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Andrew10AE
01-04-2003, 10:02 PM
Ok everyone... I've had my Marauder less then a week and the back seat has been out allready :) So I'm working on a new stereo install - the head unit is ready to go but the harness wont be here until monday... thats ok, though...

so at this point the factory subwoofer & amp have been removed and the Sirius receiver has been mounted along the back of the rear seat in the trunk (perfect, hidden location).

Now comes time to mount the subwoofer. Its an Infinity Basslink so it fits perfectly on the shelf next to the spare tire right where the old sub was hanging. Now I can build a bracket and make it hang, but thats not going to be an easy task. I would much perfer to just drill 4 holes and screw it right down to that shelf area. Unfortuantely I have a nagging feeling thats exactly where the gas tank is :) But... because I have seen a bunch of "Equipment Shelves" mounted there, I hold some hope... anyone know if its safe to drill there?

Thanks in advance...

-Andrew

Directedby
01-04-2003, 10:07 PM
Be careful or this could be you :bounce: :flamer:

Also, for liabilty reasons, this might not be a safe question to answer.

Andrew10AE
01-04-2003, 10:08 PM
LOL... specifically, I want to know how those equipment trays are mounted. I belive thats an OEM part from Ford...

And yeah, thanks - I dont want to be a crispy critter :)

RCSignals
01-04-2003, 11:00 PM
Personally i wouldn't drill into that shelf. The gas tank is behind it, and even if you don't hit the tank, you will have screw ends aimed at it.

Can you mount it to the metal divider that separates the trunk area from the passenger area? That is where the Police rear fuse panel mounts, and I think where the equipment pull-out shelf tray mounts

Andrew10AE
01-04-2003, 11:04 PM
Thats where I have my Sirius receiver mounted... using factory holes no less! Someone on CVN described how he mounted his to that area using an aluminum bracket system... I think I'm going to see if I can fab a way to hang it like the factory sub is, from the package tray... weight is about the same as the factory sub... all I need to do is figure out how to get it to clear the trunk rods and be stable at the same time... hmm... looks like another project for the light time tomorrow, unless I head back over the the 1st aid building and use the garage... which isnt going to happen tonight :)

RCSignals
01-05-2003, 12:05 AM
You could attach a plywood panel that would sit over the "shelf" using triangular brackets connecting to the seatback/trunk divider. Attach the sub-woofer to the plywood. That way there may not be interference with the Sirus receiver.

Andrew10AE
01-05-2003, 12:12 AM
Thats one of my 2 options... I would need to carpet it so it looks good, and I need to figure out how to make it stable enough to it doesnt vibrate... the other option is to mount the brackets to the seat back/divider and put in support "columns" that connect to the holes in the pakcage tray where the factory sub was mounted. That way I get the support of both the back and the top...

I'll have to get in there with some paper and make some templates, see how everything fits...

other option is to build the mount like a lazy "L" - MDF bottom and maybe a pine back angled to mount against the seat back, with triangular parts on the sides for added stability... add carpet to that and it might not look too out of place... then I would have to move the satelite receiver, but thats not that big of a deal - I'll just put it on the outside of the drivers side "triangle" part of the mount... I think this is starting to come together, idea wise at least :)

-Andrew

Andrew10AE
01-05-2003, 06:51 PM
OK... well, I'm not going to be drilling near the gas tank, so I decided to build a bracket to hold the Basslink in the stock location of the factory subwoofer. It is considerably larger, but it fits there nicely. Added to that, I can use the factory power connection, which is a 25A circuit, because the Basslink only requires a 20A circuit. Now all I need to do is see if I can find a matching connector so I dont have to tap into the wires (last resort) because the wiring from the factory subwoofer is staying intact (I dont want to mess it up)....

so here is what I did... 1st I measured the angle that the seat back is to the shelf next to the spare tire. 67 deg., give or take a smidge... next I fabbed up a bracket using a base of a 16"x16"x1" pine board and added side pieces that had the back angle cut to the right angle. I then added a board across the back, with a little air vent at the bottom, so that I will have a good amount of space to screw/bolt into when I get the seat back off again tomorrow. I'm not sure if I will be using wood screws in the factory hols, or drilling holes in the back part and using nut/bolt sets yet. Probably the latter, but I'm not 100% sure yet.... I'll play that part by ear...

now for the pictures of the completed bracket, covered in close matching marine grade carpet (both stapled and 3M spray adhesive glued on to the wood), plus the Basslink screwed down to it...

