I have taken the plunge and am upgrading the stereo in K'Re Ann. I am currently working on the subwoofer box. Pictures will be coming. It isn't anything fancy with the box, just a basic sealed box. But, I am running two 12" subs. A note to anyone looking to to build their own box, a box that is 42" wide and 15" tall are the maximum dimensions that you can use. Even then, you will have fun getting the box installed. In my case, I am actually building two 21" wide boxes and then sliding them in side by side and joining them together with a common back board which is being installed once the boxes are in position. The problem is the area where the CD Changer and Nav changer sit stick out about 2". So, that would limit your box width. Another tidbit of information is that the seats are reclined 23 degrees. So, if you are trying to make the box match up to the seats, that is the angle you need to get things too. In my case, I am actually mounting the speakers at about a 15 degree angle and then using the extra void at the bottom to give the speakers some room to move. That way the speakers are not slapping the back of the seat. Also of note, getting the speaker boxes to fit into the car requires rerouting of the seat release cables too along with temporary removal of the plastic trim for the spare tire well. Otherwise it is a no go. TRUST ME!!!!!!

Tomorrow I will probably start working on the mid/tweeter install. I've got separates that are going in on all 4 doors. That should be fun. Then wiring up the factory radio to handle the aftermarket amps will be the final barrier to get past, but that one is pretty easy to get around. SO, hopefully here soon I will be cruising around with some high power tunes. Should be looking at about 730 W RMS total for inside the car. That should let the car bump some.

The test CD for the system is going to be Techmaster PEB. Gotta love CDs that have to put warning stickers on the front of them due to ultra low bass that can damage speakers. He he he he he he. Time to find all the rattles in the car.

On a side note, any one know the style of alternator that is in our cars? Is it the classic 3G Ford alternator or is it something a bit more fancy than that. With this system, I am more than likely going to need to upgrade the alternator to handle the current draw of the stereo system (going to be pulling 75 amps for the stereo alone, that eats up over half of the max output of the stock alternator).

Keep your eyes out for the pics

 

Hey i dont know how your install went. But i had a few questions. I had two kickers 12" with an alpine amp unknown wattage to me (600 MAYBE), into the stock cd player. Worked great until one day just as i got into work after bumpin it for an hr, smoke started coming from the dash. Fuse blew and the system didnt work again. I "fixed" it rewired it and blew the fuse again. This is after couple months of using it everyday. So i wonder what the deal is. First off i had the remote into the radio, i piked a wire that had power whenever i turned the car on but no power when it goes off. Put a fuse in it also. Blew it. So now after all of this i just wanna cut off the cig lighter/ashtray put a cd player there because i want the stock look, relocate the cig lighter and have a cd player that can be hidden. So my questions are, can i hook up my subs "safely" to my stock radio? If i can pleeease tell me how? And is 600w tops good for the stock? My system was 600w and it was loud thats all i need

 

Silver, the stereo in my Jag has been put on hold while I found some new pins for the stock stereo plug (long story, in short, I'm disconnecting the stock speakers, running new wires from the radio to a line to RCA converter and then running that to my amp). Then the weather hasn't been the nicest when I have had time to work on the car. So, no pics yet.

As for your stereo, I am assuming the fuse you blew is the main power running between the battery and the amp. If so, how did you run the power wire through the firewall. I am placing money that you didn't insulate the hole well enough and it rubbed a hole in the insulation. So, now you are attempting to short the battery directly to the body of the car. Thank goodness for the fuse or else you may have had BBQ'ed Kitty.

As for wiring up subs to your stock radio. The easiest way would be to access the wires on the back of the radio. From there, you would need to get some additional wires coming off of the rear speakers (for example, can also use the fronts instead). From there, depending on your amp, you can either run the wires directly to the amp (needs to have line in inputs capable of up to 10V inputs) or you can get a line to RCA converter (can be mounted inside the dash) and then run standard RCA plugs from there. Then you can adjust the RCA levels to match the amp that you have (ideally you want the RCA levels to be as high as possible without exceeding the limits of the amp to minimize any sort of stray noises).

