Upgrading to Mach 460

[MehakGT]

Is it possible to upgrade my 95GT with Mach 460 parts? I'm looking at tweeter pods and the rear speaker deck.

Will parts from any 94-98 fit ok?

Can anybody offer some advice?

Thanks.

 

[5.0_GT_kid]

Yes it is possible, and in fact I am soing it very soon to my car.

It's a bit of a PITA to do, and lots of people here will tell you not to do it, but when I do mine I will be taking pictures and doing a writeup..so that will be of some help.

Also you can use any parts from 94-2000 (and even some 2001) cars, and as a matter of fact my setup is coming out of a 1999 GT. The Mach 460 is the same on all cars except when they made the switch to the double din headunit with internal amp, and those with the Mach 1000 add-on.

You can go here for some great info on the Mach 460. http://flemworld.com/Mach460/mach.html

 

[MehakGT]

Is it possible to run the front tweeters and rear speakers without the Mach 460 amps? I have an aftermarket head unit.

 

[5.0_GT_kid]

Is it possible to run the front tweeters and rear speakers without the Mach 460 amps? I have an aftermarket head unit.

They make an adapter that lets you run the entire Mach 460 system with aftermarket headunit. (Actually, now that I think about that, it may bypass the amps, but I am not 100% sure.)

 

[sidneyandgary]

I just put amps on Ebay

I just put all 3 of the amps from my Cobra on Ebay if you need them.
Auction starts in a couple of hours. Buy it now price is 55.00 for all three. Search for sidneyandgary as the user id.

 

[DaveB]

They make an adapter that lets you run the entire Mach 460 system with aftermarket headunit. (Actually, now that I think about that, it may bypass the amps, but I am not 100% sure.)

No, the Mach amps will still power the speakers. When I got an aftermarket headunit it made a world of a difference. To be honest I wasnt too impressed with the way it sounded with the factory HU, but once I put in an aftermarket, wow, it sounded completely better. Dont use the factory head units.

 

[5.0_GT_kid]

Thanks for clearing that up Dan. I'm not too much of an audiophile and will be using stock head units in mine.

 

[RFMustangGT]

IMO, it would be sooo much easier to just do an aftermarket head unit and speakers all the way around. the Mach 460 is pretty decent if you have it but if you're going to try and put one in I would just go aftermarket. The Mach would be a harder install than buying aftermarket stuff which you can do things the way you like it. even if you are not much of a sound person, an aftermarket will be so much nicer down the road.

 

[jasonlee0704]

I've already upgraded mine to a Mach 460 system. Hardest part of the installation was finding all the different parts on eBay.

PARTS:

Mach radio/tape player
Optional: CD player
Mach front amp (mounts underneath the CD player, has 3 wiring plug connections instead of the normal 2)

2 Mach door tweeters
2 Mach door 6"x8" speakers (marked with "Z" on the magnet)
Mach rear speaker package tray, containing:
2 Mach rear 6"x8" speakers (different from door speakers by wiring connection)
2 Mach rear amps
Mach package tray wiring harness

Mach radio wiring harness (NOTE: there are separate harnesses for Mach systems with/without CD players)
Mach front wiring harness (runs from driver's kick panel to rear of door frame)
Mach rear wiring harness (runs from rear of door frame to package tray)

Optional: Mach rear package tray cover
Door trim panels with cutouts at the top to fit Mach tweeters

INSTALLATION:

Before beginning, I took out the driver's seat to give me more space to work in. You'll have to remove the driver's kick panel, the driver's sill plate, and the driver's side rear quarter trim panel and lift up the carpet to run the front-to-back wiring. The rear seat and passenger's side rear quarter trim panel need to be removed, IIRC, to get the normal package tray cover off, the speakers out, and the package tray installed. The door trim panels need to be removed to install the door speakers and tweeters.

Step 1: Remove the normal radio, radio wiring harness, and CD player if you have one. REMEMBER which plugs go where on the radio wiring harness. The Mach radio wiring harness is similar - it just has more plugs.

Step 2: Remove the normal front amp inside the dash.

Step 3: Install the Mach front amp in its place.

Step 4: Run the Mach radio wiring harness - it'll go from the center dash radio (and optionally the CD), plug into the Mach front amp, plug into the speaker connections, plug into a (power connection?), run under the instrument panel, screw into a ground on the fuse box under the instrument panel, and end at a spot underneath the driver's kick panel where the Mach front wiring harness will plug in.

Step 5: Remove the normal package tray cover, and the normal rear speakers. The wiring connections for the rear speakers will have plug-in spots on the Mach rear package tray.

Step 6: Install the Mach rear package tray. It comes UP into its rightful place from the trunk, so either have a friend hold it for you or prop it up with some textbooks/phone books (what I did) in the trunk while you screw the nuts on top to hold it from the rear seating space. Plug in the speaker connections to the package tray.

