FINALLY got the stereo in.... (pics - big!)
Well, it has been a saga that I won't soon forget. I started off thinking I wanted to do something that would not be seen (use factory grilles and such), but that became more and more difficult.
I started by buying an Alpine 9827 HU. Great unit, even if it illuminates blue to the LCs green. I bought the Metra Universal Toyota wire harness from BestBuy. It was labeled well, as was the Alpine. I wired it up as noted, but when I hooked up the power, it would cut on and then off immediately. CD worked though. Found out that the Metra harness was wired wrong for the LC with auto antenna and manual buttons. It had the antenna on wire going to pin 9 with a loop back wire to pin 8. The antenna on wire MUST go to pin 8 and you must cut the loop-back wire, terminating it and the wire to pin 9. Auto antenna and buttons work!
Next, had to figure out what to do about the space in the back. The stcok "sub woofer" was a joke to say the least. So I took it out and thought I might put a sub woofer (a real one!) there. But, alas, the depth isn't very good and if you want to do it, you really need to know something about fiberglassing because the angles in there would be tough with wood. I finally decided to do a 10" subwoofer in small box and put it in the back. It could easily be removed so it really wasn't in the way.
Now, what to do with ALL that empty space where the sub was?
I decided it was a great place for an amp. I found a great deal on an Eclipse PA5532 5 channel amp, with 50x4 RMS at 4 ohm, and 1 @ 280 at 2 ohms. BUT, it is 12 inches wide and 19 inches long and weighs 15 pounds! Thank heavens for that cavernous space, even if it was odd shaped. Now I had to find a way to mount it. AH, the welder that I bought and haven't used enough yet! I had some scrap metal and built a bracket to fit to the two factory holes on the top that the sub was hooked to. I made another bracket for the bottom to keep it from swinging.
I then ran cables ALL over the place. 4 gauge power wire from the battery, down the left side and across the back to the amp. Speaker wire to the front and rear doors. (It sure was nice of Toyota to leave BIG channels in the floors under the carpet for running wires!)
Now come speaker decisions. I have all this time and money invested in a HU and amp. No way I am going the cheap (excuse me, inexpensive) route. So, after listening to many speakers, I have to say I fell in love with some MB Quarts. The PCE 216 6 1/2" separates (Premium series) spoke volumes to me. But do I really want separates? Where would I put the tweeter?? Fortunately, the MB Quarts have a fantastic design that lets you set the speaker up as either a coaxial or a separate. Great stuff! I thought this would give me options when I got to the install. But that looked like a huge job, so I decided to start in the back.
I bought MB Quart 4" coaxial speakers (Reference series) for the rear doors. When I opened the box, I will have to say that even at 4", these are hefty speakers. I am used to little cheezy looking things at that size. Not hear. And they came with a separate external crossover. I ran the wires through the rubber boots into the door. But I decided that I didn't want to worry about the factory grilles. As a start to my "fun", the new grilles weren't big enough to cover the openings from the factory grilles.
So I cut out the center part of the grilles and lo and behold, the trim rings fit right in and the speakers look like they have risers. These speakers are AMAZING for 4" speakers. I ran them and the sub for a day without the front speakers, and though not great from the front seat, if sitting in the middle seats, more than I would expect from 4" speakers.
Ok, after monkeying with that, and cutting the factory grilles, I figured I was up for the challenge of the front speakers. To start with, 6 1/2" speakers don't look that big until you try to put them where the factory fronts go. OUCH. Well, I didn't want to have to cut, but..... You cannot, repeat cannot put them in the exact same location as the factory 5 1/4". Mainly because you will not be able to close the door because the speaker will stick out too far. I had to move mine to about 7 o'clock just a bit. I cut the panel and fortunately didn't have to cut any metal behind it. I did ground problem when putting the speaker in, so I made sure to use some electrical tape around the opening and over the connections to make sure no metal to metal contact happened.
Now what to do about the dang tweeters? I paid all this money for NICE separates, so let's see....... No room on the A-pillar, really. Don't want to mount them behind the vents (some have done it with success). I have already started cutting panels, so what do I have to lose? (My sanity, of course!!) So I decided to angle mount them just above the door latch and lock. Now we are in for some serious cutting. Once the knife puntures the vinyl, I know I am committed (why is it that even with music playing in the garage, the "pop" of the knife going into the taught vinvl sounds like an explosion....are my nerves giving way.........) I use the templates and cut the holes. To do this, though, I had to make sure to move the tweeter back just a bit from where I wanted it. There is a screw back there holding the panel to the upper piece. Must avoid screw ups......... I then get the Dremel out and tenderly cut the hole. Undersized and then make a little bigger, test fitting as I go. You can't put plastic back (don't ask how I know). I have it all together and decide to test fit the panel. Looking good, got the top part on, lining up the bottom.... CRAP. The tweeter is now protruding out of the panel. WHAT THE $!$!$. The nut holding the tweeter in is pushing against the metal of the door. Well, I'm committed now, so I get out the drill with a BIG bit and drill a hole for the nut to fit into, allowing the speaker to fit as intended.
Once I got it all buttoned up, I yelled to the wife and kids we needed to take a test drive and get some ice cream. Everyone gets in, I close the garage and when I get in, my 14 year old son says "This sounds great Dad!!!" My teenage son has just made me feel young again!! And we haven't even left the driveway.
Needless to say, there is lots of playing and tweaking left to do, but that is part of the fun.