If you go with the secondary stereo, then you are running all new wires from that point. If you don't mind cutting the factory harness, you can tap into the factory wiring at the back of the stock radio. But, I would recommend running all new speaker wiring as you will get much better power transfer between the radio and the speakers since the stock wiring is a little on the light side.

When it comes to power matching the subs to the factory (or aftermarket) radio, there's a lot of variables in this equation. If you have a 600 (?) watt amp, that should match up to what you are planning without any other modifications. It will then be just a matter of adjusting the amp to match up.

If you need more info, let me know. IF you want to know my answer for the pins into the factory harness, I will pass that on too. I managed to get the new pins for $6.

 

Thermo,
As far as you ALT. goes the X-Type does not use a standard housing unit. I looked for a good 6 months. the best i could come up is a rewire. you can get them up to about 200amps. Here are a few companies i was dealing with Iraggi Alternators, Powermasters to name a few...... but come to think of it now that i am driving more in the dark i need some more juice for the head lights so may go ahead and send mine out for a rewire..... 86.2A (measured) just for the amps at fully volume

I am running 2 12's and had none of the fitment issues you had, I took the 12's and inverted them. so the box is much smaller. 7.5"HX39"WX15"D...... custom job. Where do you plan on mounting you AMP?


I believe you may have already seen it, but i have attached a few pics of what i did. maybe it will help with some ideas.

 

JagDoc, my subs require a slightly larger box that yours. Mine require a 1.5 ft3 box for each speaker. So, I am going as tall and wide as I possibly can. But then, my box is not extending past the build out for the nav drive though too (I actually came about 1" short of it). As for the amp, I am planning on mounting it on the back of the sub box and then putting a raised face around the amp so all you can see is the fins of the amp. Should be interesting once all done.

Maybe this weekend I will be able to do some stuff with the stereo. I figure the amp is going to be pulling 70 amps at full volume. Granted, I don't see me cranking it up that far most of the time, so, for the moment, I should be good.

If you know anything about the case type, that would be helpful. I will help you in finding a viable option for getting a higher amperage alternator. I think it may require a little bit of fabbing to get something worthwhile in there. We'll see.

 

I was not able to find out the case type. Everyone i spoke to said the same thing. I need to send them an ALT. and they would basically reuse the same case but swap out the rectifier bridge and re-wire the armature. They were also quick to tell me that they would not guarantee the output. They just said it would be higher than stock. one thing to be careful of is when the ALT. are capable of putting out the higher current. most do not put out full current till 2500+RPM's. This causes a problem since most of my driving is city driving at relatively low speeds.

I am currently running 0/1 wire back to my distro block with 4GA running to the amps. so i know i am not bottle necking. My next 2 upgrades will be the battery and the ALT.

I am not putting in a cap, due to the fact they are mostly useless till you get into the 100F+ range. I did the math on my car with my current setup and my resistive losses, and i would need like a 250Farad cap to even make a dent in the "dimming" issue that i have sometimes.

I will search for the e-mails regarding the ALT. and let you know if i uncover something a little more informative.

 

Companies i spoke to about the higher current ALT.

MG industries
Nations Auto Electric
Stinger Electric

 

jaguardoc, I know all too much about the resistive losses in a high power system. I worked around batteries that were capable of powering a small city. Gotta love living on a submarine.

Guess I might have to start hitting up the local junk yards and seeing what sort of options I have in making a larger alternator fit. It would be great if I could get say a Ford 3G alternator to fit in that spot. If so, then I can easily get the alternator into the 250 amp range at fairly low RPMs. And yes, I am all too familiar with alternator output curves. Even the stock alternator doesn't come close to making its max output until in the 1500-1800 RPM range. That is why I am looking to do the alternator right the first time.

