How-to C2 Stereo Install with pics
02-15-2012, 01:25 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
How-to C2 Stereo Install with pics
I decided to put a stereo in my 64 roadster and after lots of looking and deciding what to do, I came upon 3 things I knew I wanted.
1. Something that could be easily removed for car shows to give the look of originality.
2. Something that would play pretty much all forms of media.
3. Something that would drown out the sidepipes at cruising speed.
With that said, I decided on the following components:
1. Kenwood kick panel speakers purchased from Eckler’s. $145.00.
2. Sony Marine head unit with iPod playback and the works, mounted in passenger jack storage area purchased online. $150.00.
3. Sony wired remote RM-X60M for accessing the head unit purchased online. $79.00.
4. A box that would fit above the jack storage area with mounted Polk Audio 6x9 speakers ($114.00) and a JL audio W3v3 10 inch sub purchased online ($104.00).
5. An Alpine PDX F-4 amp to power the box components purchased online($302.00).
6. Miscellaneous parts, connectors, wires, accessories, purchased from big box stores (about $80)
7. Total cost approximately $974.
This is a (somewhat) step by step install of the above components in my car, just for anyone else trying to do the same thing or something similar, I thought this might help. If you have your carpet out, like I did, this makes for a quicker and easier install.
Head Unit Pre-Install
1. Read all the installation literature provided by the specific components you purchased. Be especially mindful of those provided by the head unit and the amplifier if you are using one. Most the information here can be gained or should be modified depending on what this stuff says.
2. Build a box for the rear compartment or have one built if you are planning doing what I have done. I built my own with three compartments and a cut out to fit somewhat down into the jack storage area and take up a little less space. I also built it short enough so that if needed, it could also slide back to the back of the storage area. This was a lot of work. If you have a reputable audio store in your area I would recommend at least seeing what they would cost to have one built. I just kind of wanted to do my own. If you have specific questions about the box, just PM me and I can give you some details.
3. Get out your head unit and begin identifying and labeling wires based on what your installation literature says. Most units have the following: front and rear speakers (+ and – for each), power on, accessory switch, antenna, power antenna turn on, amp remote turn on, at least one set of pre-amp outputs.
4. Find the power on and accessory switch wires in your Car’s wiring harness. They both come out of the back of your ignition switch as shown. You can splice into these wires or at another source. My car already had an aftermarket cassette player, so I spliced them there.
5. Measure how much wire you will need for each of the above from your head unit to where it will be spliced. Cut your accessory and power turn on wires the appropriate length. I used 18 gauge automotive wire. Anything from 16-20 is appropriate.
6. Measure how much speaker wire you will need for speakers being attached to the head unit and cut to appropriate length.
7. Begin soldering, and/or taping wires that connect to your aftermarket head unit’s wiring harness. Use heat shrink on the wires if you so desire. Connect the front and rear speakers (+ and – for each) to your pre-cut speaker wire, power on to your precut 18 gauge wire, accessory switch to your 18 gauge pre-cut wire, antenna (not soldered), power antenna turn on (if you have a power antenna), amp remote turn on (if using an amp).
8. Find a ground on your car. If you are installing your head unit in the anterior (front) of the car, the birdcage will work nicely. If you are at the rear, the frame can work, or you can splice into the wires already there. If you are in the jack storage area, there is a location on the rear crossmember that used that worked really well because there was already a hole there.
9. If you need to extend the ground wire on your head unit’s wiring harness, cut and solder that as well.
Head Unit Install
1. Disconnect the positive battery terminal on your car’s battery.
2. Mount the head unit wherever you have chosen to mount it. In my case, the passenger side jack area. This area is not recommended it you want regular access to CD’s, but if you plan on using MP3 cd’s, iPod, and Pandora like I do, it works fine when you have a wired remote. I used some pieces of 1x6’s and put one screw through them, with a long piece of Velcro to hold the unit in place. Yes, I did screw into the fiberglass in the jack area. Tiny hole that could easily be fixed. That way it doesn’t slide but can be easily removed to replace CD’s or make changes to inputs as necessary.
