quick question

dave96stang · Jan 12, 2004

Could I just rewire my front door speakers and front tweets so that they run off the headunit, making me able to take out my rear sound board and then build my custom box? I just got some Viper components and i'm dying to install them, but I can't afford an amp yet (yeah im 16, no job). This way, I could just at least run my sub that I got for christmas and then upgrade later. Has anyone done this?

BBrinks · Jan 12, 2004

You could run them off the HU if you're running an aftermarket HU. You'll be underpowering them, but as long as you're getting an amp later, you'll have the wire run already. Just run the + and - from the right channel to the crossover and then to the tweeter and mid, and repeat for the left side. Which ones did you get, the 650.2 or the 550.2? If you got the 650.2, it's O.D. is about 7.25", so it might be a little tricky to get it to fit without interfering with the outside edge of the door panel.

dave96stang · Jan 12, 2004

Thanks alot

Actually, what I wanted to do is to to run my 460 speakers (just the front ones) off the HU, and yes it's aftermarket. I figure i'll just ditch my soundboard and the factory amps in the rear so that I get the room I need for my enclosure. Since i'm only limited to working on this on weekends (the only time i'm not bogged down w/ school), i'd like to get started on my enclosure ASAP while I can save up for my amp and wiring kit. I'm going to save my Vipers (550.2) until I can get my amp, then i'll end up rewiring it and only running a front stage, and a sub in the trunk.
Do you think this will work?

BBrinks · Jan 13, 2004

The only problem is that you'll need a crossover, since the mach speakers are a component system. If you just wire them up, you'll be full-ranging the mid and the tweet. You could keep the amp that powers the tweeters where it is behind the dash, and the amp that powers the front mids you could mount under the seat or something. You could still get rid of the soundboard in the back, you'll just move one of the amps somewhere else. The only reason I'm saying to keep the amps is that they have a built in crossover designed for the 460 speakers.

dave96stang · Jan 13, 2004

You're right, that is sorta a problem. I really don't want to full range the tweeters or the woofers because that would really sound terrible. Do you think running the vipers off the HU would sound any better? I know that underpowering them by that much could fry them, but I really don't want to ditch the 460 and have NO system during the time it takes me to save up for my amp and wiring kit.

I guess hypothetically I could run the tweeters from their stock amp, and run the woofers off the HU, but I don't know which wires I would have to deal with, I mean my HU has 8 wires going to the amp and i don't know which ones I would have to get rid of.

I guess i'll just have to wait until I get money, unless you guys have better suggestions...

BBrinks · Jan 13, 2004

Well, if you can find a spot for the mid amp, you wouldn't have to rewire anything until you get an amp for the comps. If you're building a sub enclosure, you could put it on the box facing the back of the rear seats. If you full-range the mid, it'll get really muddy when it tries to play the upper freq's. I'd do that if I were you. Just take out the amps from the soundboard, take out the soundboard, find a spot for the amp that powers the front mids, and reconnect it. That's about the only way I know that will work, unless you buy a cheap set of 5x7's for the moment.

dave96stang · Jan 14, 2004

Thanks for all the good advice

I think buying the 5x7s would defeat the purpose of trying to save money, but think the idea of moving the mid amp underneath a seat for the time being is a good one, I might do that all this weekend.

Another thing, i'm probably going to have enough $$$ to buy the amp fairly soon, but I don't know about a Dual-Amp wiring kit. I know Lightning Audio and Rockford Fosgate both make really good kits, but they are out of my price range. I've seen the Scosche ones at Wal-Mart, but I don't know how good the RCAs are and it doesn't come with any 4gauge ground cable, so i'm inferring that they want people to ground them separately? That kind of goes against the other two kits, doesn't it? They have ground distribution blocks and enough ground cable that you can run a single 4gauge ground cable to avoid any ground loops. I don't know if you've used the Scosche one or heard about it, but if you have any info would be great.

Also, If that kit is at all good, I might just get it before the amp, and using your advise to use the stock amp, is it possible to run 4gauge to the distribution block, then run 8 gauge to just one amp, instead of doing it for both? This might seem like a really stupid question, but I really have no idea what the answer is. But, if this works, i'll put my sub in and just mount the stock amp to it and go from there...

Thanks

BBrinks · Jan 14, 2004

The wal-mart kit is a good kit. The RCA's aren't that bad, but the ends don't connect very tight. I'm going to try this on my friend's truck when his amp comes in: http://home.new.rr.com/zaph/audio/audio-cables.html It might have been the preouts on the HU, but I had use tape over the connection when I used a kit on my friend's car.

It does come with ground wire, however, it's 8ga. to have each amp use it's own ground wire. You should be fine running 8ga. from the distro. block to the amp, depending what the amp's rated at. Unless you're running a pretty powerful sub amp, you should be fine. This is assuming you're going to run about 100-150 RMS to the viper's.

I'd recommend sealing your door up if you're going to run decent power to the viper's. You'll notice a huge improvement in midbass response and your door panel won't be as prone to vibrating. You might want to get rid of the factory speaker bracket, also. It isn't very securely attached to the door panel at the bottom, and you might get some vibration from that. I made up a template a while ago, and if you want I can send you a template. Here's the post I made: http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=400890&highlight=speaker+adapter

To save yourself the headache of rewiring, I'd just move the amp for the moment. Then when you do get your amp, I'd just do the whole installation at once. If you do want a pair of 5x7's, I have the stockers from when I installed components. They're yours if you want them, you'll just have to run some wire from the HU to the doors.

