Stereo idea for 2nd Gen

[BucknutBob]

Just thought I'd share this, one of my odd little projects. For those with a lot of stereo equipment to install, this is one option. Yes, it cancels out the ability to extend your floor for long items (by folding the seats down), but if you've just gotta' have the tunes, it's one possibility. Yes, I probably should've boxed-in the small speakers, but I only use rear speakers for fill, anyway, so I wasn't too worried about getting massive sound from them--that was being handled by my 6.5" components in the front kick panels. I used the pass. side rear seatback for my access door to the disc changer, which gave it nice protection when up. My small sealed 10" sub box fit on the other side, tucked in behind the other seatback. Once in place, with the usual rear window tint, the components were practically invisible to those outside. The smaller components were the crossovers for the front speakers. All in all, it worked quite well--and the stereo sounded very good, too!

 

[TheRealFeeny]

Pictures of it installed?

 

[BucknutBob]

Pictures of it installed?

I'm afraid that was one of my brain-farts--I kept forgetting to get any, and when I sold the truck, the buyer insisted on keeping it (for extra, of course!). I would've liked some, too! It fit really well behind the seat, stopping just below the top of the seatbacks, and went all the way to the sides. The top speakers were 6.5"s, so you can figure the width from that.

 

[Deathcricket]

Nice Setup. Good too see what others are coming up with. I'm working on the front door panels right now, but will be heading back there soon. What is the huge cylinder underneath the changer? Some sort of power conditioner?

 

[BucknutBob]

Nice Setup. Good too see what others are coming up with. I'm working on the front door panels right now, but will be heading back there soon. What is the huge cylinder underneath the changer? Some sort of power conditioner?

Thanks for the compliment! I was just looking for a simple, compact solution for mounting all that hardware without cramming everything under the seats, etc., and had never seen anything like it before. The cylinder is a 1-farad stiffening capacitor, to aid the battery and stock alternator on the heavy bass hits. I'm curious to see what you came up with on the door panels--I'm planning on putting my next set of front speakers in there (the kick panel pods worked well for sound, but they're vulnerable to muddy boots, etc.).

 

[Deathcricket]

Thanks for the compliment! I was just looking for a simple, compact solution for mounting all that hardware without cramming everything under the seats, etc., and had never seen anything like it before. The cylinder is a 1-farad stiffening capacitor, to aid the battery and stock alternator on the heavy bass hits. I'm curious to see what you came up with on the door panels--I'm planning on putting my next set of front speakers in there (the kick panel pods worked well for sound, but they're vulnerable to muddy boots, etc.).

Sure bro! Like you I'm kinda looking for something simple. I actually got the idea from somewhere else on this site, not sure exactly where I saw it. I'm also recycling some stuff from my previous vehicle and would rather not buy 4" or whatever those are under the dash.

These are Infinity reference 6032 6.5's and some Kenwood tweeters. There is a 1' spacer there, not a lot of room in the door itself. I'm going to stash the amp for them under the passenger seat, then I will put the sub amp in the back with a couple 6x9's. I was hoping to dive into the panels in the back sides though. That way I can still lower the seats to fit all my canyoneering gear if I need to.

I'll probably end up doing something a bit cleaner with fiberglass later on, but for now I just want to get the system up and running. So it's good for now. Lots of other projects going on right now with a new car as you can imagine.

The dash is what is giving me nightmares, looks the factory radio isn't wide enough and the previous owner just cut into the dash. So still trying to figure out ideas for that if you have any.

1990 v6 with 170k miles on it. Going to turn out good I think.

Before (Drivers side still not done)

After (passenger side) Sorry havent got the dash put back together yet.

Funny looking at these pics I never realized how absolutely filthy it is. Good time to steam clean while I got it all taken apart, hehe.

 

[BucknutBob]

I did a similar set-up on the doors with my old Honda Civic--the speakers had huge magnets, so I made some spacers like that. What I'd really like to do with the 'Runner is make some longer panels that kinda' flow, or taper, to the rear of the door. I'll bet your set-up is gonna' sound good--I love having separates in the doors. My first project was an Acura Legend, and the imaging was outrageous--you could literally close your eyes and pick out where each musician was on the stage/hood! As for the dash, the openings are standard DIN, so the width should be okay. The problem I had was with the depth--once I hooked up all the RCA's, the sucker wouldn't push back far enough, so I had to space it forward slightly. I don't blame you on avoiding the factory dash speaker mounts--what awful locations (they'd be great if your ears were in your shins!). Keep at it--I'm sure you'll enjoy it when it's done!