Going back to the Mach 460 head unit? Can it be done?

[Car Nut]

I swapped in a higher end Alpine head unit on my stock Mach 460 system, because it had no CD. Now that I've lived with this setup for a few years, I really would rather go back to the non-CD head unit and just find the seperate Mach CD unit.

Anyone done this?

In short, aftermarket head units do not sound better on the Mach system without replacing near everything else. I want to spend little $$$ too. My biggest regret was that my favorite radio stations didn't sound near as good with the Alpine.

Hopefully the wiring conversion can be undone, because I still have my Mach head unit on a shelf at home.

Also, are most stereo shops familiar with the Mach 460 system?

Thanks!

 

[Chythar]

Wiring conversion? A simple adapter is all I used on my Mach 460 to hook up my Pioneer unit. And some decent sound insulation in the doors eliminates the mid-range muddiness that the Mach 460 systems suffer from. Basically echoing in the door panels. For what it's worth, the 94-98 adapter is Metra 70-5514.

This doesn't help you any, however. What was done to your wiring harness to get your Alpine working?

A note about the Mach 460: the door speakers are somehow both a mid-range and a sub-woofer speaker. You CANNOT replace them with ordinary speakers, you'll lose all your bass.

 

[Car Nut]

If the stereo shop that put in the Alpine HU is still in business, I'm going to have them look at swapping the stock Mach radio/cassette HU back in.

I definitely do not want to replace the Mach speakers or anything else. Just want to put the Mach system back like it was stock. Hopefully, I can find the seperate CD unit from Mustang Parts Specialties, ebay, etc. I think there is a special connector for that, but that would probably be included with the CD unit.

I'm not a stereo person and it's been 3 to 4 years, so I can't remember what was done to allow the Alpine unit to work. I do remember that they utilized all of the Mach components/speakers.

 

[94-302-vert]

Pull the alpine and fine out if they cut the factory connector off or added a pigtail adapter into it... if they cut the adapter out of the car then you gotta find what plugs into teh Mach 460... if it is there then jsut plug the mach back in...

 

[Car Nut]

Which Mach CD unit do I need? Will any of them work from 94-98? I'm talking about the Mach CD unit that is separate from the main head unit (radio/cassette).

For some reason, I seem to remember that there was a change in either the wiring or the CD unit itself between 1994 and 1998.

Thanks.