Well, it has been a saga that I won't soon forget. I started off thinking I wanted to do something that would not be seen (use factory grilles and such), but that became more and more difficult.
I started by buying an Alpine 9827 HU. Great unit, even if it illuminates blue to the LCs green. I bought the Metra Universal Toyota wire harness from BestBuy. It was labeled well, as was the Alpine. I wired it up as noted, but when I hooked up the power, it would cut on and then off immediately. CD worked though. Found out that the Metra harness was wired wrong for the LC with auto antenna and manual buttons. It had the antenna on wire going to pin 9 with a loop back wire to pin 8. The antenna on wire MUST go to pin 8 and you must cut the loop-back wire, terminating it and the wire to pin 9. Auto antenna and buttons work!
Next, had to figure out what to do about the space in the back. The stcok "sub woofer" was a joke to say the least. So I took it out and thought I might put a sub woofer (a real one!) there. But, alas, the depth isn't very good and if you want to do it, you really need to know something about fiberglassing because the angles in there would be tough with wood. I finally decided to do a 10" subwoofer in small box and put it in the back. It could easily be removed so it really wasn't in the way.
Now, what to do with ALL that empty space where the sub was?
I decided it was a great place for an amp. I found a great deal on an Eclipse PA5532 5 channel amp, with 50x4 RMS at 4 ohm, and 1 @ 280 at 2 ohms. BUT, it is 12 inches wide and 19 inches long and weighs 15 pounds! Thank heavens for that cavernous space, even if it was odd shaped. Now I had to find a way to mount it. AH, the welder that I bought and haven't used enough yet! I had some scrap metal and built a bracket to fit to the two factory holes on the top that the sub was hooked to. I made another bracket for the bottom to keep it from swinging.I then ran cables ALL over the place. 4 gauge power wire from the battery, down the left side and across the back to the amp. Speaker wire to the front and rear doors. (It sure was nice of Toyota to leave BIG channels in the floors under the carpet for running wires!)
Now come speaker decisions. I have all this time and money invested in a HU and amp. No way I am going the cheap (excuse me, inexpensive) route. So, after listening to many speakers, I have to say I fell in love with some MB Quarts. The PCE 216 6 1/2" separates (Premium series) spoke volumes to me. But do I really want separates? Where would I put the tweeter?? Fortunately, the MB Quarts have a fantastic design that lets you set the speaker up as either a coaxial or a separate. Great stuff! I thought this would give me options when I got to the install. But that looked like a huge job, so I decided to start in the back.
I bought MB Quart 4" coaxial speakers (Reference series) for the rear doors. When I opened the box, I will have to say that even at 4", these are hefty speakers. I am used to little cheezy looking things at that size. Not hear. And they came with a separate external crossover. I ran the wires through the rubber boots into the door. But I decided that I didn't want to worry about the factory grilles. As a start to my "fun", the new grilles weren't big enough to cover the openings from the factory grilles.
So I cut out the center part of the grilles and lo and behold, the trim rings fit right in and the speakers look like they have risers. These speakers are AMAZING for 4" speakers. I ran them and the sub for a day without the front speakers, and though not great from the front seat, if sitting in the middle seats, more than I would expect from 4" speakers.Ok, after monkeying with that, and cutting the factory grilles, I figured I was up for the challenge of the front speakers. To start with, 6 1/2" speakers don't look that big until you try to put them where the factory fronts go. OUCH. Well, I didn't want to have to cut, but..... You cannot, repeat cannot put them in the exact same location as the factory 5 1/4". Mainly because you will not be able to close the door because the speaker will stick out too far. I had to move mine to about 7 o'clock just a bit. I cut the panel and fortunately didn't have to cut any metal behind it. I did ground problem when putting the speaker in, so I made sure to use some electrical tape around the opening and over the connections to make sure no metal to metal contact happened.
Now what to do about the dang tweeters? I paid all this money for NICE separates, so let's see....... No room on the A-pillar, really. Don't want to mount them behind the vents (some have done it with success). I have already started cutting panels, so what do I have to lose? (My sanity, of course!!) So I decided to angle mount them just above the door latch and lock. Now we are in for some serious cutting. Once the knife puntures the vinyl, I know I am committed (why is it that even with music playing in the garage, the "pop" of the knife going into the taught vinvl sounds like an explosion....are my nerves giving way.........) I use the templates and cut the holes. To do this, though, I had to make sure to move the tweeter back just a bit from where I wanted it. There is a screw back there holding the panel to the upper piece. Must avoid screw ups......... I then get the Dremel out and tenderly cut the hole. Undersized and then make a little bigger, test fitting as I go. You can't put plastic back (don't ask how I know). I have it all together and decide to test fit the panel. Looking good, got the top part on, lining up the bottom.... CRAP. The tweeter is now protruding out of the panel. WHAT THE $!$!$. The nut holding the tweeter in is pushing against the metal of the door. Well, I'm committed now, so I get out the drill with a BIG bit and drill a hole for the nut to fit into, allowing the speaker to fit as intended.
Once I got it all buttoned up, I yelled to the wife and kids we needed to take a test drive and get some ice cream. Everyone gets in, I close the garage and when I get in, my 14 year old son says "This sounds great Dad!!!"
My teenage son has just made me feel young again!! And we haven't even left the driveway.Needless to say, there is lots of playing and tweaking left to do, but that is part of the fun.
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