3. Do not make any connections with the head unit’s wiring harness attached. Disconnect the wiring harness and connect all wires before reconnecting the entire harness.
4. Connect the ground wire first before making any other connections. Make sure the ground is clean and free from rust, and that the screws/bolts are tight to assure a good connection.
This is with both amp wire (large gray) and head unit (small red) ground wires installed.
5. Attach female spade quick connects to the end of your speaker wire (for most speakers, some have other types of connections).
6. Mark the speaker wire ends with positive and negative symbols so as not to get confused, notice that on most speaker wires, one has a stripe and the other not. It usually doesn’t matter which one is positive or negative, as long as they are hooked up correctly, plus goes to plus, minus to minus. Do not let these touch (+ and -) after the battery is reconnected.
7. Connect the speaker wires for front and (if used) rear speakers, using the female spade connectors.
8. Connect the antenna wires if used.
9. Splice and connect the accessory wire to your head unit.
Bubba wiring
10. Splice and connect the “power on” wire.
11. If you would like to make a sound check on your system before firming up everything, now is the time. Make sure your car’s ignition is in the off position, and connect the positive battery lead.
12. Plug in your head unit’s wiring harness to the head unit.
13. Turn the ignition to “ACC” and wait for the head unit to come on. Test the front and rear speakers by adjusting the fader and balance.
14. Make sure your antenna works if connected. Put in a CD and check all other inputs (MP3 player, iPod, etc.).
15. Repeat with the key in the “ON” position. If the stereo works in one position, but not the other, you likely have a bad splice, or have not connected the proper wires identified in step 4 of Head Unit Pre-Install. If it works in neither position. Start from the beginning (step 1 of Head Unit pre-install) and make sure you have made all connections properly.
16. If you get no sound from a speaker, check your spade connectors for contact. If still no sound, double check to make sure the leads (+ and -) are connected to the proper source. Also double check your connection (soldering or taping job) at the head unit and make sure nothing is awry.
17. Run wires in their desired location, hiding and routing as necessary.
18. Permanently install speakers in their respective locations.
Amplifier Install
1. Disconnect the positive battery on your car’s battery.
2. Read all provided literature from the amplifier.
3. Like a head unit, depending on where you choose to mount your amp, some of the directions will need to be adjusted. I chose to mount mine on the underside of the jack storage cover, screwed upside down into it, right on top of the head unit. Because of its location, I chose a class D amp, which does not produce as much heat. The Alpine PDX-F4 is also convenient because it provides “quick connectors” for hooking and unhooking your components.
4. Hook up the amp first before you mount it so you are sure everything works properly. My advice is to install all the wires first, then hook them all into your amp at the same time before powering everything on.
5. Start by hooking up the amp ground wire. If you are installing it near your head unit, using the same location for both grounds works well. Solder both ends if possible (silver wires will not solder) and put on the appropriate connectors.
From the inside:
6. Solder and run your amp remote turn on from your head unit to your amplifier. This is most often a royal blue wire.
7. If possible, solder both ends of your positive (+) power wire that will go from the amp to the battery.
8. Perhaps the most difficult part of installing the amp in a mid-year Corvette is running the power wire which must run all the way to the battery and is often somewhere between 4-8 gauge. An easy alternative to running it through the car and drilling a hold in the firewall is to simply run it through the floor and along the frame.
9. To do this, jack up the passenger side of the car. Put a couple jack stands under the frame rail. Run the wire out the jack storage area and up the frame rail between the inside of the frame and the fiberglass floor panels. Run it behind the center cross member when you get to it. I could almost get my hand in between it and the floor panel. I did this with some success, and was able to zip tie, duct tape, and run in over the middle crossmember in the frame.
I realize the duct tape will at some point get wet and come off, so I shoved the wire up into the gap between the fiberglass and the frame and the 4 gauge wire snugged in there pretty well. The duct tape can be replaced every other yearish. Run the wire up into the engine compartment under the battery.
10. Cut the wire and strip the end in order to install a fused connection. The fuse should be as close to the battery as possible (within a couple feet). DO NOT skip this step. I have had amps saved by this fuse several times. The fuse costs $5 and is much easier to replace.
