what is the benefit of switching out the head units???
The journey to achieve decent Navigation and quality audio in my V.
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I'm mid way through modifying the console right now. It is really simple. It takes quite a few cutting discs with the dremel but its going well so far. If it all works out ok I would be willing to modify these if anyone wants one.
Well, if you look though my posts you will find that I hate the stock navigation. It seems just cruddy. I love the garmin navigation systems and I also like a nice audio system. I chose to go with an aftermarket unit that has the navigation options I want plus many extra things. I also will now mention that the external DIC is in my opinion much easier to navigate. It retained all function including driver prefs etc....
Well, I didn’t do too much today with the stereo system. I am waiting on the speakers to be exchanged. I hope to have them back by about Thursday if I am lucky. I focused on the performance aspect of the vehicle today and did a few things which I posted in another thread. I figured I would give this update though since late last night I did gut the base cts unit and got it ready to fab my new nav into. Here are the pics! The write up in the FAQ is awesome but I did find myself trimming a couple more things and doing it a touch different but over all it’s a great write up. Here are a couple pics showing that it works when gutted.
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No, I agree. Props on your setup. No XM with that unit, right??
No XM built in. Need a module to get it. I dont like sat radio to be honest. I had it for 3 years and listened to it maybe 10 times. I did get the HD radio module and of course the ipod cable. I'll get into those a bit down the line when i get some serious distance into my build.
Today i shaved more off the center housing and had to take a touch off the hvac housing on the top. I have my filler hardening right now and will add more tomorrow. I hope to have it ready to mount by mid week. No real pics for today nothing exciting, just lots of sanding, cutting and trimming on the units with some filler work...
Sorry guys!!!! Yes i am for the most part done!!! I will work on a post to update right away!! I finished last week. It is sounding awesome! I didnt take as many pics as i would of hoped to but i got a few! The console is not complete as i have yet to find a decent paint to match the stock look so i just used some satin black dupli color. I should have a complete post up in about a half hour!
I am also very interested in hearing about you finished product. I will most likely follwo a similar route in the next few months.
Ok, as of my lat update I had modified a stock DIC to work in my V. Well I got a bit carried away and took a bit too much of the old board off and lost use of the right knob when I did it. I have tried to fix this by soldering wires etc but have yet to fix it. So I will be buying another unit and re modifying it. I also decided that I would like to just make one unit of the HVAC and stereo. Well that wasn’t the best idea either. They seem to need a bit of play with the flex of the vehicle so I will re do that as well. For these reasons I will not be doing any more finish sanding or molding on the trim piece that I made I will just wait till I get a new unit. It looks acceptable right now but I will eventually like to go for an even better fit. Below are pics of this process that I would not suggest anyone take on as the units need to be able to flex with the car.
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So I also deadened the entire car and wired it of course. This was a simple thing that I have done many times now and didn’t take pics of although I should have. There are a few specifics to this car and I wish I had taken pics of how I ran the power wire specifically. I will explain without pics though. So to run power the easiest way would be to take the carpet out and on the passenger side there is a large grommet that you can pass through. You wont be able to see it though it will be an all by feel process. It is located high on the firewall passenger side and you will need to remove the carpet and trim pieces to find it. Just shove your hand up there and you will feel it though. In order to pass through however you must take your battery out and the stock battery box. While doing this replace the cabin filter as its easy access. You will have plenty of room to run however large and however many runs of wire you wish using this spot. I will almost mention that when you run all of your wires please think about the route for the signal wires. We have a ton of electronics in these vehicles and you don’t want to get noise from any of them. I deadened the car first then ran the wires and then covered the wires to protect them with more deadener. I also used looming in several key places. This helps prevent noise issues that many people run into. I am very proud to say that I have absolutely zero noise with my system. (Yes i use fatmat, for any who are on the "I hate fatmat cause____" band wagon I don't really care. I have used it for 10 years now and it does as good of job as the others when you apply it correctly.)
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I installed my speakers in the stock locations. The front doors worked awesome since I was able to use the stock speaker mounting rings with the Morel Tempo 6 comps that I had gotten. I replaced the stock tweeter unit with the morel unit as well and they fit well. I will do some minor epoxy molding to get a better fitment down the line some time. As far as the rear speakers go I mounted them into the stock locations with the xovers behind the door panels. I mounted the tweets flush to the panels as well and called it a day. No pics of this process sorry guys I should have taken some. It was vary simple and easy to do. Instead of running wires through the doors though I took the easy was since the stock speaker wire were vary heavy gauge and tapped into them at the pillar right before they went into the door. This kept a clean install and the stock wire were the largest I had ever seen come stock in a vehicle. I believe they are about 14 gauge. For the front I used the stock wire for the woofers in the door at the pillar once again and ran a new wire for the tweets.
I covered my box like I always cover my boxes so I didn’t go into much there. If you would like a good box covering lesson then check out this link since it’s the same way I do mine and is how I show people to do theirs as well. I mounted my amps in the spare tire location that has no spare and made a new false floor out of some ¼” board from home depot that I use for all my beauty panels. The carpet was a dark grey from parts express but didn’t match the best. It isn’t too bad but in the pics it looks more off then it does in real life. I will also mention that the box I made I could not rotate to face the port and sub backwards like I had wanted to. We have a small opening to get boxes into so I might address that in the future with an in trunk build or a different box.
