I have a '79 f150 custom. It has no audio, just an am/fm radio the previous owner tried to install before they noticed there were no speakers. Now, I'll have no problem setting a cd player in, But how hard would it be to hook all the wires up and get the speakers in. I didn't notice any holes to run the wire through from the speakers so i'm sure a little modification is required which will be no problem. Would it be easier to take it to a shop and have them do it, or just try and figure it out myself?

 

first of all its hard to mount a cd player in because the dash hole isnt correct. so u have to cut the dash. then you have to make sure its secure. then the wireing is a mess..... i had one in my 78 and it never looked anything more then crap. i wish u the best of luck man!

Matt

 

Its the wiring i'm worried about, not so much the mounting.

 

I've ran many speaker wires in trucks that didn't have factory speakers in the rear. On my dad's 86 we just ran the speaker wires under the mat. It didn't have any stock holes so I just tucked them in the corner.. for a old farm truck it works. Haven't had to do any front speakers wires on a truck but on my festiva I just ran them throught the dash a zip tied them in place. Speakers wires are easy just get the +,- right and your set... and fairly cheap. I've had more problems with getting the pos, neg and constant right in the beginning.

Edit: isn't the stock holes - one in the dash right above the radio and one in each door? The doors might be a pain. A single stock replacement from lmc would be easy to install

 

Thers supposed to be a speaker above the radio on the dash? hadn't seen that. I'm plannin on drilling two hold in the doors for speaker wires, use a rubber tubing to sheild the wires and stick it to the doors.

 

I usually use a air reciprocating saw for my dash and speaker hole cutting. For more precision I step into the dremel tool. Your truck is nice because if something doesn't work or stops working atleast you started with a clean slate. Easy to troubleshoot.

 

No problem, even for a novice.

on a truck such as yours the easiest way to get the wires into the door is to punch or drill holes in the door frame and A-pillars. I like to use a punch to poke holes into the appropriate spots because it is easier than trying to wrestle a drill into position, and trying to keep it in position while starting the hole.

Anyway, on the door about 2" above the upper hinge assembly there is a slightly raised flat spot, if you center a punch in that spot and let your hammer fly, you will have one of the holes you need to get the wires into the door. Now with the door wide open you can position your punch on the outside of the A-pillar about 1" above the level of the door pin switch that operates the dome light. Again, let the hammer fly and you're now about half way done.

Once the holes have been made you'll need to run the wires, with punched holes you should run your wires from the middle towards the speakers and the head unit. You want to do this because of the way the hole is formed. With the metal stretched into both body panels the sharp edges are out of your way and allow smooth running of the wire. just remember to use some sort of tubing to cover the wire in the holes to help keep it from getting chaffed after the doors are opened and closed about a hundred times.

Now comes the fun part, behind the dash on the inside of the A-pillar there is a grommet that the factory wire for thre dome light switch is run through. It is about 2" in diameter and can acommodate easily the addition of the speaker wires. You just have to reach up in there and feel around for it and pull it out, or complete the super twisty back bendy maneuver and look up in there and scope things out. Once you get the grommet out you can run the wires and finalize the installation.

Oh yeah, you can fit a 6x9 speaker in the door, behind the factory grill, the sound is awesome and you can lie about the speaker size to your friends. A good sharp set of tin snips will get the job done in no time at all, without the need for power tools. When I installed my door speakers in my '79 Bronco, it took all of 30 minutes from start to finish, but I have a distinct advantage of having been an audio installer for 25 years. It should be able to be done in about 2 hours by a noob.

Have fun.

 

Will it be easy to figure out how to hook up the CD player, thats what i'm most worried about...the wiring harness on the cd player.

 

really simple there. You are going to have to run a constant wire since your truck only had a dual **** radio that turned on and off with the ignition. Will most likely have to run a ground as well. I would just grab 12 volt contant and switched off of your ignition harness.

 

Most of the commonly available head units will use the following standard wire color scheme:

Red for accessory +12v power, available at the old radio position.
Yellow for constant +12v, available at the cigarette lighter.
Black for ground, available at any metal point on the dash, that's pretty much the entire dash.
Grey and grey/black for right front speakers.
White and white/black for left front speakers.
Violet and violet/black for right rear speakers.
Green and green/black for left rear spekers.

But that information should be provided with any CD player you purchase.

 

Thanks for that. I don't have any of the material that came with the CD player. My dad bought it three years ago for a Taurus, then he gave the car to me and I sold it.

 

What do you guys think about these speakers? I'll be using a Pioneer head unit (45x4 watts).

http://www.cardomain.com/item/PIOTSA1681R?vq_id=none

 

I installed a set of those and the 6x9s in a customers accord a couple months ago. Honestly we couldn't tell much of a difference between them and some two ways. Both with an amp and without on them.

 

Your not running an amp?

45 watts is max power (usually overrated alot), its most likely around 20 rms

I'm happy with my dual speakers, they're very cheap, and sound great off the head unit. What the difference between cheap and expensive speakers is the sencitivity rating... High sensitivity=good sound off not alot of power... CHEAP SPEAKERS HAVE THIS

Run an amp to them, and they'll sound like crap compaired so better ones

I've got dual speakers, I'm happy with them... And, I bought them at farm&fleet

~Nate

 

Do you still have the old AM/FM radio? I'm looking for one for my 78. Nothing fancy , just something to listen to as I roll down the highway.