Uninstalled:
Installed:
11. Install a ring terminal on the end of this wire and connect to the positive battery terminal as shown.
12. Run speaker wire from the amp to the speakers you are using. Use a minimum of 14 gauge speaker wire for sub (12 recommended), 16 minimum for speakers. If you are bridging an amp like I did (a 4 channel amp), the bridged channels should usually be 3 and 4.
13. Connect the speaker wire to the rear speakers and/or sub using whatever terminals you have in your box. If you are purchasing terminals for your box, get ones that have gold terminals. The quick connects are ok, but don’t provide as good a connection and can come out as easily as they go in. This is bad if it comes out and touches the other wire. I recommend not stripping much wire at the end of the speaker wire, or taping the end if you do so as not to cause a short if one comes out.
14. Run the RCA cables from the head unit to the amp. If you are doing a sub and speakers, you should have a head unit with two different pre-amp outputs. Some head units have subwoofer outs. Use these to connect to channels 3 and 4 inputs on your amp.
15. For rear speakers, use the “rear” pre-amp outs on your head unit, and run those RCA cables to the amp.
Sub-pre out RCA
16. At this point you should be ready to connect all your components to the amp. ALWAYS CONNECT THE GROUND WIRE FIRST, just a good rule of thumb in case you forgot to unhook the battery. Then connect the other wires in any order.
17. Connect the positive battery lead to the battery.
Testing the Amplifier and Making adjustments
1. Head units will sometimes offer an infinite amount of adjustments you can make. Experiment to see what you like the best with different kinds of music. There is no one adjustment that is going to make your music sound killer. Every type of music is going to have a sweet spot and it may be different visa vie the listener.
2. For the AMP: Before you turn on the amplifier, turn the gain down to something low. If the amp (or channels on the amp) are supplying a sub, then turn on the low pass (LP) filter.
3. Turn the car’s keys to “ACC” and power on the head unit. The amp should not turn on if the head unit is not turned on. If this does happen, you have not connected the blue “remote turn on” wire properly.
4. “Tuning” your amp is crucial to enjoying your music properly. To properly tune in an amp, you need some type of “dynamic music track,” that will have lots of highs and lows (lots of popular music these days, or jazz, or something of the like).
5. With the amp turned on very low, turn on your head unit, and leave the equalizers flat (zero on base, treble, etc.). Turn the volume about ľ of the way up, OR until you hear audible distortion (if you hear distortion, back the volume down a bit). Now go to your amplifier and turn the gain up on your amp once again until you hear audible distortion, then back the gain down a bit. This will actually give you a wider range of “listenable” volume for your music. Just turning the gain up does not mean more volume and definitely doesn’t mean better sound. It can also having the amp gain turned to max can decrease the life of the amp and your speakers. It’s like driving your Vette at full throttle all the time, it wears out quicker. Adjusting your amp as just explained will give you a better sound which can be played at a louder volume without—or at least with minimal—distortion.
6. If you are using a sub and speaker combo like mine, I would advise to turn on the high-pass filter on your amplifier channels that are feeding your speakers (if your amp has one). This means your speakers will get most the midrange and treble (the highs), and let the sub do the dirty work of the bass. If you just have speakers hooked up to an amp, then leave the filters off so you can get both.
7. Once you have hooked everything up and tested it, then install your amp in its permanent location. I installed mine upside down screwed to the bottom of the jack storage cover. I used screws that would allow the amp to “hang” from the cover so there could be some air flow under it.
Before I installed I checked for space.
Do not put your amp in a position to make it hard to connect and disconnect the wires. Here are my suggested measurements:
In all, my stereo installation (not counting the building of my box) took about 12 hours. A simpler 4 speaker installation without an amp would probably take about half of that (plus be about 450 dollars cheaper).
Please add pics, comments, corrections, to this post to help others installing, or thinking installing stereo components in their C2.
