Retro audio build.

[octanejunkie]

I'm doing an audio build in my Tech 1.
I've tried several different head units with the speakers that are already in the car, but it just sounds rubbish. Coupled with the fact that its all been very poorly wired in with crappy little speaker cable. I decided i'm going to rip all out and start again.
Being that the car is from 1987, i wanted something in keeping with the cars age.
I don't want modern flashy items with bright anodised components, and flashing LED's. I want something that looks like it should be there, if ya know what i mean.
When i cast my mind back to the late eighties/early nineties, most decent systems (that i saw) were running Kenwood or Alpine stuff.
I've had some dealings with Kenwood over the years, and wasn't a huge fan. Not saying they're no good, just that i've had the odd quality issue with them in the past.
So, Alpine it is..
I've been busy making calls and trawling the net over the last couple of weeks, and have now amassed most of what i need to start.
I got hold of a head unit and multichanger. The head unit is a TDM-7535, which when new retailed for almost £400
I also got a CHM-S601 multichanger to go with it.



I got a pair of SCS-1356 component speakers with built in crossovers and seperate tweeters. Thes will go in the kick panels with tweeters sat on the door mirror plates.
I got hold of a sub from Ebay. Not sure exactly what model it is, and its probably the most modern of the components i've bought, but it came with a ready made box, and cost me only £26!
I've tested it and it knocks out some good bass for a small unit so i'm happy




I'm still undecided about what to put in the parcel shelf. I've got some old Alpine 6X9's on the way, but i'm not sure if i want to install speakers that big back there. We'll see when they arrive. I may try and get another set of the SCS.

For the amps i've gone for an old 4 channel unit that seems to get much love on the web, the 3555.
I've also got hold of its little brother, the 3522.
My intention was to use the 4 channel unit to power the 4 speakers, and the 2 channel to power the sub, but i may use the 4 channel for the front speakers and the sub, and the 2 channel for the parcel shelf units, as its not as powerful as the 4 channel.
Suggestions would be appreciated on this.




I've bought a FLI installation kit, to give me most of the wiring, and i've had some MDF cut today for the boot enclosure.
I've got loads of top spec speaker cable left over from some of the home theatre builds that i've done, so i'm sorted there. Looking forward to getting some decent sounds in the old girl.

[octanejunkie]

Last night i started to build the boot enclosure/box. I had two pieces of MDF cut to size by the local DIY shop. Then i took the front panel round to the father in laws place to get the hole cut for the sub. I won't go into how we cut that out, as it was highly dangerous and he nearly killed us both
So this is the front panel with the hole cut out and smaller holes drilled and counter sunk to mount the sub box behind it.



It was a simple matter of screwing the panel to the pre made sub box. Then screwing the top panel on the errr... top




Next, on the bench, i got some thick felt cut roughly to size, gave the whole front panel a good spray with adhesive, and stuck it down. I chose to use felt as its very easy to manipulate for an amateur like me, and has a certain amount of give and stretch. I'm also pretty low on funds, and it was cheap!




To give the unit some added strength, and tidy the edges, i cut some bits of ply into triangles and covered them with the felt. It was then a matter of just screwing them on. They won't be visible when the unit is installed, so i wasn't too worried about visible screws.



After giving it a short time to dry, i carefully cut the felt away from the sub hole and screwed in the sub.



Then it was a case of mounting the amps. Simple in practice, but fiddly with just one pair of hands.



I then started putting in some preliminary wiring. I want the unit to be able to be removed quickly if necessary, so i used some good quality quick release connectors mounted on the back of the unit, which will make it easy to disconnect all the speakers. The whole thing will be able to be removed in two minutes if required.






I started stripping the interior today to route all of the new wiring and install the head unit and changer. Pictures to follow soon. If anyones watching......

[Raj_p]

Very nice, cant wait to see what it looks like in the car....

Are you planning on the 6x9's on the rear? I was going to do this, as i have done in the past, but i think some decent 6.5's would do the job

[octanejunkie]

Well, i have got some 6X9's on the way, but i'll only fit them if i can get them in without chopping anything about. I want the car to appear stock, and i'm not sure i'll be able to squeeze them in. I'll see what they're like when they turn up.

[mrLEE30]

no doubt there will be many here who whinge about 6x9's saying they are no good blah blah blah, so that aside:

you cannot fit 6x9 in without chopping the rear shelf, you cannot fit larger 6x9's in without modification or chopping the metal

I fit some quite deep 6x9s in my sport, but obviously was not prepared to cut the metal, so i removed the rear shelf, then cut a piece of plywood (3/4 inch thick) to fit under the parcel shelf



this raised the parcel shelf enough to gain more clearance for the magnets, yet the shelf is not raised too much that is is noticanble from the outside (or inside once fixed down and seat back in place) - there are loads of spare holes under the shelf to fix the wood down using nuts and bolts. then its a case of cutting the wood to match the speaker cut outs, then fix the wood to the car with nuts and bolts, and the speakers to the rear shelf and the wood using long wood screws.

in my case i needed even more clearance so i made wooden spacer rings for the speakers to fit on





then painted them black, but we dont have car crime issues like you lot so rasing them so much may not be good in UK

[unmol]

Thats gonna be a nice setup, do them alpine tweeters fit straight into the tweeter pods?

[octanejunkie]

My car hasn't got tweeter pods, but they will mount easily onto the mirror plate. They do come with various adaptors to enable flush or angled fitting though.