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I guess what I wanted to accomplish most was to get the technology creature comforts of a newer car as well as improve the overall sound quality of the stock stereo system. I wanted to do as little customization as possible. I wasn't interested in doing any major surgery to the interior of the car. I found my options fairly limited, especially when it came to speakers. I chose a Pioneer head unit with Wireless Android Auto capabilities. I found some MB Quart 8" low-profile subs that would fit in the stock door location with only minimal difficulties. They also have a nice 3 1/2" two way setup to accompany the subs in the stock door speaker assembly. The matching MB Quart speakers I initially purchased for the rear location required too much effort (they were too deep) so I ended up sending them back. I went with a set of Kicker 5 1/4" 2-ways instead. They fit in the stock locations with no adjustments at all. I went with a Kicker amps to drive it all, nothing crazy. I've used Kicker amps in the past and they do a decent job for the money.
Including the cost of all the accessory crap you always have to buy for a project like this (i.e. wiring kits, mounting kits and in this case a new center console to allow for the use of a double DIN head unit) the whole project ended up running about $1300.
The installation was a lot more of a hassle than I expected it would be. I've done a lot of car stereo installs in my life but none in the last few decades and none that included any of the new technologies such as GPS. I'm also 61 years old and living in Tucson where it was regularly over 100 degrees in my garage. I can tell you now, it hurt! After everything was said and done, I think it all turned out well but I can assure you I won't do another car stereo install ever again!
Here are the pics -
MB Quart speakers installed in the stock door speaker assembly Trying to get these support trays removed was a pain, literally, I smacked myself in the finger and almost broke it. Ouch! Kicker 5 1/4" speakers in stock rear location Door panels with speaker assemblies re-installed Sound deadening material in place. Amps mounted Amps wired up, needs a bit of cleanup but I'm satisfied. I replaced my side mirrors. They were the auto-dimming kind and one had broken making it look like water was inside. Got blinkers on the new ones.
Last edited by fromans4; Aug 13, 2022 at 08:57 PM.
Reason: Adding pics
Looks like it turned out nice, good job For not wanting to do a lot of customization, looks to me you put a lot of work into it. I hear ya about the heat, the older I get the harder it is for me to deal with also.
Funny you should comment on the bezel. That is one of the only issues I have. I have the 50th anniversary edition and the interior is two tone. Yes, I painted the bezel in hopes of matching the original color. Unfortunately, the color that I got matched the lighter shade and the bezel is supposed to be the darker shade. It looks OK, as it matches one of the colors, but I want it to be correct. After doing some research I found what seemed to be the correct color code for the darker shade and ordered it but when I tested it, it was still the wrong color. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about this but I do plan on fixing it.
Everything is working as is, so I've taken a break from this project while my finger heals. As I mentioned in one of my pictures notes, I injured one of my fingers removing the support braces behind the center console.
The description nd color code seemed right: color code = WA9648 and color = Medium Dark Neutral. But when I tried it, the color seemed almost nothing, like clear. I thought at first that I didn't shake the can enough but I shook it as hard as I could for several minutes and it didn't make any difference. Maybe I got a bad can. I dunno. I will see if I can get the right color in the same brand as the first one I got. I noticed that was the brand you got as well. When I was searching for it, I couldn't find it in that brand.
C5 Audio system + creature comforts
For not wanting to do a lot of customization, looks to me you put a lot of work into it. I hear ya about the heat, the older I get the harder it is for me to deal with also.
