[BHowe]

The first modification I ever thought about making to The Mustang was upgrading the sound system. It's far from the most important upgrade, but at the time, my experience working on cars was limited to installing an amp and subwoofer in my 12 year old Lexus; it's just about all I knew how to do.

When I bought The Mustang in 2013, it had an aftermarket AM/FM/tape deck unit from the 90's. Grandpa had also installed 6x9's in the package tray, and some 5.25's in the kick panels. High school me was excited to have the tape deck, because I could buy one of those cassettes with an aux cord sticking out and play music from my phone. It sounded horrible, but it did the job.

It didn't take long to start dreaming. This was my list of requirements:

• Decent sound quality / volume (this includes a subwoofer... to me, music just sounds empty without one)
• Bluetooth capability (everything I play is from my phone; I really don't need a radio, or CD player, or anything else)
• Period-correct look (not necessarily 100% original-looking, but not out of place)
• Ability to use original AM radio

I drew up this concept in 2014; 8 years later, I finally got to working on it.

 

[LeeFred]

What I did with my non-working AM radio was run a wire from the On/Off switch to the amp I have hidden in the back of my 65. I'm sure the same could be done with a working AM radio if you want to have a working radio. That way you have the correct radio in the dash and no one is the wiser.

 

[BHowe]

Step 1: Upgrade the Alternator

My final concept utilized 2 amps, 1 for the speakers and a1 for the sub. I knew I'd need more power than the standard alternator, so this is where I started. After much research on the forum, I decided to go with a PA Performance 95A 3G conversion. I also went with the chrome finish; pretty unnecessary, but so shiny... Anyway, when I went to put it in, I noticed that the 12V post was uncomfortably close to the block; like, "that's probably going to arc" close. I emailed PA Performance about was informed of clocking the alternator. Took it to a local starter shop and they clocked it for me, free-of-charge (I left a tip). When I got back home, it dropped right in, and without any uncomfortable clearances.

With the alternator in, I moved on to wiring. Install instructions for the alternator called for a fuse in-line with the battery, and I needed a fuse for the amp power wire as well. I already had 4 or 5 wires hanging off the hot side of the starter solenoid, so I added a power distribution block to clean things up and make room for additional wires. Messy wiring drives me nuts, so almost all of my wiring is custom-length. I picked up a hydraulic crimping tool from Harbor Freight to get new terminals on the alternator/battery wires (4ga) and amp power wires (1/0ga). I'm using 200A ANL fuses for both the alternator and the amps; the fuse holders are just below the distribution block.

 

[BHowe]

Step 2: Mount the Amps

With the power upgrade taken care of, I moved on to mounting the amps. I decided to go with 2 separate amps; a 4 channel for the speakers and a mono-channel for the sub. Both are class D Pioneer (GM-DX871 and GM-DX874).

With the back seat out, I removed the flimsy trunk divider board to use as a template for some new 1/2" plywood pieces. I had to make a few adjustments based on the thickness of the plywood, but got the new pieces cut without much trouble. To get them mounted, I used the scissor jack and a 2x4 to hold them in place, then used existing holes to bolt them in. I already had a piece of carpet for that divider; all I had to do was line it up and screw it in. I could've glued it, but I don't mind the screws in this application, and this is much easier to remove.

Mounting the amps was easy thanks to that 1/2" plywood; once I had the spacing figured out, it was just 4 screws each.

To get them wired up, I ran the 1/0ga wire from the engine bay to the trunk following stock wiring; through the passenger side firewall, behind the kick panel, under the door sill plate, behind the quarter trim panel and into the trunk. I ran the "signal" wires (tells amps to turn on) directly alongside the power wire. I used a T block (Stinger SPD512) to split the power to the amps. For ground, I ran separate wires directly to the body. I didn't realize this until I want to connect wires, but apparently the amps can only receive up to 4ga wire; a few 45 degree reducers took care of that.

I ran the input cables (RCA) and front speaker wire just like the power wire, but on the driver side (to separate power and signal); behind the quarter trim panel, under the door sill plate and behind the kick panel to the dash. Speaker wire for the rear speakers and sub stay in the trunk, so no special routing.

I might eventually try to hide the amps completely; until then, I think this set-up looks pretty clean, and even though this is obviously not period correct, you sort of have to stick your head in the trunk to really see it.

 

[BHowe]

Step 3: Mount Rear Speakers

For rear speakers, I went with Pioneer TS-A692F 6x9s. The old speakers were mounted from underneath the package tray, with a frame that sat on top of the package tray. Bolts went though that frame, then the package tray, then the speaker, and it appears there was some hacking involved to get it to work.

I didn't love how the old speaker grills looked on the package tray and wanted to go for a cleaner look, so knew I'd still be mounting the speakers from underneath. When I first lined it up, the speaker cone was making contact with the sheet metal. I took that frame and moved it from the top of the package tray to underneath and used it as a spacer. I bent the hack-job back as best I could and drilled small holes to bolt the frame to. It was sort of annoying to try to get those tiny nuts on while holding the speaker up, but I don't plan on doing it often.

I'm not a fan of the flimsy material package trays are usually made of, so I cut one out of 1/4" plywood. I got some standard speaker material and wrapped it, then painted it with 'parchment' flexible interior paint (NPD VP-5779) to match the interior. It doesn't match perfectly, and I'm not real happy with how visible the speaker holes are, but it looks better than it did. I'll probably get cute with a hole punch and a sheet of vinyl at some point (check out the last picture; saw this at a cruise-in).

