Gold plated connectors, 2DIN head units

[pro-five-oh]

Putting my old 1993 Mark's stereo (see the TECH section for details) into my new 1995 LSC.

1. Since I didn't get all the wiring (long story) from the old car I bought new speaker wire (12 or 14 gauge from a friend who is a JL Audio dealer) but am installing standard home depot connectors to slide onto the speakers, amp and crossovers. Is the gold stuff really any better?

2. The 1995 has a double din face, so I am installing my 1 DIN mp3 player and a 1 Din EQ. WIth a little cutting to the dash, they will fit nicely around the woodgrain on the dash. Everything behind the woodgrain is a straight shot, no problem getting both units to clear. I know I won't be able to use the trim for each unit in order for them to clear, so does anyone have a good idea on how to "fill" in the gaps? I am thinking a little foam and tucking in some black velvet...the stock stereo has velvet around the woodgrain, so this might actually look good.

Thanks! And this place is lookin great! smile.gif

[JoshMcMadMac]

quote:Originally posted by pro-five-oh:
Putting my old 1993 Mark's stereo (see the TECH section for details) into my new 1995 LSC.

1. Since I didn't get all the wiring (long story) from the old car I bought new speaker wire (12 or 14 gauge from a friend who is a JL Audio dealer) but am installing standard home depot connectors to slide onto the speakers, amp and crossovers. Is the gold stuff really any better?

2. The 1995 has a double din face, so I am installing my 1 DIN mp3 player and a 1 Din EQ. WIth a little cutting to the dash, they will fit nicely around the woodgrain on the dash. Everything behind the woodgrain is a straight shot, no problem getting both units to clear. I know I won't be able to use the trim for each unit in order for them to clear, so does anyone have a good idea on how to "fill" in the gaps? I am thinking a little foam and tucking in some black velvet...the stock stereo has velvet around the woodgrain, so this might actually look good.

Thanks! And this place is lookin great! smile.gif

1. Like I have said before, I am no expert. But when it comes to gold plated stuff, I don't know of any difference in audio, especially with plane-jane speaker wire. Just solder connections well where you can, and make sure all all of your connections are "tight" and on good. My 2¢.

2. You said you have wood grain trim. If you are feeling really ambitious I bet you could fabricate some wood and stain it to match your current trim. I think it would look really nice if done properly, but that is if you want to go with the "sophisticated" look.

[SQ_LSC]

Gold is better at corrosion resistance. Don't sweat that too much though. I haven't seen much corrosion happening inside the vehicle to concern myself with preventing it. Using solder and shrink tube with your terminals is usually a good idea. The corrosion I usually see is the end of the copper itself. The solder would seal that and there would be no worries there. Outside the vehicle is where I take an added precaution and I usually use a spray bomb of clear enamal after I land the connection. This has worked well for me and I continue using that method.

Radio trim ring huh? I'd probably be messing with acrylic sheeting or something but I'm retarded. How about you cut the ring out of cardboard to wrap around both units and glue your velvet to that? If you can sandwich the cardboard between the radio and plastic, it would hold there nicely.

[pro-five-oh]

Well, I'm not too worried about the regular connections inside the car, and the copper ones at the battery will be checked often.

I would like to do acrylic like I did on my Mark V, but I expect it won't look very good here because you can't put it around the entire paremeter of the headunits. The cardboard with the velvet would probably work better. The stock Mark woodgrain has black velvet around the bezel for the A/C and stereo, so just extending it to the area around the head unit and the EQ would make it a more natural extension of the Ford trim.

[SQ_LSC]

I threw the cardboard thing out as an easy solution that would probably stay in place better than "stuffing" as you put it. You've already worked with acrylics though, so I think we should take another look at that option. You said you can't wrap completely around both units and you're actually cutting the dash to make room for the 2 units. Is the area the radio sits in completely flat? Will you have a flat surface all the way around when the 2 units are in place? Will you see the cut edge of the plastic dash if you used material covered cardboard? This is the one that concerned me. Seing that cut edge of the dash. With acrylic you could cut the back so it's very thin and overlapped the plastic dash all the way around and then covered that with the velvet and put it over top of the whole assembly including the dash to hide those edges. Just throwing some options out,...

[Desert Stallion]

SQ, ya' changed your name! Come on man, some of us can't handle changes like that! :D

[SQ_LSC]

Change is a Biatch aint' it? I would have changed it awhile ago but I had to set up a new member account to do so and I wasn't motivated enough to do that. With the new moderator position and forum, I had enough motivation. Actually the crew used to ride me in MIRC for logging in with that name so I guess your not alone. Do you like the new "site"? Any suggestions for content you'd like to see in my "zone"?

[pro-five-oh]

quote:Originally posted by SQ_LSC:
Actually the crew used to ride me in MIRC for logging in with that name so I guess your not alone.

Yeah, it took me a while to figure out who you were, LOL.

On the Mark VIII, I will be cutting the plastic dash because it has a lip that will not clear 2 single DINs. BUT...the 2 DINs will clear the wood trim that clips over the plastic dash. So it will look pretty much factory in that regard, no visible cutting or modifiying.

And yes, the cardboard is a good idea. I will post a pic of the installed head units and ask for some opinions when its done. smile.gif