Electrodynamic

So I got *BLEEP*ed today. Thinking of how I'm going to have to re-wire all of the system. If I'm running a wire up to the fronts just for the tweeters, why not add all new wiring? If I'm doing that, why not upgrade the mids? A single 5.25 isn't going to cut it for me. So here's what I'll be using instead. :D Audax on the left, new woofer on the right. And what is this mystery woofer?! That's right, a 7" ScanSpeak Revelator. :D :bowdown: I figure one per door aught to cut it.

So I made a plate out of steel and attached it. Yes I'm going to primer it so it doesn't rust, so don't ask. Anyway, here are the pics:

And then I hopped into the trunk area and started taking out crap (like the POS factory amplifier and half of the CD changer mount, which the other half is the factory amp bracket). And of course, I deadened the CD changer mounting location. :) I made a bracket out of 1/4" plywood in an attempt to have a good base to mount the SAZ-100.4: I used the factory amplifier bracket to make the template for the bottom of the new amp bracket so I could secure it with the 3 bolts that are sticking up out of the floor: However: all of that proved futile because even with 1/4" material, it's too thick and the nuts won't thread onto the bolts. Even after I routed out the plywood to 1/8" thick the nuts still won't thread on. I am going to purchase some thick aluminum to make the bottom bracket out of so it can be secured because the 1/8" thick plywood isn't cutting it. Here is the location where the amp will be mounted to. I only deadend a little bit of this just for mounting/testing purposes: Disclaimer: I spent at least 2 hours cleaning the trunk, which is why I only got a little bit of work done yesterday. The trunk was incredibly dirty! I went through 75% of a roll of paper towels and a 1/4 bottle of Super Clean just cleaning the trunk. It amazes me how a trunk can get that dirty...but oh well, at least it's clean now.

Oh, and here's another update: Updates: First off, I got the battery installed. The connections were on the opposite side of what I needed so I purchased some aluminum (do NOT buy steel for something like this - it will rust) from a local hardware store and cut them to length. The finished look is this: And here is where that big 0 awg ground goes to: I then covered the dual runs of 4 awg and had to modify the fuse holder to accept the twin ring terminals. I didn't want to show the company of the fuse holder (SoundQuest) so I mounted it inverted:

Welcome to the club! :) Be sure to keep the forum updated if you find a shift knob to replace the hideous knobs they came with. I want to replace my tan knob BAD, but haven't found anything yet.

Coming out of what appears to be the output side of the amplifier are the two power wires (the inputs that power the amp are on the output side of the amplifier). Now, which plug it is, I don't know quite yet. I'm going off the wiring diagram. Anyway, your Blue wire with a Yellow stripe is your constant 12v. The solid Green wire is your switched 12v, or ACC. The solid Brown wire is the ground (it's on the opposite plug as the two power wires). However - USE A VOLT METER to confirm all of this.

I'm not doing a radio upgrade. #1, they're too much of a pain in the butt. #2, with the RF 3sixty.2 you can keep your stock head unit and end up with the following features: Have your incoming sigal EQ'd flat automatically (critical for starting off with a clean slate). Be provided with 6 channels of 5v preamp outputs. The front channels have their own 31 band EQ per channel. Rear channels have a 27 band EQ. Subwoofer channels have a 13 band EQ. Full time alignment on every channel. And it accepts line level (speaker wire), or RCA inputs. It's worth its weight in gold. I'll post pictures of that little guy being installed soon. I'm planning on installing it above the CD changer but it might find a new home one I really start looking into where I'm going to put things.

Airtraffic, I'll look at my manual when I get home for the wires you can tap into. There are wires back there you can tap into - they feed your power amplifier under the CD changer. I'll see about posting this up in the tutorial section later. For now I'll just update this thread. Thanks guys! :)

So far I'm the only one who has posted in this thread. I think I'll stop posting until another member says something b/c at this point I feel like I'm posting just to waste my time. :(

And yesterday I ran two 4 awg runs of power wire for the install. The wire is run along the drivers side of the vehicle, behind the rear seats, up and under the rear package tray, and then finally inside the trunk via the now deadened open hole where the left rear speaker was. Here are a few pics of how it sits now: The only place I could drill a hole large enough for the two runs of 4 awg (note: this is for power ONLY, not power and ground - twin 4 awg runs is almost equal to a single 1/0 run but it lays under the carpet a LOT better) is about 3" above the drivers footrest. It opens up into the fender, but it's behind the tire and will never touch the tire - it's in a little nook, which I then went up into the engine bay via the opening that you see in the last picture. I'll take a pic of the hole when I have the car raised up again.

And here's what they look like after they are wrapped in black grille cloth and installed on top of the ported mids: While I was at it, I tore apart and re-wrapped the rear speaker grilles. I also removed the two rear speakers and left the sub for now...until I install the pair of Mag's.

Updatezorz!!!!!!!! Here are pics of the tweeter grilles hogged out - one being covered in grille cloth already: And today was the mid grille work. Man, this took a LOT longer than I thought. There was a LOT of cutting, more cutting, and more cutting. I basically had to hog out the entire grille. BTW: from the factory, the black mesh is metal. That's right, metal mesh inset into plastic. Odd. Anyway, here we go: Here is the factory grille on the left and the grille with the grille cloth removed on the right: I hogged out the port and shaved the extensions around the mid: Here it is all hogged out: and from the backside:

I just recently picked up a 93 SC400 in NJ and drove it all the way down here to NC. I've already fixed some wiring issues and have just started on the stereo part of it. I'll keep this forum updated with my progress. So far the search part of this forum has provided me with a LOT of helpful information! Here are a few pics of it right when I got it home and washed it. The rain guards have been removed since the pics.