Over all I am really happy with the system. It has some awesome sound quality and gets quite loud as well. The single 15 can be over powering at times but that’s how I like it. The morels keep up with the sub just fine and they can pierce your ear drums if you wanted them to. When I get around to re doing a few things ill update but they aren’t on my list to do right away! Thanks for all the comments and if you have any specific questions feel free to ask me. Finished pics below!!
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So I also deadened the entire car and wired it of course. This was a simple thing that I have done many times now and didn’t take pics of although I should have. There are a few specifics to this car and I wish I had taken pics of how I ran the power wire specifically. I will explain without pics though. So to run power the easiest way would be to take the carpet out and on the passenger side there is a large grommet that you can pass through. You wont be able to see it though it will be an all by feel process. It is located high on the firewall passenger side and you will need to remove the carpet and trim pieces to find it. Just shove your hand up there and you will feel it though. In order to pass through however you must take your battery out and the stock battery box. While doing this replace the cabin filter as its easy access. You will have plenty of room to run however large and however many runs of wire you wish using this spot. I will almost mention that when you run all of your wires please think about the route for the signal wires. We have a ton of electronics in these vehicles and you don’t want to get noise from any of them. I deadened the car first then ran the wires and then covered the wires to protect them with more deadener. I also used looming in several key places. This helps prevent noise issues that many people run into. I am very proud to say that I have absolutely zero noise with my system. (Yes i use fatmat, for any who are on the "I hate fatmat cause____" band wagon I don't really care. I have used it for 10 years now and it does as good of job as the others when you apply it correctly.)
I installed my speakers in the stock locations. The front doors worked awesome since I was able to use the stock speaker mounting rings with the Morel Tempo 6 comps that I had gotten. I replaced the stock tweeter unit with the morel unit as well and they fit well. I will do some minor epoxy molding to get a better fitment down the line some time. As far as the rear speakers go I mounted them into the stock locations with the xovers behind the door panels. I mounted the tweets flush to the panels as well and called it a day. No pics of this process sorry guys I should have taken some. It was vary simple and easy to do. Instead of running wires through the doors though I took the easy was since the stock speaker wire were vary heavy gauge and tapped into them at the pillar right before they went into the door. This kept a clean install and the stock wire were the largest I had ever seen come stock in a vehicle. I believe they are about 14 gauge. For the front I used the stock wire for the woofers in the door at the pillar once again and ran a new wire for the tweets.
I covered my box like I always cover my boxes so I didn’t go into much there. If you would like a good box covering lesson then check out this link since it’s the same way I do mine and is how I show people to do theirs as well. I mounted my amps in the spare tire location that has no spare and made a new false floor out of some ¼” board from home depot that I use for all my beauty panels. The carpet was a dark grey from parts express but didn’t match the best. It isn’t too bad but in the pics it looks more off then it does in real life. I will also mention that the box I made I could not rotate to face the port and sub backwards like I had wanted to. We have a small opening to get boxes into so I might address that in the future with an in trunk build or a different box.
Over all I am really happy with the system. It has some awesome sound quality and gets quite loud as well. The single 15 can be over powering at times but that’s how I like it. The morels keep up with the sub just fine and they can pierce your ear drums if you wanted them to. When I get around to re doing a few things ill update but they aren’t on my list to do right away! Thanks for all the comments and if you have any specific questions feel free to ask me. Finished pics below!!
I like it, too. Great Job!!
:2thumbs: great thread, way to be original using the cts DIC. real clean set up too. only thing i don't like is the front tweeters, they look tacked on.. i guess im just a fan of the stock diamond shaped shrouds.. but i dont know anything about audio.. i dont really think the stock system is that bad.:duck:. just a little weak.. in the bass and volume department.. i can listen to it full blast when the windows are down..
Excellent install and writeup richdash. Are the two side knobs still needed for DIC functionality or could they be removed/filled in?
Any issues with rattles/buzzing in the door or overall? I'm trying to track down a buzz in my install during certain notes and it sounds like its coming from the front door lock hardware.
Any issues with rattles/buzzing in the door or overall? I'm trying to track down a buzz in my install during certain notes and it sounds like its coming from the front door lock hardware.
The tweets will be fitted better when i get some free time. I have several things to do to the caddy before i can get back to finishing details on this audio project. The tweets will be fit a touch better and blended into the pillars. I really need to find a paint that will match the stock paint. The console will be better fit as well
To answer the first question yes, the knobs are needed. I did mention that i cut a bit low on one side and therefore kind of screwed the right knob up. I will have to fix this issue later on to adjust the clock as it shows the wrong time. I can scroll between all the stuff still but i want to adjust the user settings and time so i do need the knobs. I did fill most of the lines and un needed stuff on the pieces though.
I sound deadened all of my doors with quite a bit of deadener. They all sound good without any issues. I did find that on one of my rear doors that i had bent a tab when i re installed it. This created a noise when i opened and closed the door. I fixed this by bending the plastic back and re installing the panel. I will note that the stock lock indicator hardware sucks and crumbles when you take it apart even with the correct tools.
If a man just decided to ditch the OEM nav unit and replace it with an aftermarket head unit, Metra dash kit, and PAC Blose interface, how would that work with the information on the DIC? I know you wouldn't be able to change it, but would it keep the settings when the OEM head unit is unplugged? I'm wanting to do this, but not add the base model DIC.
I hope I'm not sounding too much like a noob here, but can someone direct me to this FAQ that is mentioned? Seems to be an integral part of his installation research.
By the way, very, very nice job. Mad skills.
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