Hello Community

I want to implement a new Audio System. The installing instructions of that system recommends to wire the +/Plus from the Radio and Amplifier directly to the battery. The battery plus pole is already occupied by the Headlight relay wiring and i see no possibility to attach two more cables to it. Can i attach it to the Starter Relay?

It's a Audio System from the early ninetees that delivers 4x25W from the Radio and 4x40W from the Amplifier (Blaupunkt Gooseneck "Sylt" with "BQA 160" Amp).

By chance, another questions is, if the installation of two 9x6 speakers in the Hatch (Tailgate) needs steel cutting or welding?

Thanks for Your advises!


97' XLT 3.0L Vulcan, 98tsnd miles

 

You should be able to bolt to the stud on the battery side of the starter relay. Just terminate the power wire from the radio with a ring lug of the appropriate size. I did that with the power for the headlight relays.

 

would a different battery terminal work before jumpin from relay?
as for your 6x9's in rear ,
the back hatch/door is fiberglass on inside.(don't know about the outer)
the speakers in rear are around 3x3. you will need to cut out your hole and somehow make a bracket for support then use fiberglass repair compound to rebuild form back up so the hatch wont twist(not saying it will but it is possible). Then let it harden for 2-3 days and attach speakers.

if you have never used fiberglass compound, body fill and body work like a pro don't try putting 6x9's in the rear...... 6x9's are located by the rear seat on both sides...

 

So are you installing an amp or an in dash head unit. For a head unit, why not just use a harness adapter? The radio should just use the harness adapter, the amp does need to come direct from the battery, as mentioned above the hot starter relay stud is an excellent location unless it already has too many things on it. If you installed a 3G alternator, you can also come of the fuse block that is included with the new alternator wire.

The back hatch is made from a fiberglass, which you would not attach directly too, but the inside cover is made from fiberboard. I would recommend using fiberglass filler if your hole is smaller, though most audio shops use MDX for its sound deadening qualities. Fiberglass tends to transmit vibrations, not dampen them, but if done right its still an easy and cost effective approach. Feeding wires into the hatch is a total pain though, and probably not worth the effort, I would cut new holes and put them elsewhere.

 

Took off the panel today, i'm happy to find so much room. I want to use this space for two 6x9's that i already have. Never worked with fiberglass. What's the best way to cut-out a hole? A jigsaw with a blade used for metall? Would the panel alone hold two speakers there? Maybe a good idea to reinforce with a second layer where the speakers are (wood). I would appreciate yours thought and tipps!



A Jensen 9980 TI on each side - i bought four used for few bucks, best value for money.. stuffed out the cavity with foam.


Grille attached


Positioned with the recommendations from the Sticky - JBL GTO (used-cheap..)


And on the passengers side


Ready to mount a 5.25" mid-speaker with some adjustments. Tweeters will be placed somewhere at the small mirror window (pictures to follow).


Yeah that's it! Awaiting yours recommendations on how to work with fiberglass - we do not have Body-Shop's in numbers that you have it in your country.

Greets

 

The Receiver i have is a Gooseneck remote radio. The unit that contains tuner and amp can be mounted somewhere hidden. Best place to do so on Aero* is under the seat. Thanks to so much room under the seat - can easily store the additional Amplifier too.

Here's where all the cables come together: Antenna, +12V, 8 Speakers


Since the governments in Germany and Switzerland want to ban Nuclear Powerplants until 2022 (seven are already shut down since May), i expect shortcuts and fallouts for the comming winter. Why not use the good old Citizen Band? Just call over the air with no liable Hub inbetween:

Albrecht 6490 CB-Radio in DIN size, fits perfect


I'll keep anyone here posted about this upgrade.


97' XLT 3.0L Vulcan, 98tsnd miles

 

You really don't need any additional reinforcement. The speakers will not, and probably cannot vibrate enough to cause any problems. I would however do some sound deadening before you put the panel back on. At the least, hit it with some rubberized underbody spray, but it would be better to put for dynamat or equivalent sound barrier in place. This cuts down on outside noise that comes in, improves the interior acoustics, and is equivalent to running a higher wattage system. The Aerostar lets far too much outside noise in.

 

I am a little late posting in this thread, but I have not been here for a few weeks.

There is a harness connector behind the kick panel beside the driver's left foot. It includes a 10awg (not sure of the mm^2 equivalent) red wire that is connected through a fusible link to the starter relay. This wire is used to supply 12V to the camper adapter harness, but it is part of the standard harness & it terminates near the left tail light. It is/was present in both my 95 & 96 Aero's - I cannot say if it is there in all years. This wire has enough capacity for most sound systems, it already passes close to the driver's seat & it is already connected to the battery. Perfect.

Hatch speakers were an option for some model years. My 95 had them, but my 96 did not. The 96 did not have the harness connectors for speakers in the hatch, but I transferred them from the 95. The wire harness to the hatch (defroster, power lock, rear wiper) passes through a convoluted rubber "tube" at the upper left. It is VERY difficult to add more wires into this tube. The 95 had a second identical tube in a mirrored location at the upper right (the 96 did not have this). The hatch speaker wires pass through the right side tube & attach to the main harness above the headliner. I drilled the holes and transferred the right-side harness to the 96, but it was a lot of work, I damaged the headliner structure at the rear edge & now have a leak where the harness enters the roof structure (but I have hatch speakers!). If you do not have the hatch speaker harness, you could salvage a left side harness from a scrap yard, change out the wires and install it on the right side.

