Stormtrooper FZJ80... little projects and keeping it nice.

[MissouriLC]

Hello, all! As I mentioned in a couple of previous threads, my family and I recently became the proud owners of a beautiful, white, 1995 Land Cruiser. My brother-in-law in Phoenix owned this truck for about three years, and he bought it from the widow of a colleague who passed away, who was the original owner. The truck has spent its entire life in Arizona, was garaged, and was not wheeled. Other than a bit of road rash and some faded or cracked plastics, its basically a time capsule from 1995. My BIL also did a TON of baselining maintenance on it, so it is in excellent shape mechanically and physically.

Since my 100-series (in the background) is lightly built for camping and recreational use, I'm planning on keeping this one as stock as possible and just maintaining it as a daily driver. The Hundo really SHOULD be the daily driver, since it is more comfortable, but this 80 is fun--like driving a steamroller!

My kids have named all of our other vehicles, and they christened this truck the Stormtrooper, so, there you go.

 

[MissouriLC]

The one thing that HAD to be addressed was the stereo. The factory door speakers were completely deteriorated and, like most of us, I have all of my music on my iPhone. I wanted a CarPlay compatible receiver, so I decided to give the Alpine iLX-W770 a try, and added their KTA-450 PowerPack 4-channel mini amp, which can be mounted to the back of the receiver. Its rated 50W RMS at 4-ohms in 4-channel mode.

I used to be big into car audio with BMWs years ago, and had several sets of speakers lying around from old installs. I had two sets of old, Made-in-Germany MB Quart speakers--5-1/2-inch Reference components and 4-inch Discus co-axials. These sets are about 20 years old, from when MB Quart made good stuff. Unfortunately, they are way too deep to mount in the front doors in the way the factory speakers are mounted.

The goal was to install the speakers without any permanent modifications to any trim panels, and without drilling new holes in any sheetmetal. Searching around, I came across some YouTube videos by @texasknowhow, who had a great approach that I decided to use. This involves making a pair of 3/8-inch thick spacer rings, one that fits between the door sheet metal and the door panel, and one that sits on top of the door panel, to which the speaker mounts. I got some 3/8-inch, 12X12 ABS sheets from McMaster-Carr to fabricate the rings.

Outside ring, and...

inside ring.

 

[MissouriLC]

The inside ring is mounted to the factory mounting points with countersunk, flathead screws.

Then the door panel goes on, and...

The outer ring, speaker, and speaker grille get mounted by screwing them directly to the inner ring, through the holes in the door panel that the factory speaker grilles are mounted via.

(Yes, the driver's door armrest is blue!)

When test-fitting everything, I realized that the mounting system for the MB Quart Reference woofers was not going to work with my rings--AND the speaker magnets were almost touching the window track. However, I had another set of 5-1/2-inch woofers--Pioneer Premier PRS--that is a great-sounding speaker (probably even better than the MB Quart woofers) and would fit perfectly.

I painted the outside rings with the Rustoleum Textured Bronze spray paint, which is a remarkably close match to the interior brown color. I had originally intended to the use factory grilles and mount them to the rings, with some press-in rubber bushings, but the mounting flange of the Premier speakers is too thick. So, I used the Premier mounting rings and grilles instead. It not overly eye-catching, and the grilles clear the sides of the dash with about 1/8-inch to spare.

 

[MissouriLC]

For the tweeters, I decided to mount them in the dash speaker location. I had considered using the MB Quart mounting cups and attaching them to the A-pillar trim, but that violated the prime directive of not permanently modifying interior trim. I figured I'd try them in the dash and, if the soundstage sounded like it was coming from my knees, I'd get some of Solvefunction's 3D-printed sail panels for tweeters.

I fabbed up a simple bracket using the factory mounting ring with the factory speaker removed.

20mm titanium dome tweeters.

Made in Germany! The mount with a single machine screw in the back.

1/16-inch aluminum bar stock, mounted using the Toyota speaker mounting screws.

I flipped the factory bracket over to a get a hair more clearance between the tweeter and the interior of the panel.

Like a glove!