 

[BHowe]

Step 4: Mount Front Speakers

There were already speakers in the kick panels, but they were mounted on a standard kick panel with a 3/4" plywood spacer. Pretty cool, but I upgraded to the kick panels with speaker moldings. I used Pioneer TS-A1370F 5-1/4" speakers; the mount depth is only 2-1/8", but I still had to use 2 rubber washers between the speaker and the mounting plate to get enough clearance. The old kick panels were parchment (I believe this is technically correct) but it always looked a little off to me. I decided to paint them burgundy (NPD VP-5732R) to match the carpet, and I think I like this look better.

Again, I don't really want the speakers to be a focal point, so I painted the grills burgundy to match the kick panel. Not quite as hidden as the rears, but I think they blend in alright.

 

[BHowe]

Step 5: Subwoofer

I went with a 10" Pioneer TS-D10LS2 shallow mount woofer; I've got a 12" in my daily driver that's way more than enough, and I'm not trying to rattle any windows. Got a pretty basic sealed enclosure for now (Sound Ordnance BB10-64S), which fits perfectly in the rear-most corner of the trunk (by the taillight). A short speaker wire to the amp, and it was good to go. I'll be making a more permanent and cohesive enclosure eventually.

 

[BHowe]

Step 6: AM Radio, Bluetooth Adaptor and Switches

With speakers and amps installed and wired, I started working on the dash. Before I put the AM Radio back in, I polished it up, then wired the line-out-converter (Kicker 46KiSLOC); this is basically un-amplifying the AM radio signal so I can send it back through the amp in the trunk. Then I attached the Bluetooth adapter (JL Audio MBT-RX) to the case of the radio with mounting tape, and installed the radio into the dash. I ran the RCA cables from the line-out-converter (AM radio) and from the Bluetooth adapter to an RCA switcher (Sescom SES-AUDIO-AB); I connected the AM radio to channel 'A' and the Bluetooth adapter to channel 'B'. The Output of the RCA switcher connects to the input of the amps and is what lets me switch between sources.

The RCA switcher was fine, but the integral toggle switch was tiny, so I took the toggle switch off, soldered in some wire extensions and connected them to a full size 3PDT toggle switch (Carling HM251-73). The first two poles of the switch are for the input signal; one for black, one for red. I used the third pole for power so that only the selected input source is powered on. I didn't get a good picture of this wiring, but I marked up a picture of a spare switch to show this a little better.

For the amp power-signal wires, I wired another toggle switch. In the middle position, both amps are off; flip it up and only the speaker amp is on; flip it down and both speaker and sub amps are on. I drilled a few holes to mount the toggle switches in the glove box. The position was kind of determined by where the switches fit; those 3PDT switches are no joke, and by the time you get 9 wires plugged into the back, they need quite a bit of room. Since I was putting in new switches anyway, I scrapped the stock emergency flasher switch and bracket and replaced it with a standard DPST switch. I got some switch plates made at legend-plates.com, black for the speaker switches and red for the flashers.

 

[BHowe]

With everything installed, this is what I've got:

AM Radio

Front and Rear Speakers

Amps and Subwoofer

Controls:
The Speaker/Sub Switch - down to turn on both amps, up for speakers only, middle to turn both amps off
Bluetooth/AM Radio switch - up for Bluetooth input and adapter power, down for AM input and radio power

And the best part: I can still hear my music when I have the windows down, and it sounds awesome. I usually leave the switches set to "Speaker/Sub" and "Bluetooth", and whenever I start the car my phone automatically connects; I just pick a song and hit play. One arguable drawback is that when using Bluetooth, the only way to control volume is with my phone. I don't frequently adjust the volume, and it doesn't bother me to use the volume buttons on my phone, but it's not ideal. That being said, if you flip the switch to AM radio and shut the glovebox, it looks and works exactly like a stock radio system (you know, with a few extra speakers). It's not a perfect solution, but its my solution and I'm super happy with how it turned out.

 

[David Robinson]

Thanks for sharing that write up. Well done. I was thinking about something like this as well but wondered how often I'd actually use the AM radio. In the end I took the easy way out and just bought a blue tooth amp and DVC speaker up front and 2 6x9's in the rear. Still wondering if adding a sub is worth the trouble.

 

[BHowe]

Thanks for sharing that write up. Well done. I was thinking about something like this as well but wondered how often I'd actually use the AM radio. In the end I took the easy way out and just bought a blue tooth amp and DVC speaker up front and 2 6x9's in the rear. Still wondering if adding a sub is worth the trouble.

I'll never use the AM radio, but I wanted the aesthetic and for some reason it would bother me if I had the radio in there and it didn't work. Almost certainly not worth the money / effort to keep it functional, but I'll be damned if I don't waste a little more on a power antennae before I'm done. The sub is way more worth it for me, but the extra bump may not be worth the time, money and permanent loss of trunk space for others.

 

[David Robinson]

I totally get that about the radio. Ripping it apart to change the light bulb and make sure it at least lights up was the extent of my effort.

 

[BHowe]

What I did with my non-working AM radio was run a wire from the On/Off switch to the amp I have hidden in the back of my 65. I'm sure the same could be done with a working AM radio if you want to have a working radio. That way you have the correct radio in the dash and no one is the wiser.

That's a slick way to integrate the power switch. I still need the volume control and scanner knobs on my radio, but it would be real slick if I could tie into the radio on/off switch for amp power, and somehow use the radio fader (balancer?) knob to switch between AM and Bluetooth.

 

[BHowe]

I totally get that about the radio. Ripping it apart to change the light bulb and make sure it at least lights up was the extent of my effort.

Man, I had the radio apart just to check it out. I put it back together, cleaned it up and installed it, then realized I should've changed that bulb. Now I'm going to have to pull the whole thing back out just for that.

 

[myfirstcar66]

Put in a quality LED and you'll never have to change it again.

 

[image98]

Nice writeup. Thanks for sharing and explaining everything in detail.