Step 7: Connect the Mach front and rear wiring harnesses and run it from the driver's kick panel to the package tray.

Step 8: Remove the normal door speakers. NOTE: The normal door speaker wiring connections are actually the connections that will go to the Mach TWEETERS. The wiring connections that will plug into the Mach door speakers are actually taped to main door wiring harness, unused until now. If you get this backwards, you will get the interesting effect (like I did) of pumping the bass signal through the tweeters.

Step 9: Install the door tweeters. Mine didn't come with screws, so I had to run to Lowe's and get some metric-sized small, short screws. I don't remember the actual size. Plug the normal door speaker wiring plugs into the tweeters.

Step 10: Untape the Mach door speaker wiring plugs, plug into the Mach door speakers, and install the Mach door speakers.

Now put all of your interior back together. You should be ready to go! It took me about 3 hours to take everything out and put it all back together. A faster worker with help could probably do it in about 1, 1.5 hours.

I don't think I missed anything. I upgraded it over a year ago, so my memory might have skipped something. If you have a question, feel free to ask.

 

[jasonlee0704]

IMO, it would be sooo much easier to just do an aftermarket head unit and speakers all the way around. the Mach 460 is pretty decent if you have it but if you're going to try and put one in I would just go aftermarket. The Mach would be a harder install than buying aftermarket stuff which you can do things the way you like it. even if you are not much of a sound person, an aftermarket will be so much nicer down the road.

I definitely agree about a high-end aftermarket system sounding better, and figuring out where everything went for the Mach system was a royal PITA, but there are two upsides:

1) It looks completely stock, because it is, and for those of us who don't like the shiny, flashy Alpine/Eclipse head units or the Pimp-My-Ride sub boxes, it's a nice alternative while still sounding a world better than the normal stereo.

2) It's damn cheap. I got all of the system components and wiring off of eBay for about the cost of a lower-end Alpine head. ~$250.

 

[scarless]

I definitely agree about a high-end aftermarket system sounding better

I agree. I have a 460 stock. I tried to install a stock replacement CD and ended up just getting an new Panisonic head unit (4 preamp outs). I run the new unit through the 460 amps, but If I were to start from scratch I'd just redo the whole thing and run new wires. You will spend a fortune on ebay getting all the parts and harnesses. You could get the sub-boxes and stuff at a bone yard and use them as speaker mounts.

 

[5.0_GT_kid]

I definitely agree about a high-end aftermarket system sounding better, and figuring out where everything went for the Mach system was a royal PITA, but there are two upsides:

1) It looks completely stock, because it is, and for those of us who don't like the shiny, flashy Alpine/Eclipse head units or the Pimp-My-Ride sub boxes, it's a nice alternative while still sounding a world better than the normal stereo.

2) It's damn cheap. I got all of the system components and wiring off of eBay for about the cost of a lower-end Alpine head. ~$250.

That's the main reason I want to do mine....stock look, cheap ($100 for complete system) and good sound quality.

 

[scarless]

Good luck getting the full system with harness for $100.

 

[5.0_GT_kid]

Good luck getting the full system with harness for $100.

Already have, the only thing not included was the rear speaker cover.

 

[mustangsammym]

I have the stock mach460.
I replaced headunit with a JVC EXAD touchscreen unit and it sounds great!!!
But when i broke down and bought all new 6X8's all around and installed them i have a problem.
At high volumes the mach 460 amps cut out as if they are going into protection mode the they turn back on after a few moments
but at low levels they sound tons better than stock speakers.

 

[5.0_GT_kid]

Ok here is my question...are the actual door panels different on Mach 460 equipped cars?

Mine are in really good shape and I don't want to have to replace them if I can just modify mine to fit the Mach 460 pieces.

 

[18mustangs]

Ok here is my question...are the actual door panels different on Mach 460 equipped cars?

Mine are in really good shape and I don't want to have to replace them if I can just modify mine to fit the Mach 460 pieces.

The Mach 460 door panels have a section near the front top that is trimmed to allow the tweeters to fit. You can simply cut yours (remember the old saying to measure twice and cut once).

 

[Caldwell]

IMO, it would be sooo much easier to just do an aftermarket head unit and speakers all the way around. the Mach 460 is pretty decent if you have it but if you're going to try and put one in I would just go aftermarket. The Mach would be a harder install than buying aftermarket stuff which you can do things the way you like it. even if you are not much of a sound person, an aftermarket will be so much nicer down the road.

I like my mach 460
but meh... it's not that nice to upgrade to.
i would like to get a better system.

 

[5.0_GT_kid]

The Mach 460 door panels have a section near the front top that is trimmed to allow the tweeters to fit. You can simply cut yours (remember the old saying to measure twice and cut once).

Ok that works for me.