Fox Reinstalling Oem Stereo In 1990 Gt Convertible

stoopalini · Sep 17, 2015

I had a chance to install the new bulb and dry fit the radio and storage compartment today. I used this bulb (Sylvania 24 LL), and it works great.

The storage compartment is from the Radio Delete piece linked above. I did have to separate the storage piece from the radio delete plate, which wasn't so hard. It's creased along the line, so i gently flexed it back and forth until it separated along the crease.

Here's how it's looking with the pieces laid into place. I didn't push them in all the way, as I don't have the removal tool and didn't want to mess with finding something to remove it with afterward:

The screw holes are really going to bug me. I don't like the idea of painted screws or plastic caps or stickers or etc ... I think I will attempt to find some ABS plastic strips I can cut to fit along the sides. Done right, it should look pretty close to factory.

Any suggestions on where to look for something to cover the sides?

stoopalini · Sep 17, 2015

Mustang5L5 said:
Wish I had time to figure it out. There is a way to do it, and someone was selling OEM radios with AUX 3.5mm jacks in them on Ebay. He chimed in a few times, but for obvious reasons didn't reveal how it was being done.

I have the 1993 OEM CD player in my LX...which is as useless as a cassette deck because I no longer own CD's. I'd love to put a 3.5mm AUX jack in.

Check out the Mpow Streambot Y FM transmitter.

It's a device which connects to your phone, or MP3 player, VIA bluetooth, then retransmits the signal over an FM station which you tune the radio to.

Seems to have good reviews as well: The Best Bluetooth Kits for Every Car Stereo | The Wirecutter

Mustang5L5 · Sep 18, 2015

stoopalini said:
The screw holes are really going to bug me. I don't like the idea of painted screws or plastic caps or stickers or etc ... I think I will attempt to find some ABS plastic strips I can cut to fit along the sides. Done right, it should look pretty close to factory.

Any suggestions on where to look for something to cover the sides?

What I did for mine was use some filler and fill the holes up. Need to find one that wont shirnk when it dries. After it dries, sand the strips smooth, and paint. You can't even notice them anymore on mine

89oem · Sep 18, 2015

My kenwood CD multiplayer connected via a box that plugged into the antenna at the rear of the radio and you tuned it to 88.xx, prior to that I had a cassette that had a wire hanging off it and it connected to my Sony Walkman (discman) (yep walkman - dang that cars old).

Neither provided the sound clarity Im hoping for.... curious to see how the bluetooth cassette works

May just relearn all the wiring in it and soldier something in.

stoopalini · Sep 18, 2015

Mustang5L5 said:
What I did for mine was use some filler and fill the holes up. Need to find one that wont shirnk when it dries. After it dries, sand the strips smooth, and paint. You can't even notice them anymore on mine

That's a good idea, maybe a plastic welder would work here? Or something like this 2 Part Plastic Based Adhesive Epoxy. It's cheap enough to try, so I'll give it a go.

89oem said:
My kenwood CD multiplayer connected via a box that plugged into the antenna at the rear of the radio and you tuned it to 88.xx, prior to that I had a cassette that had a wire hanging off it and it connected to my Sony Walkman (discman) (yep walkman - dang that cars old).

Neither provided the sound clarity Im hoping for.... curious to see how the bluetooth cassette works

May just relearn all the wiring in it and soldier something in.

Ahh yes, the 'good-ole-days'. I had a 1979 5.0 Mustang back in the day, and also had the cassette adapter with the 1/8" input on it. I had my discman mounted on a small tray which was screwed into the center console

I hope to get the wiring all in place this weekend, and then I can test out the bluetooth cassette adapter. I do have an ear for sound quality (I'm a musician and a home theater geek), so I'll try to provide the best unbiased opinion I can, on what I think about it.

89oem · Sep 19, 2015

Lol, I used velcro,

Thanks for the (pending) bluetooth review!

a91what · Sep 19, 2015

Are you going to use sound deadener behind the speakers in the doors? I like to use dynomat but a cheap option is to get some heavy plastic and make a dry space behind the speaker (use adhesive to attach the plastic to the front of the door panel and make a bowl inside the speaker space).
Then fill that space with batting, (you can get it at any audio store or walmart) or use pillow fluff.
Enjoy more natural sound from your audio system and much lower distortion at higher sound levels.

stoopalini · Sep 19, 2015

I hadn't thought about filler, or deadener, behind the door speakers, but it is definitely something to consider. Thanks for the input!

