Dash Safe Stereo Install
You can read about this here on FordMuscle.com.
When I got my mustang the previous owner had put in a AM/FM cassette stereo and some kick panels with speakers. The stereo was not hooked up right and was killing the radio and the speakers sounded terrible. At that time I didn't care and had decided to pull that out and install a CD player in my dash. Since then I have learned a lot about mustangs and the rules that classic mustang owners live by. One rule is 'thy shall not cut thy dash' or something like that. Basically, many folks feel that cutting the dash is just plan old wrong. I feel you should do what you want with your car. So I have no problems with cutting your dash. Now with that said I have decided that at this time I will not cut my dash. Instead of cutting my dash I want to install a Shelby radio delete panel and put my stereo in a different place.
So where else can I put my stereo you ask? Well some folks have spent the money for after market units that are made to fit the stock dash. I feel those are way over priced. Other folks keep the stock radio and are happy with that. Then there are many other options, cd shuttles, mp3 players, stereos installed in the glove box, etc. If you are creative I am sure you can find something that will work for you. I went with the under the dash approach so for now, my stock radio location will not go under the knife.
InstallationInstallation of my stereo is pretty straight forward. I just installed a new rehabbed wire harness so I know where all my wire ends are. Because of that I have a battery power (clock power on harness), an ignition power (comes off the ignition), and a ground all ready to go. |
Speaker install
The speakers that I got with the car in the front kick panels were terrible. I wanted to upgrade that with this stereo project. Of course I keep it affordable and bought some $30 speakers. I had some problems getting these new 5.25" speakers to fit. I put them in the kick panels and tried to put them into place but the magnet on the back of the speakers are way to big to fit with out issue. So I decided the best way to deal with this was to make a spacer. I read about this on some sites and then spoke to my neighbor who is into stereo stuff and he also made the same suggestion. So I cut out some spacers and took my time to be sure they looked good. Painted them up and installed. This is so easy I won't post any other info on it. I did paint them black and they do look darker than the photos show. After that I added some insulation in behind the kick panel to both insulate and provide some cover/protection to the speakers. Looks good don't you think? All in all I am happy with the install. |
Finished!!!I am very happy with the finished results! The stereo sounds really good. I took my time and every thing went smooth. I do wish that I had a stereo that played mp 3s and also had a remote. Maybe later I can come up with that. The only down side right now is that one of my 6x9s has a pop so at some point I will replace the 6x9s as well. Maybe I will get a set that matches my front speakers. |