Future plans for the audio include, but are not limited to: RF3sixty.2 This unit (and its smaller, less-EQ, brother the 3sixty.1) is a fantastic unit to use if you want to keep your factory radio. I don't like losing integration and paying a LOT more for a double-DIN head unit, so I'm going to keep the factory radio and use the 3sixty.2 to not only EQ the input side, but also EQ the bejesus out of the output side. The .2 also performs auto-EQ and time alignment. The .1 EQ's the input side but doesn't have the ability to EQ the output side. One Sundown Audio SAX-100.4 to power the fronts and two SAZ-1000D's to power the subs. Two Stereo Integrity Mag D2's. I messed around in my trunk the other day and found out that I can put 3 of them in the spare tire well. However, I'm only going to use 2 of them because it will provide more than enough output. With only 5.5" of mounting depth I'm going to be able to flush mount the drivers and maybe modify the carpet back there and use it for daily driving. You shouldn't be able to tell that any of the above equipment is installed when you look in my trunk after it's all done.

LOL! I was thinking the same thing.

I soldered and the Morel's in with the factory harness from the factory tweeter: And the tweeter mounted on the bracket and installed: Here's the top door panel portion without the grille: And with the grille: And a picture of the Audax installed: The factory grille won't fit so I'm going to have to modify it in order to get them back in place. For now they'll go as they are - without a grille. I only have FM, so I'm not going to comment on how they sound until my CD changer gets here. I'll post up more about deadening, wiring, and the subwoofer/amplifiers install when the time comes.

I made baffles out of 3/4" plywood to adapt over my 5.25" Audax Aerogel's. While making the baffle I had to recess the screws that were going to hold the baffle to the existing enclosure. I also had to flatten the baffle and the 5.25" mid in order for the door pannel to go back on. And then the ring installed: Mid mounted:

The Lexus SC400 is going to be my new demo vehicle to take around to shows and meets. I did a little bit of the install today (I'll deaden the doors later) and thought I'd post up pics. Pretty much a full day doing this stuff, but it was a LOT of fun. The Lexus comes apart really easy. Ok, enough about the car. I decided to install my tweets and see what options I have as far as mids are concerned. The tweeters that are in it are TINY neo's (0.75" neo's). The cars come factory with an amplifier in the back and I decided to use the factory wiring. I had to modify the Morel MDT12 by shaving ALL of the flange off or it wouldn't fit. Oh, hey, wait a minute, let's do this in order: :D Door panel removed: The cool thing about the tiny 4.5" speaker in the door is that it has its own ported enclosure from the factory. Here's a comparison of the factory mid and the Audax Aerogel: And the Audax by itself:

Something you might want to think about is keeping your stock head unit (radio) and CD changer. With all the options out there today, keeping your factory head unit is a VERY attractive option. Units like the RF 3sixty.1/.2 and JL Cleansweep offer EQ on the input side and with the 3sixty.2, EQ and time alignment on the output side. Keeping your factory head unit also deters theft. I'm going the 3sixty.2 route (31 bands of EQ per channel on the output side along with 13 bands of EQ on the subwoofer channel alone) so I can keep my factory head unit (again, the input signal is cleaned up and EQ'd flat). After your converter (3sixty or Cleansweep), feed your amplifier(s) and use the factory wiring out to your speakers. I've done it all, and I've always ran my own speaker wire...even some Tara Labs $4/ft wire at one point, and it's not worth it in the car environment. There's simply too much noise to pay for the upgraded speaker wire and PITA of running it all. Making adapters for the 5.25's (or whatever they are) up front should be easy. The tweeters are little neo based units which there are plenty of replacements available. Virtually any small neo car audio tweet will fit in that opening. I'm not running rears, but you can run them if you want. I like the extra power up front and the ability to have an actual sound stage by not having rears. If you don't care about your spare tire, there's plenty of room for one to three 12's in there. :)

It's worked out great! I have heat now. I have no idea why the previous owner would have installed a bypass hose. Yours sounds like either a water pump or coolant issue. Or a fan problem (temp goes down when you start moving putting air across the radiator).

Do you have the CD changer? If so, I'll take it.

For those of you who looked at this (and might look at this later), I took out the orange bypass hose and hooked up the factory lines and I have heat! I was worried the heater core would leak but I don't think it is. So far it doesn't smell like antifreeze and I don't see any leaks on the inside of the car.

I'm going to the auto parts store to pick up some hose to replace the orange by-pass hose that's in place now. I tried removing the orange bypass hose last night but the hose is too small and won't come off so I'm going to have to cut it off. If all goes wrong (the heater core leaks antifreeze inside the cabin) I'll have to install a new bypass hose. I'll let you all know how it went.

Patience is a virtue I obviously didn't have last night. B) Are the heater cores known for going bad in these cars? What I've seen so far are the solenoid's going bad is the major problem.

No one knows here either, eh?