I'm digging into the wiring today, and came across this blue box behind the HVAC controls. Not sure what it is, but it appears to be some sort of ECU or maybe BCM? Anyone know what this box is?

Riverart · Sep 19, 2015

I bit the bullet and put in an Alpine unit. Kept my stock radio though. I hated drilling the 4 holes but all in all, at least I have some choice of music. I can always swap in the old unit for kicks.

stoopalini · Sep 21, 2015

I finished the wiring and the reinstallation of the interior yesterday. It took a while to figure out the pinout from the headunit, but here is what I came up with:

Strange Ford would use the same color wires on a few of them. But I tested it afterward, and this is correct.

I ended up using 16/4 wire, to make the installation a bit easier; and here is how I adapted the harness. I simply cut the harness connector off of the body harness and soldered it onto the wires I ran.

I ran these to the trunk, then also ran new wires to the 6 speaker locations from the trunk. So all wires, including an amp install wire from the battery, are now converging into the trunk space. I don't have the amp or LOC yet, so I just used the passive MB Quart crossovers for the door and dash tweeters (MB Quart components), and connected the rear 6x9s (Diamond speakers) up as well.

The plan is to use all active crossovers in the amp I am going to buy to high pass the tweeters, band pass the door mids, and low pass the rears (with a subsonic filter as well, as not to destroy the speakers with <40hz tones).

In this config, it doesn't sound all that great due to being significantly underpowered, but it's good enough to verify all the wiring is correct. So now I just need to order the amp and converter and install those into the trunk.

As for the cassette bluetooth adapter, it works perfectly! The deck does make a bit of noise as the motor spins, but it's not too bad. I wonder if it'll get quieter the more I use it? It has been sitting in a closet for 15 years or so. The sound quality appears to be very good, but the only thing I can compare it to right now is the radio's tuner. The bluetooth definitely sounds better than the integrated tuner, although that's not saying much. At this stage, I'd say the bluetooth adapter is absolutely worth the $20 I paid for it. Once I have the rest of the system installed and tuned, I'll be able to give a better review on the sound quality from it.

stoopalini · Sep 30, 2015

The amplifier, line out converter, and some 6.5" subs were delivered today. Not sure if I'll get a chance to install them tonight though.

Precision Power BA2200.5 amplifier (high pass, band pass, and low pass capable 5 channel amp)
Audiocontrol LC7i (6 channel line out converter with bass control)
Tang Bang 6.5" subwoofers (these have received great reviews when performing in a infinite baffle setup, so no box required)

I'm hoping the 6.5" woofers will fit in the rear speaker locations. If they won't, I'll end up putting them in my GTO instead and look for something else for the mustang.

a91what · Sep 30, 2015

They might fit with a adapter plate... you could make one out of abs plastic sheet or thin plywood. It would have to sit inside the 5x7 location, I mean recessed behind the original mounting location. Then some blocks stapled to the plate so you could screw it into place.
This would allow the unmolested grills to fit back into place... keeping in mind there is a bar in that area of the panel. If no one uses the back seat a delete panel could be modified for the speakers and the install would look very clean.

stoopalini · Oct 1, 2015

They'll definitely need an adapter plate to fit, and I'm not so concerned about that part; it's the depth I am most concerned with. I got the line out converter and amp installed yesterday, and did some basic tuning, but it seems the LC7i converter's "auto on", or what they call "GTO", isn't working properly. It does switch on when the radio starts to send a signal, but the sound is extremely distorted, and then it shuts off after about 5 seconds. If I turn the GTO feature off, and apply 12v to the remote in line, it turns on and functions normally. But since I didn't run a remote line back to the trunk, I really want the auto turn on feature to work.

I'm going to call Audiocontrol today and see if there's something I'm missing, and also tear into one of the rear speakers cavities to see about the 6.5" subs being mounted.

