I recently bought a VW and has no stereo, wired, speakers or anything its a baja beetle that may be important to note aswell since things are not set up just the same. So i was going to put the rear seat in, and then need to add everything but am not sure where to begine..
I did just buy the Watson Streetworks wiring harness ($350) so that should make things easier for the rest of the wiring, but now need to look at the audio.
For example, in my experiance with newer cars you can get a wiring harness so the stereo is plug and play and you dont need to splice wires, is there a generic one i can use so I dont need to splice the radio in?
I am not staying stock, i have an Alpine and a lot of speakers and 2 subs....
no stereo currently.. where to begin
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Re: no stereo currently.. where to begin
No such harness for an ACVW as they had one stock speaker, no amplifier/power antenna/illumination...radiant-designer wrote:For example, in my experiance with newer cars you can get a wiring harness so the stereo is plug and play and you dont need to splice wires, is there a generic one i can use so I dont need to splice the radio in?
I am not staying stock, i have an Alpine and a lot of speakers and 2 subs....
Basic head unit wiring with external amps uses - ground, two sources of power (switched/constant), illumination light, and amp-turn on wire...RCA's to your amps and wire in your speakers accordingly.
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Son of Marc
Son of Marc
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I've got a legacy red 1000w bridged amp, two 12" MTX subs, 2 alpine 6 inch speakers in the back, and two alpine 5 inch (i think) speakers in the doors.
It was actually pretty easy to go from no sound, to sound. All you have to do is get the stereo to fit in the hole in the dash, run your own wires under the carpet between the seats and up under the rear seat and into the rear sextion (run two lengths of dual strand speaker wire, presumably two RCA lines, and a power on wire for the amp).
I ended up just building a sub/speaker box for the back. Sorta a trapezoid shape for the top, and just a simple box underneath. I used some foam on the sides and the front to use the back seat to sort of 'pin' the box in.
At that point it was just a matter of cutting out the proper holes in the box (make sure its sealed, subs wont work if they're open at the back (technically not correct but i dont think you're building a properly ported setup anyway) and get all the wires hooked up right.
Door speakers were actually pretty easy. Turns out, at least in the 72 (my car) in the door skins themselves there are already round holes punched into the metal. They're roughly the same size and roughly the same location. All i did was drill some more holes where the speaker frames mount, slightly bend the window regulator track (not the window track, the actuator track dealy, its bendable) out of the way, and mount the speakers right in those round holes. Dont quote me, but i think the passenger size is 6 inches, and the drivers side is 5.5.
I ended up running the speaker wire back through into the door cavity, then i pushed a bit of grommet out of the way for the door contact switch, then ran the wire out the door swing limiter hole, through the contact switch grommet then up into the luggage space for the stereo. I reupholstered my car on the interior, so what you'll actually end up doing is properly locating the speaker on the door card itself, then cutting a hole through it and the vinyl, then maybe finishing it with a little right angle trim or something around the hole. Course, you can put a speaker wherever you want, just make sure it doesnt interfere with any door workings.
As far as getting the door cards to work with the speakers, you might be on your own with that one. Where the holes are are right near the window cranks, so you'll either need to get a pretty speaker and live with not having a valence over it, or get a taller window crank, as stock is flat against the door, and anything sticking up will contact with it.
Something else you can do is get speaker enclosures for the front speakers, i believe they go up against the 'firewall roof" on the inside of the car and they screw into the body, or something. I think jbug sells them, i wanted to do the door speakers cause it was cheaper, looked better, plus theres enough crap in my car without there being hideous felt boxes stuck all over the inside.
Speaking of sounds, if you havent done it already, i'd definitely recommend chipping/peeling off as much of the old sound deadening material off the rear firewall as you can, then getting either "Frost King" duct insulation stuff (it's what i use, it works fabulous, its cheap, and its easy to use. Check lowes near the duct/ac stuff, its a big aluminum foil looking roll of sticky foam, it's awesome) ooooor you can use something like dynamat or any other kind of asphalt sticky paper crap. After that, i'd get some landau top foam (quarter inch white closed cell foam you use for vinyl tops) cut it out to fit over the rear firewall, get your favorite color of vinyl, then sprayglue the whole kit and kaboodle to the rear firewall. Not only will it look great, but you'll be absolutely chuffed at how much noise it cuts out. The less outside noise you have, the better your system will sound.
It was actually pretty easy to go from no sound, to sound. All you have to do is get the stereo to fit in the hole in the dash, run your own wires under the carpet between the seats and up under the rear seat and into the rear sextion (run two lengths of dual strand speaker wire, presumably two RCA lines, and a power on wire for the amp).
I ended up just building a sub/speaker box for the back. Sorta a trapezoid shape for the top, and just a simple box underneath. I used some foam on the sides and the front to use the back seat to sort of 'pin' the box in.
At that point it was just a matter of cutting out the proper holes in the box (make sure its sealed, subs wont work if they're open at the back (technically not correct but i dont think you're building a properly ported setup anyway) and get all the wires hooked up right.
Door speakers were actually pretty easy. Turns out, at least in the 72 (my car) in the door skins themselves there are already round holes punched into the metal. They're roughly the same size and roughly the same location. All i did was drill some more holes where the speaker frames mount, slightly bend the window regulator track (not the window track, the actuator track dealy, its bendable) out of the way, and mount the speakers right in those round holes. Dont quote me, but i think the passenger size is 6 inches, and the drivers side is 5.5.
I ended up running the speaker wire back through into the door cavity, then i pushed a bit of grommet out of the way for the door contact switch, then ran the wire out the door swing limiter hole, through the contact switch grommet then up into the luggage space for the stereo. I reupholstered my car on the interior, so what you'll actually end up doing is properly locating the speaker on the door card itself, then cutting a hole through it and the vinyl, then maybe finishing it with a little right angle trim or something around the hole. Course, you can put a speaker wherever you want, just make sure it doesnt interfere with any door workings.
As far as getting the door cards to work with the speakers, you might be on your own with that one. Where the holes are are right near the window cranks, so you'll either need to get a pretty speaker and live with not having a valence over it, or get a taller window crank, as stock is flat against the door, and anything sticking up will contact with it.
Something else you can do is get speaker enclosures for the front speakers, i believe they go up against the 'firewall roof" on the inside of the car and they screw into the body, or something. I think jbug sells them, i wanted to do the door speakers cause it was cheaper, looked better, plus theres enough crap in my car without there being hideous felt boxes stuck all over the inside.
Speaking of sounds, if you havent done it already, i'd definitely recommend chipping/peeling off as much of the old sound deadening material off the rear firewall as you can, then getting either "Frost King" duct insulation stuff (it's what i use, it works fabulous, its cheap, and its easy to use. Check lowes near the duct/ac stuff, its a big aluminum foil looking roll of sticky foam, it's awesome) ooooor you can use something like dynamat or any other kind of asphalt sticky paper crap. After that, i'd get some landau top foam (quarter inch white closed cell foam you use for vinyl tops) cut it out to fit over the rear firewall, get your favorite color of vinyl, then sprayglue the whole kit and kaboodle to the rear firewall. Not only will it look great, but you'll be absolutely chuffed at how much noise it cuts out. The less outside noise you have, the better your system will sound.