so heres a little update:

I installed the 5.25" and 6x9" speakers in my car this weekend. they sound great but when i was driving around today, i noticed that the volume fluctuated a bit. sometimes it would be low, then all of a sudden it would get louder. Could it be a fault in the connections?

as far as the subwoofer and amp go, im still looking for an amp wiring kit online. Im not sure what gauge to buy either. 4 or 8? its 800max/150rms mono amp for the woofer.

unfortunately, i was retarded and i measured the height from the inside of the trunk to the floor, but i didnt measure the opening of the trunk. I finished construciton of the woofer box to find out it was a little to big for the car

so i just cut off a 45degree piece on the back so i can slide it in when im finished. Still gotta find some carpeting and finish that up.

as for the headunit, im not going to install it till i get the amp wiring so i dont have to take the dash apart twice.


as far as the head unit is concerned, how can i connect the headunit to the stock wiring so that if i need to put the old player back in, i can? i dont want to cut the connector off

the connector dosent come off go to any stereo shop and ask for for the head unit install kit harness it plugs into the factory harness and you splice your connections with the head unit. Then if you want to remove it just unlplug the headunit and plug your factory unit in. Scosche is the manufacturer of the harness that iu have youll also need the Gm antena adapter which is sold at the same place

the wiring harness, speaker jack for the back of the wooferbox, carpeting for the box, and the amp wiring kit should all be here this weekend. If all goes according to plan, i think i might be able to wrap everything up in the near future

but i have a few questions:

1. if i were to install another 4-channel amp to hook up to the speakers, how would i go about doing that? How do i connect 2 amps to the headunit? Then, how do i wire the amp to the speakers? you cant really use the stock speaker wire, can you? how can you wire from the trunk into the front doors? i feel like that would be extremely complicated. (but what do i know)

2. One thing i didn't really think about until i noticed how much of my money i had spent on everything is security. I really don't want to get my stuff jacked, so i was wondering what everyone does to secure their equipment. My brother suggested bolting the sub box to the chassis. Did any of you guys upgrade your security systems? on another note, does anyone have insurance to cover their equipment?


what about claymore mines, that would be a good deterrent, right?

i got the box carpet and the amp kit today and started laying everything out because i want to start the install tomorrow and i would like it to go as flawlessly as possible.

The rca cables that came with the kit have a smaller gauge wire that runs in between them and is open on both ends. What the hell is that? is it a ground or something? what do i do with it?

the kit also came with a fuse. where should i connect this to on the power cable? closer to the amp, or to the battery?

Im really excited to finish up the box and get everything loaded in tomorrow. Ill take some pics

It took about 3 months of planning and research to pull it off, but I finally finished this project (for the most part). First of all, i need to thank all you guys for helping me out with all these stuff. I never thought I would be able to pull this off.

I bought everything new off ebay which turned out to be a really good experience. Everything came brand new and in working order, so I am very pleased. Heres what I got

Pioneer DEH-P3900MP (22 watts RMS/50 peak x 4 channels) - $111.29
30G iPod Video - 197.49
Pioneer TS-W301R 12" Subwoofer (150w RMS/ 800 max) -37.50
Pioneer CD-IB100 II iPod Interface Adapter - 39.00
Pioneer GM-7300M Amplifier ( 150RMS/800Max) -70.50
22.5sq/ft Sound Destroyer Mat -30.00
Pioneer TS-G1341R 5 1/4" 2-way Speakers (25RMS/130Max) -39.46
Pioneer TS-A6962R 6x9" 3-way Speakers (40RMS/250Max) -59.90
Massive Audio 2 Farad Capacitor -42.98

Other stuff:
Wire Harness -5.99
Amp Kit -18.84
Box Carpet -21.75
Antenna Adapter -4.22
Dash Installation Kit -19.89
MDF Wood (Home Depot) -20.00
3M Spray Adhesive (Hardware Store) -18.00
Sodering Iron and Other Small Things -25.00

Total $761.81



Here are some pics:


As you can see, i had to trim the box down a little bit so that it would fit in the trunk opening. I measured it without the front on, so when i put the woofer in, the whole thing wouldnt fit by exactly 3/4" so i put the woofer on the front, put the box in, then assembled it all inside in my trunk.




I was so excited after i hooked everything up, i had to try it out. I didnt have time to get the box together, plus the box carpet had not yet arrived. I drove around with this setup for a day. I have to say, i was very disappointed with the sound the woofer was putting out. Very unimpressive....hmmm


installing the head unit and ipod adapter





Thats my glove compartment on the floor there.




This took me awhile: matching the wires on the hu to the wire harness. There is still 1 wire coming from the harness that i have no idea what it's for. Its an orange wire that says Dash Illumination on it. Theres no where to connect it in the headunit, so if anyone knows what that is, please let me know. Another issue i ran into was the antenna cable. The end of it doesnt fit into the headunit, so no radio for me unitll the antenna adapter arrives tomorrow.

To answer a question i posed in a previous post: The wire that was between the RCA cables I used for the "system control." I'm assuming this was it's intended purpose. It works, anyway.

I ran the RCA cables through the driver side and the power cable through the passenger. I read somewhere that the power cable can give off electronic noise that the cables pick up.








Carpeting up the box. I didnt know the proper technique for doing this, so there are a lot of visible staples. They're not too noticeable in the car though.



The biggest problem i have now is that the headunit is not secured into the dash. It's just resting in the slot. Not only that, but my dash is at a 45degree angle so it angles the headunit up to an unnatural angle. It's impossible to see the screen without adjusting my position in the car. Not to safe while driving. Does anyone know how i can fix this problem? The installation kit i got wasnt too great. I might just suck it up and go to bestbuy and have them fix it, but I'd really like to see what i can do here first.