1. Something that could be easily removed for car shows to give the look of originality.
2. Something that would play pretty much all forms of media.
3. Something that would drown out the sidepipes at cruising speed.
With that said, I decided on the following components:
1. Kenwood kick panel speakers purchased from Eckler’s. $145.00.
2. Sony Marine head unit with iPod playback and the works, mounted in passenger jack storage area purchased online. $150.00.
3. Sony wired remote RM-X60M for accessing the head unit purchased online. $79.00.
4. A box that would fit above the jack storage area with mounted Polk Audio 6x9 speakers ($114.00) and a JL audio W3v3 10 inch sub purchased online ($104.00).
5. An Alpine PDX F-4 amp to power the box components purchased online($302.00).
6. Miscellaneous parts, connectors, wires, accessories, purchased from big box stores (about $80)
7. Total cost approximately $974.
This is a (somewhat) step by step install of the above components in my car, just for anyone else trying to do the same thing or something similar, I thought this might help. If you have your carpet out, like I did, this makes for a quicker and easier install.
Head Unit Pre-Install
1. Read all the installation literature provided by the specific components you purchased. Be especially mindful of those provided by the head unit and the amplifier if you are using one. Most the information here can be gained or should be modified depending on what this stuff says.
2. Build a box for the rear compartment or have one built if you are planning doing what I have done. I built my own with three compartments and a cut out to fit somewhat down into the jack storage area and take up a little less space. I also built it short enough so that if needed, it could also slide back to the back of the storage area. This was a lot of work. If you have a reputable audio store in your area I would recommend at least seeing what they would cost to have one built. I just kind of wanted to do my own. If you have specific questions about the box, just PM me and I can give you some details.
3. Get out your head unit and begin identifying and labeling wires based on what your installation literature says. Most units have the following: front and rear speakers (+ and – for each), power on, accessory switch, antenna, power antenna turn on, amp remote turn on, at least one set of pre-amp outputs.
4. Find the power on and accessory switch wires in your Car’s wiring harness. They both come out of the back of your ignition switch as shown. You can splice into these wires or at another source. My car already had an aftermarket cassette player, so I spliced them there.
5. Measure how much wire you will need for each of the above from your head unit to where it will be spliced. Cut your accessory and power turn on wires the appropriate length. I used 18 gauge automotive wire. Anything from 16-20 is appropriate.
6. Measure how much speaker wire you will need for speakers being attached to the head unit and cut to appropriate length.
7. Begin soldering, and/or taping wires that connect to your aftermarket head unit’s wiring harness. Use heat shrink on the wires if you so desire. Connect the front and rear speakers (+ and – for each) to your pre-cut speaker wire, power on to your precut 18 gauge wire, accessory switch to your 18 gauge pre-cut wire, antenna (not soldered), power antenna turn on (if you have a power antenna), amp remote turn on (if using an amp).
8. Find a ground on your car. If you are installing your head unit in the anterior (front) of the car, the birdcage will work nicely. If you are at the rear, the frame can work, or you can splice into the wires already there. If you are in the jack storage area, there is a location on the rear crossmember that used that worked really well because there was already a hole there.
9. If you need to extend the ground wire on your head unit’s wiring harness, cut and solder that as well.
Head Unit Install
1. Disconnect the positive battery terminal on your car’s battery.
2. Mount the head unit wherever you have chosen to mount it. In my case, the passenger side jack area. This area is not recommended it you want regular access to CD’s, but if you plan on using MP3 cd’s, iPod, and Pandora like I do, it works fine when you have a wired remote. I used some pieces of 1x6’s and put one screw through them, with a long piece of Velcro to hold the unit in place. Yes, I did screw into the fiberglass in the jack area. Tiny hole that could easily be fixed. That way it doesn’t slide but can be easily removed to replace CD’s or make changes to inputs as necessary.
3. Do not make any connections with the head unit’s wiring harness attached. Disconnect the wiring harness and connect all wires before reconnecting the entire harness.
4. Connect the ground wire first before making any other connections. Make sure the ground is clean and free from rust, and that the screws/bolts are tight to assure a good connection.
This is with both amp wire (large gray) and head unit (small red) ground wires installed.