We may have to put our heads together and see what sort of ideas we can come up with. I have contemplated doing a slight mod to the car and putting in a second alternator. But, then, I would also convert most of the car over to the up and coming 48 VDC electrical systems. But, that is another story all in itself. Probably save that for the toy car I plan on building. We'll see.

 

Let me know what you come up with.

You have me very curious now.

 

3 years and no progress???

 

Chiefs, Unfortunately, I have been slacking on this mod. Still have not installed it. LMAO. Life has been keeping me busy and when I do have time, I forget about it. I have all the parts, just need to install them.

 

I installed a 1600watt Audiobahn amp(using about 800watts)mounted to back of seat to run the 2-12in subs in pic below. as far as the alternator all works well until your using lights at night. you get dimming when the bass hits really hard. i was told i could install a power adpater in line(looks like a beer can with a digital screen) to solve this problem but havent installed one yet. i used the hard side of velco tape on the bottom corners of my box to keep speakers from sliding around. cant wait to see your finished project.

 

[QUOTE=Thermo;617851]Life has been keeping me busy and when I do have time, I forget about it.[QUOTE]

I know know thit issue all too well!! So you mentioned you had all the parts...are there too many to list? Are you just doing a reqire or were you able to find something?

 

chiefshb, I am going a little beyond a "basic rewire". The parts I have:

-5 channel amp
- dual 12" subs
- 2 sets of separates (1 for front, 1 for rear)
- line in to RCA out converter
- associated wiring to run proper gauge wiring throughout the car to handle the extra power of the aftermarket amp

As for getting the RCA inputs to the amp, I am going to essentially pull the wires out of the plug for the factory radio plug and then I have an aftermarket plug from a Ford truck that uses the same pins in the plug. This will give me 12" pig tails to run between the plug and the line converter box. From there, I am going to run the wires to the converter box to take the speaker outputs of the radio and drop them down to the RCA input levels for the amp. The rest will be fairly basic radio install with having to re-run new speaker wiring.

Not a tough job, just need to get out and get it done. The sub box is going to need to be installed in 3 pieces as it will not physically fit if I try to install it as 1 piece. I will be installing 2 boxes with the back removed. Once the boxes are in place, they will be bolted together on the sides to make it effectively 1 large box with a center divider. At this point, a common rear board will be screwed into place to help with making it a common box. Once things are put together, the box will be bigger than the opening. So, no need to worry about the box flopping around in the trunk.

 

Gotcha. Did you ever figure out anything with the alternator? I read you were possibly looking at getting a larger one or figuring out how to get a larger one?

 

I too find that the standard system lacks bass, but I'm not after having anything too hectic in there. Is there a lower powered amp and sub set up that will not effect the lights in the way that your set up is likely to, but that will fill the bass void at regular music levels left by the standard set up?

Cheers.

 

chiefshb, as for the alternator, I was figuring I was going to end up picking up a used alternator and then taking the alternator to a DC rewind shop and having them custom build an alternator to fit what I want. Not sure what that would cost though. Never did find anything that was very compatible. But then, didn't dig super hard to really see what could possibly fit in there either.

Jonesy, to match up to the factory system, all you would need is say a single 10" sub running at about 300 W RMS. If at all possible, find a sub that would have the highest sensitivity that you can. This will actually help the sub make more sound for less wattage. You will find that this will also help with low volume bass too. You may even be able to get away with say a 200 W RMS amp in that case. Then you can tap off of the rear speakers using line level inputs straight to the amp. This will not negatively affect the factory radio as the impedance of the amp inputs is significantly higher than what the impedance of the speakers is. So, no need to worry there.

Then it is just a matter of adjusting the amp to match up to the factory radio. I would say to set the radio to say 20 to 25 to do the balancing unless you tend to listen to the system at higher volumes than that normally. Then, set the amp based on where you normally listen to the system.