A rear seat delete is definitely not an option here. Mainly for two reasons: It's my wife's weekend play car, and we have 2 small kids, and secondly, we really want to keep it as stock as possible (hence the reinstallation of the stock deck).

a91what · Oct 1, 2015

stoopalini said:
They'll definitely need an adapter plate to fit, and I'm not so concerned about that part; it's the depth I am most concerned with. I got the line out converter and amp installed yesterday, and did some basic tuning, but it seems the LC7i converter's "auto on", or what they call "GTO", isn't working properly. It does switch on when the radio starts to send a signal, but the sound is extremely distorted, and then it shuts off after about 5 seconds. If I turn the GTO feature off, and apply 12v to the remote in line, it turns on and functions normally. But since I didn't run a remote line back to the trunk, I really want the auto turn on feature to work.

I'm going to call Audiocontrol today and see if there's something I'm missing, and also tear into one of the rear speakers cavities to see about the 6.5" subs being mounted.

A rear seat delete is definitely not an option here. Mainly for two reasons: It's my wife's weekend play car, and we have 2 small kids, and secondly, we really want to keep it as stock as possible (hence the reinstallation of the stock deck).

Are these woofers small subs? Or do they output midrange? I have another option for you if they are just subs.

stoopalini · Oct 1, 2015

They're small subs. Pretty impressive specs for a 6.5" sub though.

I thought about finding a way to mount them to the back of the rear seat, under the convertible top well, but haven't really looked into it yet.

Nominal Diameter 6-1/2"
Power Handling (RMS) 50 Watts
Power Handling (max) 100 Watts
Impedance 4 ohms
Frequency Response 35 to 800 Hz
Sensitivity 83 dB 1W/1m
Voice Coil Diameter 1.52"
Magnet Weight 29.2 oz.

Resonant Frequency (Fs ) 35 Hz
DC Resistance (Re) 3.6 ohms
Voice Coil Inductance (Le) 0.47 mH
Mechanical Q (Qms) 2.65
Electromagnetic Q (Qes) 0.47
Total Q (Qts) 0.4
Compliance Equivalent Volume (Vas) 0.42 ft.³
Mechanical Compliance of Suspension (Cms) 0.6 mm/N
BL Product (BL) 8.47 Tm
Diaphragm Mass Inc. Airload (Mms) 39.91g
Maximum Linear Excursion (Xmax) 11.5 mm
Surface Area of Cone (Sd) 140 cm²

a91what · Oct 1, 2015

Mounting them back there would work if they done interfere with the top, also with the top down the sound may be muffled.

You could build a small baffle inside the rear arm rest area, the mount the subs in that location if they fit. No one would notice very small breather holes in the bottom section of that panel.

a91what · Oct 1, 2015

BTW I like what you are doing, when I did mine a few years ago I was building a car to show off at shows and got a little overboard....... still have not completed it needs little things.

stoopalini · Oct 1, 2015

I was thinking under the top well, not inside the well. There's a small space under the well, inside the trunk, right behind the rear seat. If I could get them to fit here, they would basically massage the rear passenger's lower back.

After I get the electronics all locked down and mounted, I'll go to work on sub placement. Right now, my biggest issue is the LC7i not auto powering on when a signal is received. I just ran a remote turn on wire though, so if tech support won't replace the unit, I'll use this.

Thanks for the encouragement. The plan for this car as a whole is to look and drive like a factory fresh 1990 Mustang GT. Nothing fancy, no real upgrades (maybe sub frame connectors, but that would be it). A stock quality ride with stock performance. Reinstalling the factory stereo helps in that goal, but adding the "behind-the-scenes" stereo equipment will make for a nice sounding system without changing the look.

a91what · Oct 1, 2015

I can never go back.... lol I have considered pulling it out many times, but I laid all that fiberglass and can't bring myself to pull it out. This is what happens when your friends only say "that's cool!" And not "it's a convertible bro"... oh well young and dumb.still needs the plates made for the seat belts..... I'm afraid to let this car leave my sight..... but I work so much I only put 2000 miles on her in the last 3 years..

stoopalini · Oct 1, 2015

Wow, you did go all out! That's fairly impressive work there. Too much for our project though. I don't even want to replace the factory wheels LOL!

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