5. Attach female spade quick connects to the end of your speaker wire (for most speakers, some have other types of connections).
6. Mark the speaker wire ends with positive and negative symbols so as not to get confused, notice that on most speaker wires, one has a stripe and the other not. It usually doesn’t matter which one is positive or negative, as long as they are hooked up correctly, plus goes to plus, minus to minus. Do not let these touch (+ and -) after the battery is reconnected.
7. Connect the speaker wires for front and (if used) rear speakers, using the female spade connectors.
8. Connect the antenna wires if used.
9. Splice and connect the accessory wire to your head unit.
Bubba wiring
10. Splice and connect the “power on” wire.
11. If you would like to make a sound check on your system before firming up everything, now is the time. Make sure your car’s ignition is in the off position, and connect the positive battery lead.
12. Plug in your head unit’s wiring harness to the head unit.
13. Turn the ignition to “ACC” and wait for the head unit to come on. Test the front and rear speakers by adjusting the fader and balance.
14. Make sure your antenna works if connected. Put in a CD and check all other inputs (MP3 player, iPod, etc.).
15. Repeat with the key in the “ON” position. If the stereo works in one position, but not the other, you likely have a bad splice, or have not connected the proper wires identified in step 4 of Head Unit Pre-Install. If it works in neither position. Start from the beginning (step 1 of Head Unit pre-install) and make sure you have made all connections properly.
16. If you get no sound from a speaker, check your spade connectors for contact. If still no sound, double check to make sure the leads (+ and -) are connected to the proper source. Also double check your connection (soldering or taping job) at the head unit and make sure nothing is awry.
17. Run wires in their desired location, hiding and routing as necessary.
18. Permanently install speakers in their respective locations.
Amplifier Install
1. Disconnect the positive battery on your car’s battery.
2. Read all provided literature from the amplifier.
3. Like a head unit, depending on where you choose to mount your amp, some of the directions will need to be adjusted. I chose to mount mine on the underside of the jack storage cover, screwed upside down into it, right on top of the head unit. Because of its location, I chose a class D amp, which does not produce as much heat. The Alpine PDX-F4 is also convenient because it provides “quick connectors” for hooking and unhooking your components.
4. Hook up the amp first before you mount it so you are sure everything works properly. My advice is to install all the wires first, then hook them all into your amp at the same time before powering everything on.
5. Start by hooking up the amp ground wire. If you are installing it near your head unit, using the same location for both grounds works well. Solder both ends if possible (silver wires will not solder) and put on the appropriate connectors.
From the inside:
6. Solder and run your amp remote turn on from your head unit to your amplifier. This is most often a royal blue wire.
7. If possible, solder both ends of your positive (+) power wire that will go from the amp to the battery.
8. Perhaps the most difficult part of installing the amp in a mid-year Corvette is running the power wire which must run all the way to the battery and is often somewhere between 4-8 gauge. An easy alternative to running it through the car and drilling a hold in the firewall is to simply run it through the floor and along the frame.
9. To do this, jack up the passenger side of the car. Put a couple jack stands under the frame rail. Run the wire out the jack storage area and up the frame rail between the inside of the frame and the fiberglass floor panels. Run it behind the center cross member when you get to it. I could almost get my hand in between it and the floor panel. I did this with some success, and was able to zip tie, duct tape, and run in over the middle crossmember in the frame.
I realize the duct tape will at some point get wet and come off, so I shoved the wire up into the gap between the fiberglass and the frame and the 4 gauge wire snugged in there pretty well. The duct tape can be replaced every other yearish. Run the wire up into the engine compartment under the battery.
10. Cut the wire and strip the end in order to install a fused connection. The fuse should be as close to the battery as possible (within a couple feet). DO NOT skip this step. I have had amps saved by this fuse several times. The fuse costs $5 and is much easier to replace.
Uninstalled:
Installed:
11. Install a ring terminal on the end of this wire and connect to the positive battery terminal as shown.
12. Run speaker wire from the amp to the speakers you are using. Use a minimum of 14 gauge speaker wire for sub (12 recommended), 16 minimum for speakers. If you are bridging an amp like I did (a 4 channel amp), the bridged channels should usually be 3 and 4.