Here are some After Pictures






you can kinda see the line in the subwoofer box. I carpeted the front separately, and screwed it in once the rest of the box was in the car.This will allow me to take the cover off incase i need to get to my spare tire or something. Also, i did not put any kind of foam or sound deadening material inside the box, so if i choose to do so, i still can. I dont want to seal the front on because i wont be able to take the box out once I do that.

In regards to before: I cant believe how much of a difference a box makes. This woofer hits HARD now that it's in the box. I was not expecting the kind of bass that this thing produces. Ive never heard anything like it. My rear license plate rattles: it sounds like it's gonna come off. There isnt a whole lot of rattle elsewhere. I put some of the sound deadener on the trunk lid, and that made it quieter outside, and a little bit nicer inside. I think im going to save a few sheets of the deadener and put it on the front doors.

As you can see, i made a little amp rack, which is just a piece of MDF that i had left over. I slapped some carpeting on it, and drilled some holes for the amp and capacitor. Now they aren't sliding around. I would like to secure these items down permanently, but i don't know what the best way to do this is.








Unfortunately, i could not, for the life of me, find a spot in the firewall for the power cable. I took as much apart as i could, but the entire passenger side of the car is filled with wires and fuse boxes or whatever. The only solution i could find was guiding the wire over the door and into the car. it works, but i really dont like how half-assed it is. I will continue to look for a better way, but until then, this will have to do.

A little note on the 2 Farad Capacitor: OVERKILL. I really dont think i needed this thing at all. With the volume and bass turned up high, this thing barely drains 1Volt out of it. I got it extremely cheap (best buy was selling a 1 F cap for $105) so i figured, go big or go home. It looks cool though, and i like the digital read out. It makes me want to get some more neon or LED lights in the trunk--- new project idea.



So in conclusion, thanks again to everyone who gave me input. I am really pleased with the results. I never thought that I would be able to to do something like this before. I learned a lot of stuff about Ohms and Resistance and watts and amperes and all that stuff that i should have remembered from my junior year physics class. I had a fun time doing this and i feel like it was 100% worth it, not to mention the satisfaction i got from the feeling like I actually did something worthwhile to my car.
I guess this concludes my summer project, I head back to school in a week so I guess ill just cruise around in my finished project listening to some beats

What's up fellow 3900MP owner?

(yeah It's a Neon, so what?)




It takes a while to get used to all the adjustments, but once you figure them out it's a great budget MP3 player.

But don't expect too much out of those components. I have almost the same setup (except I have 6 1/2's in the front) and they are fine till you put any bass to them.

Your asking to short out your system like that unless oyu want to drill a spot by the gas/brale pedal areas than you need to route the wire behind the hings and make a slight cut on the factory rubber boot covering the door wires then just push in your power cable through there and it will be in the cabin. if you mess around and short out that power wire to the body you can ruin alot of things.. heres the pic i edited so you can see what im talking about BTW check out www.cardiscountstereos.com

91parkave, thanks for the pic. There is SO much more space to work with on the driver side. My power cable is only 15 feet long i think so i had to go in a straight line from the battery to the trunk. If i had a longer cable, i would try to route it around to the other side.

87 delta;

those 5.25" cant handle any bass at all pretty much. The 6x9s pull their weight though. The only problem i have is i have 4 tweeters in the front now so all the highs come from the front and all the lows come from the back. i wish i could mix it up a little. As for the 3900MP, im still trying to angle it so its more user-friendly. the unit itself with the ipod adapter is awesome though, i love it. Only problem is you cant search for songs, you gotta have a playlist ready for whatever you want to listen to

I use FIE (front image enhancement) set on 125. Reduces the bass on the fronts and cuts the highs in the back. So far I've had good luck with that, but two highly different cars with relatively the same set-up are gonna sound completely different. I don't have a sub set-up right now, but when I do I'll set the high pass filter to 80 or so. With the HPF set on 50-80 those speakers are quite crisp and clear. I just have the bass turned up a bit to compensate for no subs.

i messed up when i said that first post i ment the way you have it now you need to have the cable behind the doorhinge not in front of it thats what the pic was for i was just giving you a better way to route the cable without drilling! if you drill in the upper center of the passenger side you could hit your fuel lines if you drill on the driver side in the center you risk hitting your brake lines so, between the gas pedal and the center tunnel is a good place to tap a hole through

Shouldn't be a need to make any holes. You can usually find a factory boot or body plug to run the wire through, 99.9% of the time. Just need to look harder, only advice I can give as I've never installed anything in that specific car.

The way you have it now is definitely not safe and should be re-routed ASAP.

TOC Admin
Brando

ahh you guys are starting to worry me now lol.

I'm really restricted with the power cable as to where i can go with it. Im basically stuck with doing it on the upper half of the passenger side. There's two spots where wires go through the firewall but theyre like glued into position. I took the dash apart (as much as i could) inside to see where they go but i cant even see the firewall from the inside. Theres so much junk in there... Hmmm. i dunno what to do. ive spent hours looking for ways to get it through.

awesome. that balanced it out a lot.

In my 93 Ninety-Eight I ended up drilling a hole for my 4-gauge wire... keep looking, you'll find a place where you won't hit anything! Mine was on the battery side, and I ran the cable down the same side you did. If I still had the car, I'd show you with some pictures... oh, how I miss that car!

-Carl

just a little update. I bought 20 feet of 8gauge wire so i can finally fix my power cable problem. I think i saw a few grommets on the driver side, so ill just splice the existing cable under the hood and loop it back through into the passenger compartment. What is the best way to connect 8 gauge wire? i feel like they'd be really hard to work with. solder or connectors?