RCSignals
01-05-2003, 08:54 PM
Looking Good Andrew

Reaper948
01-05-2003, 10:55 PM
Are you really experienced with sound systems? Because I want to improve this one, I don't think it has enough bass, but i don't really want to replace the head unit, I just want to change the Amp, and maybe in time the sub. Do you think I can just get a new amp and replace the one that's in our car already? or do amps come in different sizes....and what kind of effects does the amp have....is it better just to get a new sub? Do i have to change the battery for a new power source for the sound system?

thanks

Andrew10AE
01-05-2003, 11:09 PM
Hmm... replacing just the amp that is there is going to be difficult... remember that the 1st thing to check is that the rubber sheet has the cut out acctually removed. Most of our cars had this left in - basically there is a foam and rubber sheet behind the seat and under the package tray. Above the subwoofer there is a punch out panel that should be removed to let more sound into the car... thats the 1st thing to try.

The other thing would be to replace the whole subwoofer/amp combo at once. Remember that the amp is only driving the subwoofer - the headunit drives all of the other speakers. With the wiring that these cars have, installing an Infinity Basslink like the one I have is a sinch with the factory system. The big problem is mounting it. I'm connecting it to RCA imputs from my new headunit, but you can connect it to the rear speakers connectors as well - that way it can be driven without running any wires -

1. remove old sub/amp box (require remval of package shelf which requires removal of rear seat).

2. Connect Basslink to rear speaker wires with taps. (easy to do)

3. Connect basslink to power - you can tap into the power/ground connections that are allready there.

4. the hard part - mount the thing withouth drilling into gas tank :)

thats where my bracket above comes into play. I'll let you know how it works out in the car... I'll also take some pictures so you can see the finished product.

If you wanted to try something like this, considering you are in NJ as well, I would be willing to help. A basslink is a good deal - $400 from Crutchfield, but you can get them for around $200 on ebay, brand new. I'm also mounting the remote bass level control inside my glove box - a very very easy thing to do...

I'll let you know how it sounds & looks once I'm all done getting it in.

Reaper948
01-06-2003, 04:22 PM
OK THANKS!

GarageMahal
01-06-2003, 05:01 PM
Andrew, does your new head unit take advantage of the controls on the steering wheel (volume, etc)?

I have become addicted :up: control.

jta

Andrew10AE
01-07-2003, 01:00 PM
Unfortunately no aftermarket system can directly take advantage of the steering wheel controls. There is a solution though - PAC (Pacific Accessory Corporation) makes something called the SWI-X (Steering Wheel Interface - X). This basically connects to the steering wheel (the small light blue/red wire on the radio wire harness - on the bottom near the middle... dont mix it up with the bigger blue/red power wire above) and then "learns" commands from the inferred remote control that comes with the head unit. So if your aftermarket stereo has no remote control, you are SOL. it also doesnt work with some Sony units (see www.go2pac.com for compatibility). The marauder isnt listed there but I know it works because I did it. Just follow the instructions for Crown Vic/Grand Marquis - White wire to the lt. blue/red wire I mentnioned above, mode 3.

I ended up programming mine and then mounting it behind the stereo. Because there isnt much room back there, I jammed the entire (well, not really jammed) little box in the space above and behind the stereo - once the stereo is out, you can feel a space above it all the way in the back. Perfect fit!

Now for mounting of the IR LED (remember this mimics a remote control - so it needs to have this pointed at the head unit). I ended up extending it (4' was not enough - just a simple 2 wire cable works - the one it comes with has 3 wires, but cut it in 1/2 and extend the black and red wires and ignore the white one). Then I ran it down behind the guages (where all my other wires run - RCAs, Sirius control, etc) and across the floor (behind the peddals, under the carpet) and then over to the left side, where if you pull the door moulding off, you have a nice channel to run wires...

I ran it all the way up to the top and then under the front of the headliner and then taped it to the plastic thing that holds the power wire for the rear view mirror, and then taped the LED facing downward from the rearview pointing at the stereo. Its hard to do neatly, but now that I did it you couldnt tell it was installed unless you knew to look for it.

It works very well - not quite as well as the direct wired approach the factory takes, but well enough that I found myself using the steering controls all morning on my drive down to MD. I set the volume buttons, the "next" button to the >> (CD Track next, next radio station, next Sirius station), and the Mode button to the "Source" select which allows me to turn the unit on and off and change sources. Your options may vary depending on the buttons on your head units remote control


-Andrew