of Focal 165 KRs, two sets of Focal 165CA1s, a Sirius XM tuner, and the PAC switch to retain my steering wheel controls, and a new trim plate. I bought bulk RCA cable and bulk speaker wire from a local home Hi-Fi place called Music For Pleasure. Those guys rock, I'll explain that in a bit.
The first task at had was to figure out how to sand and paint plastic. I was amazed at how easy that was. Now the Metra dash kit nearly matches the factory plastic. Once that was done, I met with a friend and started the process of adding sound deadener.
There's more sound deadener in a few places, I just didn't get pictures of it.
Now that the sound deadening was complete, it was time to get started on the "fun" stuff. The stock head unit was incredibly easy to remove. That totally surprised me. Then came the task of measuring and making my own RCA cables. That was an interesting process. After I got that task complete, I installed the rear deck speakers and ran speaker wires to the amp. Then the freaking rain came, and I realized that I left my amp wiring kit 45 minutes away. Oh yeah, during all of this craziness I'm house/dog sitting for my friend, so his driveway was littered with interior car parts...LOL
My helper for the day showed up and we left to go get lunch and the amp wiring kit so we could complete the wiring of the car. After lunch the rain left and the rest of the install progressed. Got the head unit installed, the XM and GPS wired up, and decided it was time to test the rear speakers just to make sure they work. Sure as my name is what it is, only one speaker worked no matter what we did. So I'm exhausted and frustrated and decide to call it a night. Of course I didn't sleep well because I was wondering what the heck could be wrong.
The next morning I wake up way too early and start messing around trying to figure out what's going on with the speakers and amp. It turns out of the four RCA cables I made, only one was working. The lesson here was, never try to make my own RCA cables again...LOL So, now that I know what's wrong, running to Wallyworld was on the list of things to do for the day. While I'm waiting for my buddy Josh to show up I start modifying the stock speaker baffles so that the new component speakers will fit. I don't know know if I hate cutting plastic more than I hate cutting metal yet. Once the baffles were modified, I got the speakers installed.
Thankfully the tweeters fit just fine in the factory location.
I'm excited because I can get the door panels on the car. This is also a great stopping point to go pick up a set of RCA cables to test the speakers.
So we get figured out a place to mount the crossovers so that they are out of the way and I go to measure out the last speaker wire that will run from the right kick panel, along the floor, to the back seat and across the back of the car to the amp. Yeah, I don't have enough speaker wire. So I rigged what I had and made due. Now's the moment of truth. All of the speakers work and are sounding pretty decent. So I had to stop for the day because my son's graduation ceremony was later that evening.
On my way home I stopped by Music for Pleasure looking for more speaker wire, but the guy couldn't find what I was looking for and I had to leave. He took my name and number and said they'd give me a call when they got it in. This morning I headed out to finish the rear of the car. Just as I'm about to get on the highway Rob calls and says they've got my speaker wire cut and ready to go. Sweet! I get there and I explained my mishap with the RCAs and asked for 6 cables to be made. Now, I'm ready to pay for the speaker wire and they send me on my merry way. Yeap, I got the extra speaker wire I needed at no additional cost. Those guys freaking rock!
Now it's time to get down and dirty. Josh and I got the rear speaker mounts modified, painted them, and installed the rear speakers. The only thing left was to make some adjustments to the amp and holy buckets Batman! I am amazed at how great the audio sounds in the car now.
The bluetooth mic installed:
The head unit fills factory location just fine:
Of course I left my camera at home today, but I'll get pictures of how the amps are mounted, how the rear speakers are mounted, and of the rear interior installed tomorrow and post them. I'm ordering my sub in a couple of weeks, and will begin the task of learning to build a sub box. I sure hope that's easier than what I've just gone through. My hat goes off to guys that do this day in and day out.
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