The stock hatch speaker harness connects the hatch speakers in parallel with the stock mid-body 6x9 speakers. If you are lucky enough to have the stock hatch speaker harness, you still need to do some custom wiring if you want each speaker connected separately. I would recommend using the stock wiring for the hatch speakers only & running separate wiring for the mid-body 6x9 speakers. The speaker wires can be accessed at the rear seat radio controls (if your van has it), or at the body harness connectors behind the driver's side kick panel. In my case, the wire colors did not match the wiring diagrams in either a Haynes manual (not surprising), or the EVTM, but it was a 96 EVTM and a 95 harness. I think the harness connector for the hatch speaker harness was still in the 96 body harness (above the headliner at the right "tube" area), but I am not 100% sure - it was 2 years ago & I ran separate wires to that point anyway.

In my 96 I installed a set of in-wall speakers in the hatch trim panel. I considered installing hatch speakers in the stock locations, but the 96 hatch trim panel didn't have holes or grilles & there was a color difference from the 95. The in-wall speakers were shallow enough to fit in the center hollow area in the hatch, so it was an easier option. I was not looking for audiophile quality sound - I wanted speakers in the hatch so I could listen to the radio while working near the van (work truck). I added a DPDT switch to the speaker wiring so I can listen to either the 6x9 mid-body speakers OR the hatch speakers, but not both at the same time - hoping to draw less power & not run the battery down as fast.

Be careful how much weight (speakers, sound deadening materials, reinforcement for the trim panel) you add to the hatch, or you may find the hatch struts won't hold it up.

 

I just looked at the pictures you posted again. Your van does not have the hatch speaker harness - the speaker connectors would be visible at the speaker hole locations.

 

That's what i tought first - a few fasteners should work to secure the panel at least. But i'm thinking of create a custom Hatchpanel, it all depends on the weight that a loudspeaker has. Better speakers means bigger Magnets = more weight. Together with the speakers from the Dash, this is the best location to provide a roomy fake-quadrophonic accoustic in a Van. So i don't want to mess up with this option by using cheap lo-fi speakers like the Jensen 990TI 9x6 are, they are good for the factory mount in the middle. I'm currently looking arround for big used JBL coaxials, from the product-line as the others, used in the Doorpanel - this is a 100$ project, as cheap as it gets, next mechanical repair is obvious

To wire those speakers in the back will not be easy as it was to wire the Doorspeakers. I've planned to keep the cables within the interior for this reason, hidden by the covering panels. Making a connection to the Hatch somewhere in the upper corner left with a looped flexible tube that collects all the four cables (thick ones).

Finished the Dashboard Speaker installation without carrying my digi-camera to the garage . Therefore here only the endresult:

It's a set of a (discontinued..?) product from Jensen called CV525. Convertible, the tweeter can remain in the center of the speaker as a coaxial config. or can be placed elsewhere. Fortunately the wiring coming through the Magnet is long enough to pass the grill on the way into the separate housings.









The speakers outer-diameter is exact the same as the FORD is (125mm). Would greatly fit into factory location if there where three latches instead of four.. either cut-off all the four and glue the basket smooth onto support, or to leave the latches where they are. The latches will sit on the moulding that surrounds the mounting-hole, so that there is a gap between the support and the basket (2-3mm). I've putted silicone arround the mounting-hole to fill the gap before installing the speaker. No chance to drill in that area - a big drop of hot glue to the ground through each of the latches does hold the baskets. No problems to put the panel back..

Sounds good together with the Door speakers. Compared to the factory premium speakers, they produce little more bass due to the soft suspension of the woofer. A separate tweeter is maybe the real goal of this upgrade.


Yeah, keep this thing running!

 

my old van's door set up consisted of a pair of kicker 6x8 components in the front with eclipse 5.25's used just for the tweeters in the dash. i used the rear mounting brackets from a ford explorer and put them where your window cranks are (i had power windows in mine) so the mid was mounted in the door but was not blocked by a body, the cross overs were mounted under the dash, and the tweeters were in the factory location. had them running through an audio pipe 4x50 watt amp, those things screamed and made good bass all the way to maxed out.

 

Yeah, sounds good and must be well responsive. To get Kickers and Eclipse here, even on the second hand markets (auctions), is qiet expensive - everyone wants to have it. I had to decide for units on the edge to low-fi to keep it within the budget.
While on the road, i prefer listen to classic/jazz and easy-listening f.e. Pat Metheny - keeps my nerves in an healthy shape ..

For the Hatch i bought a pair of used JBL GTO 963 (6x9) from the mid-ninetees. Want first to ask my friend who is working on airliner interiors for advise, before i start to ruin the fiberglass panel .

Pictures to come - greets

97' XLT 3.0L Vulcan, still 98tsnd miles on counter

 

very nice installation. quality workmanship.

 

Some more Pictures from my Trucks Interior.

From left to right: BLAUPUNKT SYLT SQM108, ALBRECHT AE4690, BLAUPUNKT BEQ


SYLT SQM108 Receiver Remote Unit


BEQ Graphic Equalizer

 

I too was thinking of installing 8" speakers in the same hatch area but the upholstery cover will not hold the weight, you need to reinforce it with a sheet of 1/4" plywood behind, (glue it with contact cement), THEN cut the holes and mount the speakers ON the upholstery cover instead of behind it, you will not have enough DEPTH and you do not want to cut the hatch's inner fiberglass reinforcement or cut a hole too big for the speakers.

to test for DEPTH: use a thin AWL or ice pick or a long thin nail, and push it through the upholstery cover at more or less the center point of where you want the speakers; Mark the tool with a pencil at the outside point of the cover where it doesn't go in any more, and pull it out; Now you know how much depth you have; compare that to the depth that the speakers will need and you have the answer.