13. Connect the speaker wire to the rear speakers and/or sub using whatever terminals you have in your box. If you are purchasing terminals for your box, get ones that have gold terminals. The quick connects are ok, but don’t provide as good a connection and can come out as easily as they go in. This is bad if it comes out and touches the other wire. I recommend not stripping much wire at the end of the speaker wire, or taping the end if you do so as not to cause a short if one comes out.
14. Run the RCA cables from the head unit to the amp. If you are doing a sub and speakers, you should have a head unit with two different pre-amp outputs. Some head units have subwoofer outs. Use these to connect to channels 3 and 4 inputs on your amp.
15. For rear speakers, use the “rear” pre-amp outs on your head unit, and run those RCA cables to the amp.
Sub-pre out RCA
16. At this point you should be ready to connect all your components to the amp. ALWAYS CONNECT THE GROUND WIRE FIRST, just a good rule of thumb in case you forgot to unhook the battery. Then connect the other wires in any order.
17. Connect the positive battery lead to the battery.
Testing the Amplifier and Making adjustments
1. Head units will sometimes offer an infinite amount of adjustments you can make. Experiment to see what you like the best with different kinds of music. There is no one adjustment that is going to make your music sound killer. Every type of music is going to have a sweet spot and it may be different visa vie the listener.
2. For the AMP: Before you turn on the amplifier, turn the gain down to something low. If the amp (or channels on the amp) are supplying a sub, then turn on the low pass (LP) filter.
3. Turn the car’s keys to “ACC” and power on the head unit. The amp should not turn on if the head unit is not turned on. If this does happen, you have not connected the blue “remote turn on” wire properly.
4. “Tuning” your amp is crucial to enjoying your music properly. To properly tune in an amp, you need some type of “dynamic music track,” that will have lots of highs and lows (lots of popular music these days, or jazz, or something of the like).
5. With the amp turned on very low, turn on your head unit, and leave the equalizers flat (zero on base, treble, etc.). Turn the volume about ľ of the way up, OR until you hear audible distortion (if you hear distortion, back the volume down a bit). Now go to your amplifier and turn the gain up on your amp once again until you hear audible distortion, then back the gain down a bit. This will actually give you a wider range of “listenable” volume for your music. Just turning the gain up does not mean more volume and definitely doesn’t mean better sound. It can also having the amp gain turned to max can decrease the life of the amp and your speakers. It’s like driving your Vette at full throttle all the time, it wears out quicker. Adjusting your amp as just explained will give you a better sound which can be played at a louder volume without—or at least with minimal—distortion.
6. If you are using a sub and speaker combo like mine, I would advise to turn on the high-pass filter on your amplifier channels that are feeding your speakers (if your amp has one). This means your speakers will get most the midrange and treble (the highs), and let the sub do the dirty work of the bass. If you just have speakers hooked up to an amp, then leave the filters off so you can get both.
7. Once you have hooked everything up and tested it, then install your amp in its permanent location. I installed mine upside down screwed to the bottom of the jack storage cover. I used screws that would allow the amp to “hang” from the cover so there could be some air flow under it.
Before I installed I checked for space.
Do not put your amp in a position to make it hard to connect and disconnect the wires. Here are my suggested measurements:
In all, my stereo installation (not counting the building of my box) took about 12 hours. A simpler 4 speaker installation without an amp would probably take about half of that (plus be about 450 dollars cheaper).
Please add pics, comments, corrections, to this post to help others installing, or thinking installing stereo components in their C2.
02-15-2012, 03:20 PM
#2
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You might want to use a dedicated terminal block at the battery. That bubba connector is an invitation for trouble. Did you run a second ground from the battery to the frame with the shortest distance? Consider making a small heat shield for your power fuse. It gets pretty hot under the hood, and more so the closer to the manifold. I hope you separated all you power and ground on one side of the car far away as possible from the speaker wires. I would not wire tie anything to a part that may vibrate, trouble will come calling. Now, crank it up! 
Dennis
Dennis