 

[MissouriLC]

Since the front speakers have separate woofers and tweeters, there's a separate set of crossovers that send the low frequencies to the woofers and the high frequencies to the tweeters. The MB Quart crossovers are really physically large. I had originally hoped to be able to mount them under the dash is some way, but there is absolutely no room. However, the factory "subwoofer" located under the right rear window is perfect! I took out that speaker and added a piece of plywood on which to mount the crossovers.

Of course, this necessitates running a bunch of wiring back to the crossovers, and then back up front to the speakers! I made six sets of twisted pair wires--white/black for the front left amp output to the crossover, gray/black for the front right amp output to the crossover, blue/black from the left crossover to the left woofer, blue-white/black from the left crossover to the left tweeter, red/black from the right crossover to the right woofer, and red-white/black from the right crossover to the right tweeter! I ran this all along the right sill, under the carpet.

The tweeter wires I connected directly to the tweeters, and the woofer wire I connected to the adapter harness connections to use the factory wiring into the doors.

 

[MissouriLC]

The rear door speakers were simple, using the tried-and-true method of modifying the factory plastic mounts. I used a Dremel to put a shallow, 1/4-inch by 1/16-inch (approximately) rebate around the inner circumference of the factory plastic mounts, and hot-glued the 4-inch speakers in the mounts. That allows them to sit flush with the surface of the factory mount so the factory grilles snap into place.

 

[MissouriLC]

For USB connectivity to the receiver, I removed the cigarette lighter and replaced it with 0.88 round panel-mount USB cable from McMaster-Carr. A PERFECT fit! I also took the opportunity of having the dash apart to add the CDL switch.

All buttoned up!

Thoughts? So far, I like the receiver, and the sound quality of the overall system is excellent. I was skeptical that the small PowerPack amp could really deliver, but it does! Also, I am glad that I chose the speaker drivers I did--they were free since I already had them, and they happen to be really good sounding drivers. I would probably have had to have spent ~$1,000 per pair to get something new that comparable. It's been about 15 years since I've had a really good car stereo, and I forgot how nice it is! Also, the tweeter location works really well--much better than I expected. At low volumes, the soundstage is definitely low. But at my normal, moderately-loud listening volume, the soundstage elevates to face level. I MAY try temporarily raising the tweeters to see if it is much better, but I appreciate the current, fully concealed look.

I will probably try an updated mounting system for the front woofers to use the factory grilles at some point. What I've also realized is, it sound so good now that it really needs a subwoofer! So, that might be my next project.

Cheers!

 

[lumbee1]

Nice work!

I installed 6.5" Infiniti speakers in the front and rear doors. The rear doors are 5 1/4" from the factory so I had to enlarge the hole. I used a similar method for mounting all 4 speakers with putting a ABS spacer between the door and door card. With the Infinitis and Pioneer headunit, I'm very satisfied.

I shuffled some switches around on my dash. Solvefunction USB-A connector for Android Auto.

Ignore the dog hair, dust, and dirt.

BTW, I too had some amazing MB Quart speakers from my younger days. I paid an arm and a leg for them when I was 18 and in car audio. They sounded amazing. Unfortunately after 30 years, I never found a new home for them and eventually threw them away

 

[MissouriLC]

Nice work!

I installed 6.5" Infiniti speakers in the front and rear doors. The rear doors are 5 1/4" from the factory so I had to enlarge the hole. I used a similar method for mounting all 4 speakers with putting a ABS spacer between the door and door card. With the Infinitis and Pioneer headunit, I'm very satisfied.

I shuffled some switches around on my dash. Solvefunction USB-A connector for Android Auto.
View attachment 4035011Ignore the dog hair, dust, and dirt.

BTW, I too had some amazing MB Quart speakers from my younger days. I paid an arm and a leg for them when I was 18 and in car audio. They sounded amazing. Unfortunately after 30 years, I never found a new home for them and eventually threw them away

Nice work as well!

 

[1MAC]

I replaced one of my dash blanks with a USB-C insert from Solvefunction and connected it to the USB output of my Alpine head unit. It allows me to connect directly without Bluetooth for a little more stable connection and keeps the cigarette plug free for more charging options.