breathegood

So I put together a plan for what I want to do to the car this year, and the first two items on the list I would like to have done before the car comes out of storage next month. A new stereo head unit + Sirius receiver, and TMI Sport RS upholstery for the seats. Simple right?

Since my car is still in storage, I can take my time and really get everything done right. It started with the head unit. A new Pioneer AVHX2700BS combined with the Sirius SXV300 tuner. I was slow, patient, methodical, and thorough in un-installing the existing head unit. I spent the time to actually solder and heat-shrink connections between the new head unit harness and adapter harness. I mounted the microphone for hands free calling and installed a stick-on FM antennae (will eventually smooth fender at the existing factory antennae location) to a spot above the rear view mirror and carefully routed the wires under the headliner, through the A-pillar, and under the dash to the stereo location. At this point I plugged it all in, fired it up, called Sirius to activate the new receiver, and paired my phone via Bluetooth. Everything works like it's supposed to. Yay!

At this point it's dinner time, so I put my tools away, clean up my work area and leave it with everything hooked up and mounted without putting all the dash and trim back together. Leaving it this way may have been a mistake.....

As I slept, thoughts of how to proceed with my interior project grew and festered. I should:

1) Put the dash and center console back together, call the stereo installation done, wait for the new upholstery to arrive, and do the seats another day....but wait, will I eventually want to install an amp and sub?
2) I should put together a wire loom for speakers and pre-outs, and run it from the head unit to the trunk so that a new amp will essentially be plug and play when I'm ready to take that leap......but wouldn't it be easier to
3) take the seats out first for easy access to run that loom under the carpet.....and if I'm going to pull the seats and the carpet anyway...
4) it wouldn't hurt to invest in some Dynamat or similar material...
5) Good grief, at this stage, I've done all the hardest part, I should probably start shopping for a good sub and amp so that I can....
6) build a custom sub enclosure and incorporate it into a rear seat delete......
7) a rear seat delete that will actually be a functional shelf with cup holders and a place to rest my laptop bag or small travel cooler.....
8) and while I'm at it, might as well replace the factory speakers....
9) which leads to more Dyanamat in the doors....

So what started as simple head unit R&R and seat R&R, is turning into a major interior project. Do anyone else's projects tend to grow this way?

Xann27

Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill! Do the head unit, get the wiring done. Have RCAs pre ran under the seats with a power cable. New looms and harnesses are pointless unless the car is a strict competition car. The factory speaker wire is fine upto 200watts per speaker. After that you'll have resistance issues and hearing aids. Don't worry about "#7" Cup holders and a micro fridge or cooler in your car? You'll need a power inverter and a condensation drain. As far as Dynamat goes, if your car is in pieces already, sure. It's a hassle tho. I've installed about 20+ dynamat kits and they make VERY LITTLE difference. If there's a rattle, it will still be there. All dynamat does is removes resonance in the metal it's touching. Plastic rattles are the worst. If you spend $1000 or more on dynamat then you'll hear what a 7 series BMW ride sounds like. Not just around the speakers. It's all about time and money. If you got them both, do anything. If not, do what can be done within the limits. As a MECP installer, (former), you're overthinking this =]. Just get the car ready for the next step. You'll be gold

Xann27

Btw under the seats (as long as the amps fit) is the best way to keep them from getting jacked. No thief has time to unbolt a seat if it's a smash and grab

breathegood

Yeah, I said loom, but really I was just going to run the remote and RCA's from the head unit and some speaker wire back to the factory harness (without actually splicing it in). Battery is already relocated to the trunk, so no need to run power and ground.

I'm surprised at your take on Dynamat. I had the firewall and floor (to the front of the seats), trans tunnel (all the way back), and doors done in my pickup and it made an amazing difference in cabin noise. Granted, the Mustang is already quieter in the cabin than the truck ever was. I thought it would be a good investment considering I have the time and seats and carpet will be out anyway.

Any amp and sub combo that I put in will likely be in the trunk and integrated into the back side of a seat delete. I think this leaves me ample trunk space and keeps everything out of sight. I just don't want stuff like that in the cabin if I can avoid it. I have some ideas, but don't know if I will build what I envision or not.

I had my pickup broken into a couple years ago. I thought I had everything mounted in theft-deterring locations as well as out of sight.......didn't matter. When they figured out they couldn't easily jack it, they just destroyed everything around it. For $3500 worth of damage to my truck, they got away with maybe $100 worth of equipment/merchandise, the least of which was stereo related. If someone is going to break in, I'd rather they just grab what they came for than destroy everything else. If it's installed out of sight, at least it will keep honest people honest.

Xann27

sounds like youre on your way to doing what needs to be done. you know what is next, and what should be done from past experiences. If i were to do dynamat, id do the fenderwells, part of the headliner, and where the rear suspension connects in the trunk. roadnoise be gone!

wcgman

I'm with Xann on the dynamat. I've torn out a full 06GT interior and it made a small difference, but wasn't worth my time nor money in the end. Now on a pickup, yeah I can see it making a huge difference. Personally, I don't think it's worth the effort to pre-run stuff you don't know that you will ever use unless you've already disassembled for another project that you know is going to get finished. It is also a waste of time and money. On the subject of sound however, my shelby has head unit, focal speakers and reused the 1000 amp and it sounds pretty darn good. However, my wife's vert has head unit, aftermarket speakers, tweeters, door subs, new wiring throughout, 3 amps in the trunk, a battery to push all of that **** and 2 giant subs in the trunk. Even with the vert top, hers sounds better than mine by a pretty fair margin. Of course, it gets exponentially louder too. So f'ing loud that I can hear her a couple of blocks away and her trunk ajar notice pops up constantly from the subs pushing air around. I called the system regawddamnedickulous. But even I turn that up when Im in it. Tool, Disturbed, D3admau5...it sounds totally awesome. So now that I've said all of that, if you have the time, patience and money to install a totally badass audio system, do it. One caveat though. If you fill the trunk with audio gear, don't plan on road tripping. You can barely put a postcard in her trunk so keep that in mind. But it is sure fun.

breathegood

Not really looking to go huge with audio gear. Volume isn't really my goal, but I would like a little cleaner sound. I put the Focal components in the truck and they sound amazing ($$$ though). The Shaker 500 speakers aren't terrible, but the sound could be soooo much crisper with quality components in the doors, a real sub in the trunk, and a decent amp with high and low pass filters. I will eventually go this route, but this year's budget is dedicated to cosmetics, comfort, and more boost.

wcgman

Mmmmm....bboooooosssssstttt.