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PAT 4 > Issue 5: Sound System | Part 1: Headunit & XM Radio
Written By: David Pitlyuk
So far we've covered some asthetic stuff, some performance stuff...now it's time to delve into the audio. This issue will cover quite a bit. Here's what we'll be doing:
- Installing a Pioneer 850MP Headunit
- Installing 6.5" Infinity Kappa Perfect component speakers in the front doors
- Installing 6.5" Infinity Kappa two-way speakers in the rear
- Installing a Pioneer XM tuner for satellite radio
- Installing a Polk/Momo C500.1 500w mono amplifier
- Installing a Polk/Momo C400.4 400w 4-channel amplifier
- Installing a 2 farad Tsunami capacitor
- Installing a 12" Infinity Kappa Perfect dual voice coil subwoofer
- Building a fiberglassed subwoofer enclosure
- Building a custom amp rack
So as you can see, we've got a lot to cover, so run to the fridge, grab a bag of a chips and a soda, sit back, and start reading :)
We're going to split up the entire install into a few parts:
Oh, and just in case you were wondering about video...We'll be building an in-car PC in a future issue, so look for that!
Before I start I must give a little plug. ActiveTuning now offers custom services, where we do things like fiberglassing, audio/video, custom molded screen dash's, and much much more. The work is done in Lake Mills, WI, so if you're in the Chicago/Milwaukee/Madison area, give us a call or e-mail if you want more info.
Lets start off with the headunit. We went with the Pioneer 850MP. This headunit looks great, and has some really nice features as well. Among the features, some of the most notable are a motorized dual face with animated graphics, 3 6v pre-outs, optional aux-in, and plays MP3 CDs.
Interested in how to install everything? Read on...
The first thing you want to do is pop off the plastic around the shifter. Just grab in where the shift boot is and pull:
Once you lifted that piece up, be careful, you'll notice a white ribbon cable attached to it. Just un-clip it, but be sure to be very gentle.
On the dash, you'll see two screws next to the white box where the other end of that white cable attaches to. Take those off.
Next, open your the storage box on the dash (we don't have the nav system in our Z, so I'm unsure of how different it is with those of you guys that do have it). Lift up the rubber floor and remove it. You'll see two screws, screw them out.
Remove that plastic piece that the screws were holding in, and then inside there you will see two more screws. Take them out.
You can now lift up the center dash piece, but be careful, because there's still a couple more plugs to unplug.
The first one is behind the three gauges:
Next, remove all the plugs (including the antennae attached to the factory radio:
You can now take the dash out of the car. Place the dash facing down, and you'll see 4 screws holding the factory radio in place. Take them out:
You can now remove you factory radio.
Time to wire up your harness. We solder/tape all of our connections.
For a dash kit, we used the Metra kit. The part # is 99-7402. Follow the instructions in the package to put it together, and screw it into the same place the factory radio was, with the factory screws:
While the dash is off, we'll feed the data cable for the XM tuner to the same location (the thick black wire)
Put the dash back together, and here's what it should look like:
Next you'll want to put the radio cage into the DIN sized hole, and bend the tabs in:
Plug your headunit in, slide it in, and pop the trim on. Here's the final result:
For the XM tuner data cable, we popped of the door sill, kickpanel, rear quarter panel, and the entire back where the glovebox is. The panels are really easy to get off. Most just pop off. For the rear panel behind the seats, remove the two screws in the glovebox, and pop out the cigarette plug. The rest just pops off. We removed the silver panel with the 10" sub cutout behind the drivers seat. It's gets rid of unnecessary weight, and gave us a little more room since we'll be putting a PC in there for a later issue.
We ran the wire underneath the carpet on the drivers side, then down the side of the car, and into the compartment where we removed the sub panel. This is also where we put the XM tuner:
Here's a shot of the rear panel off:
You'll want to plug up the data cable, and we grounded the tuner to one of the bolts that was used to hold that metal plate in.
We then put the XM antennae in the rear strut brace under the left panel (it just pops off too).
We just folded down this flap so it fit better:
Then just run the wire down the XM tuner through the rear quarter panel and plug it in:
That covers the radio, now onto the speakers!
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