My daughter and I have been wanting to put a little more sound in our 1977 F100. The previous owner had upgraded from the stock AM stereo and single in dash speaker to a Kraco stereo with 2 CB speakers mounted under the dash. Needless to say, it was in need of an upgrade. We looked at several of the updated 2 **** stereos, but the cost of them versus a newer DIN style radio and the features offered, we settled on a DIN radio. We didn't want to cut up too much of the truck, but knew we would have to modify the bezel. Ours is cracked and I would really like to replace it if I can find one in better shape. We decided that we would go with some 6x9 in some boxes behind the seat and some door speakers and a decent head unit. I was able to find some Line-X coated 6x9 boxes for $39.99 a pair and grabbed those.



We got on the net and started looking for speakers and settled on some Rockford Fosgate P1692 speakers. Crutchfield had a sale on Rockford Fosgate speakers were you get the second set half off. I searched and found out that 5.25 speakers would fit in the doors so we found some Rockford Fosgate P152 (they were on sale for $99.99, normally $119.99 and we got them for half of that, $49.99). Looking around for stereos, I have Alpine in most of my other vehicles, so we got an Alpine CDE_143BT. Its a great stereo and was only $129.99. I also grabbed some XTC Speaker baffles to protect them in the doors.



I removed the door panels and test fit the speakers in the doors. These fit like they were made for the doors. Two of the mounting holes lined up and I drilled out the other 2.



My truck did not have ANY wiring in the doors, nor any grommets for wiring, so I had to get creative. Using a step bit, I drilled the doors from the inside until a grommet would snap in. When it came to drilling for the cab side, I had to scratch my head. I do not have a right angle drill, but needed one. Not wanting to go out and spend $200+ on a drill, I grabbed my right angle die grinder. I grabbed a 1/4" drill bit, cut it off so that it would fit in the grinder and snugged it up. This worked like a charm.





I plan on putting power door locks in the next time I have the door panels off, so I went ahead ran all of the wires in some fire braid, popped in the grommets and fished the wire with some TIG wire into the dash.




Here is a picture of the speaker mounted and ready for the door panel to go back on.



I don't have any pictures of the rear speaker boxes, but they fit great and allow the seat all the way back. I wired up a new harness that runs all the way to the hot side of the solenoid (way less corrosion than at the battery), as well as a new power wire for the cigarette lighter/power point. The switched accessory and illumination were found in the dash and all wired up. After modifying the dash and bezel, the Alpine slipped right in. This stereo has a microphone that we mounted on the visor for phone calls and allows this via Bluetooth. The sound is great and my daughter is happy. She did say that she is excited about thee new stereo in the truck, but was quick to point out that she now needs one in her Escape.

 

Looks good, thanks for the right angle die grinder/drill bit tip.

 

Looks great monkey 1.

On an unrelated note, what is that flasher unit that is stuck on the side above the light switch in your picture. I have it on my 77 as well. It is not connected to anything on mine either.

Wade

 

I'm sure it's just one that's been left in there over the years. This is the first time I have had my dash off of this truck.

 

Hi Monkey-1

I purchased a simple JVC DIN stereo for my truck awhile back but haven't installed it yet.

I did cut the plastic dash trim to allow the flimsy metal DIN cage to fit in.

I also cut the metal bracket that holds the AC control to allow the DIN cage to fit through.

However, it just doesn't seem like to DIN cage and stereo will be very secure with the cage just kind of sitting in the plastic dash trim.

What mods did you make to your plastic dash trim and metal AC bracket and did you do anything else to secure the DIN cage and stereo in place?

If you have pics - that would help too.

Thanks for any help and/or suggestion.

 

I was afraid of the same thing. I didn't have any thin gauge metal to build a support out of, so I took some 3/16 solid rod and built a 'shelf' to support the stereo. I TIG welded it to the stock metal housing and the cage just rests on it. I don't have any pics but will try to get some when I pull the dash back out to wire up power door locks.

 

Thanks for the reply Monkey-1


How did you wire the Orange Illumination wire from your stereo?
It is supposed to dim the stereo lights when the headlights are turned on.

What did you connect the new stereo's orange wire to?

 

Stock Radio had a two wire plug, C-506 and is Green in colour.

Two wires: 137 Yellow-Black and 19 Blue-Red

137 Y-Bk is Radio power from Ignition
19 Bl-R is Illumination (Dimmed from Headlight switch)

Also of interest is C-706, a three way plug above the glove box.

One wire 54 GR-Y ... Green-Yellow or Grey-Yellow? The Cigar Lighter plugs into it and maybe: Vanity mirror lights, Glove box light, and AM Radio with Digital Clock.

When I did my stereo install, I cut the plug on the old radio (and tossed it) and soldered it to the stereo harness pigtail.

Mind you, I'm looking at the '78 wire diagrams, but hope this helps!

 

I’ve never had a lot of luck cutting plastic. How did you do it? I know it sounds weird, but I’m worried about messing up that cut. I also want to put a tach where the non-existent AC vent is…figured a hole saw would work…but again, plastic and me just don’t work out like metal or wood. Any tips are greatly appreciated.

I got the metal bracket cut to fit…guess I’m better at cutting metal than plastic.

 

For the tach mount, use a hole saw on your drill, but run it in reverse. It cuts slower but does not walk around nearly as much because the teeth don't grab like it does when running forward. I prefer a cutting disk on a Dremel for cutting larger openings like the radio. Run it slower so you don't melt the plastic rather than cut it. I prefer not to try and cut a straight line in one shot. Rather I line the disc up and pretty much plunge cut then move forward, rinse and repeat. Keeps a straighter line overall for me. Cut to the inside of your line and file to fit. You can always take more material off, but it's much harder to put it back.

 

Great advice, worked perfectly! Once I fish the green coil wire through the firewall, I'll post the finished look. Radio install worked perfectly. I used hot glue to make it stay, the thing is only 3 inches deep and weighs nothing. Should hold up. Thanks!

 

Original turn signal flasher has a mushroom looking retainer that pops into a hole, it's a secure fit. Mine had one too, once. Replacement generic flashers don't have the retainer, so often the dead OEM turn flasher just gets left. There is a separate 4 way flasher, it just hung out on it's connector as I recall.

 

Got the tach and radio install finished! Radio sounds great; used 6.5" speakers in the door. Tach is awesome. I highly recommend the Equuos tach. It comes with three options to connect the to the coil. Thanks for the help!

 

I didn't catch it earlier- you have to cut to fit the DIN radio...that looks like an old shaft radio. Seems like they could have skipped a step, lol. Looks good though.

 

Nope, it's a DIN radio...just looks like it has shafts...they are part of the entire frame, and not adjustable. I had to cut the bracket. Since the radio is so thin, probably only 3" deep, all I did was hot glue it behind the bezel; and I left some of the bracket in tack to hold it.