Bill

dave96stang · Jan 14, 2004

Great, I think i'll have to go over to Wal-Mart and get that kit. As long as I keep the RCAs away from the power wire I think i'll be fine, even if the ends aren't that great. I had planned on building a custom amp rack once I have everything ready, so I could tape them if I have to and it shouldn't show.

With the ground cable, I'm assuming I will have to run ground cable from two amps into one grounding point (i'm planning on using a bolt from the back seat like most people do). Is this right?

Also, I have also planned on getting a Dynamat-type material for the doors. I've already Dynamatted the trunk, but I haven't fired up my sub yet to see how it does.

About the bracket, I've seen your other posts regarding this and i'm sure how to do it, so that won't be a problem.

I guess this project will start Saturday morning then...
Thanks for all the help!

BBrinks · Jan 14, 2004

You're right about the ground. I use the bolt for the rear seatbelt and it works great. Looking at your list of what you want to use for amps, you should be fine with the 8 ga. wire. The 2100 should be a great amp for the comps. Just to let you know, I've heard it gets pretty warm, so make sure the amp rack you build is well ventilated or has a couple of fans cooling it.

Good luck on the project. If you need any more help, just let me know.
Bill

dave96stang · Jan 15, 2004

I had some free time today so I figured I'd just go fiddle around in the trunk. I unplugged the amp for the rear woofers, then tested to make sure it really disconnected them. I turned on my stereo to see what happened, and the rear woofers weren't playing (what I wanted to accomplish), the front woofers still worked (also what I wanted),but to my surprise, the rear tweeters were still playing. I searched up and down the sound board, but I could not find a set of wires leading into the board.

So, my question is, Does anyone know where these wires lead in, and is there a wiring harness or such that I can just disconnect to make my rear tweeters stop playing?

Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Dave

BBrinks · Jan 15, 2004

The amp for the tweeters is behind and under the head unit. I can't remember the wires that lead from the amp to the rears, though. It powers the front and rear tweets, so be careful to not disconnect the wrong wires. I don't have acrobat reader on this computer, but I think this'll tell you: http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/Ford-Wiring.pdf I have the wiring diagram for the stock system, but not the mach.

EDIT: Here's a couple of links you might want:
http://www.flemworld.com/Mach460/MachSch/RadioDiagrams.ZIP
http://www.flemworld.com/Mach460/mach.html#Mach 1000 Overview

grodgers · Jan 16, 2004

needs to be sticky!!

BBrinks said:
The amp for the tweeters is behind and under the head unit. I can't remember the wires that lead from the amp to the rears, though. It powers the front and rear tweets, so be careful to not disconnect the wrong wires. I don't have acrobat reader on this computer, but I think this'll tell you: http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/Ford-Wiring.pdf I have the wiring diagram for the stock system, but not the mach.

EDIT: Here's a couple of links you might want:
http://www.flemworld.com/Mach460/MachSch/RadioDiagrams.ZIP
http://www.flemworld.com/Mach460/mach.html#Mach 1000 Overview

That is some of the most useful information I've seen - This post should be a sticky one.

dave96stang · Jan 20, 2004

Well, I got alot done this weekend. Saturday morning I dropped the soundboard and reconnected the amp for the fronts woofers. Monday I finished my box and amp rack. I'll try to get pics up ASAP. Thanks guys for all the help.

BBrinks · Jan 20, 2004

Glad to hear everything went smoothly. Where'd you end up moving the amp?

grodgers · Jan 21, 2004

Wires for tweeters...

dave96stang said:
I had some free time today so I figured I'd just go fiddle around in the trunk. I unplugged the amp for the rear woofers, then tested to make sure it really disconnected them. I turned on my stereo to see what happened, and the rear woofers weren't playing (what I wanted to accomplish), the front woofers still worked (also what I wanted),but to my surprise, the rear tweeters were still playing. I searched up and down the sound board, but I could not find a set of wires leading into the board.

So, my question is, Does anyone know where these wires lead in, and is there a wiring harness or such that I can just disconnect to make my rear tweeters stop playing?

Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Dave

Dave, I forgot to answer your question earlier ;-)

The wires for the high-range speakers enter the mach460 unit at the top. I don't think you can even access the wires unless you drop the entire 460 unit (and be careful - after you removed the 6 nuts holding the unit up, it'll want to drop, but the speaker wires for the high-ranges aren't long enough for it to drop to the floor of the trunk - IOW, make sure you have something to support the 460 unit so you can drop it 3-4 inches, and then remove the speaker clips.

Is that confusing enough?

dave96stang · Jan 21, 2004

Yeah it is confusing, but I still got it done. After taking the bolts out it didn't really just fall, so I wiggled it a little and it fell. I had help, so while held the board in place, the clips could be disconnected. As for the amp, well....it's just sitting there in the trunk with the wires attached to it. There wasn't enough slack in the wires, so I just freed up maybe 2-3 inches and that was enough for it to be able to sit on its side rested up against the fenderwell. That may sound like a bad idea, but i've driven probably put 100 miles on my car with it that way, and nothing has happened.

Anyway, the first part of the install went pretty smoothly. Now hopefully i'll seal my box with silicone and install the speaker terminal cup (when I find out where the heck I can get one, other than online), then get my sub blasting.

I'll post pics when I get them.
Thanks,
Dave

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