81 280zx Stereo Overhaul

SN95GT50 · Aug 22nd, 2005, 05:55 AM

A friend of mine will be out of town for 2 weeks, in this time I will overhaulin his stereo in the car, I start tonight.

First move front speakers anyone have any bright ideas for placement? Is there room in the kick panels?

What size are the speakers behind the front seats?

Anyone have any pics of putting a single DIN head-unit into the console where the old stereo/tape deck were located? I plan on replacing the entire front panel of that with a new aluminum plate.

Wiring diagrams or atleast the essential ones. What wire is constant 12V, switched 12V and probably the hardest to find, he has a power antennae, which wire is that.

Any brilliant ideas on speaker placement would be appreciated, especially for the fronts.

I will post some pics of the original and progress as I proceed.

FYI: This is for a guy who is about 60 years old, I will be doing a headunit and 4 speakers, no amps, no subs.

Thanks in advance...
SN95GT50

AZ-ZBum · Aug 22nd, 2005, 10:19 AM

there is a kit for the headunit you can buy at any common stereo shop or best buy, circuit city type place. it will replace the panel and allow a single DIN unit to look normal.

I would highly advize against moving the speakers from their stock locations. Far too many hack jobs are out there.

I don't know what sizes the speakers are, but since you have two weeks to get it done, just remove the door panels and rear covers and look at them.

As for the wiring, I would recommend finding a manual of some sort. Either the factory service manual, Haynes, or Chiltons should have a basic wiring diagram.

SN95GT50 · Aug 22nd, 2005, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ-ZBum

there is a kit for the headunit you can buy at any common stereo shop or best buy, circuit city type place. it will replace the panel and allow a single DIN unit to look normal.

I will look on the way home tonight

I would highly advize against moving the speakers from their stock locations. Far too many hack jobs are out there.

I tend to agree to a point, but, have you seen the stock locations in the dash? Nearly impossible to get to.

I don't know what sizes the speakers are, but since you have two weeks to get it done, just remove the door panels and rear covers and look at them.

The rears appear to be 3.5" - 4" round, just behind the front seats, there are not speakers in the doors, if there were, that is where I would put them.

As for the wiring, I would recommend finding a manual of some sort. Either the factory service manual, Haynes, or Chiltons should have a basic wiring diagram.

Probably good advice, but, really the only unknown that is difficult to figure, is the antennae power wire (to make the antennae go up) thought some one might know.

Thanks,
SN95GT50

SN95GT50 · Aug 23rd, 2005, 07:27 AM

I actually did order the headunit (Alpine 9841) from crutchfield, the mounting kit comes free when you order from Crutchfield, I will use the mounting kit for a template, but, from what I saw on their website, I think I can make it a bit nicer.

here are some pics of before and during in the install...

So far, everything has comeout very cleanly, all wires have only been disconnected at connectors and no cutting has been done in any way shape or form. My goal is to return to him every part that was removed in a fashion that will allow the whole system to be returned to factory look and operation as it was when I got it

I will start fabricating the front panel for the headunit to mount into today and hopefully will be able to complete it shortly after getting the headunit.

Crutchfield had the incorrect speaker sizes for this car, the ones in the back seat area are 4" speakers, you could probably get a 5-1/4 in there if you removed the panels didn't use the mounting cone thingy they have in there. I hope to have the speakers mounted in to the cones as well tonight.

The only factory wiring that will be used is the following:
12V Constant
12V Switched
Dash light dimmer
Power Antennae lead

My goal is to have this complete by early next week. That will give me another week to iron out any bugs that I may have in the system.

SN95GT50

SN95GT50 · Aug 23rd, 2005, 02:23 PM

I just noticed the button above the stock preset buttons, had to pull out the manual to figure out what it was for and to my surprise (you guys probably already knew this) it controls whether the power antennae goes all the way up or half way up. This cracked me up, what is the purpose of that? I was thinking about putting a new switch on it that looks like a little blue pill

SN95GT50 · Aug 29th, 2005, 09:37 PM

Remeber, I am not a professional, but I think it shows a bit of improvement over stock...