300ZX Stereo Installation Write Up

[BlackWidowZ]

The weather has just been terrible. Been a slow process. little bit of work everyday, and its cold. Hopefully when it gets warmer or have some nice days, I can totally get the interior back together. I bagged all the screws but some of the bags have screws that go to different things lol so going to have to sort that out. Not a big deal cuz I have pictures of everything I took apart thankfully.

Double Din pioneer avh p3300bt

[EvanW]

Nice deck! I am following this for when my day comes...

[zswap0429]

Quick ?
Did you buy the double din radio bezel or did you make it?

[Trimble Epic]

Well, there's this...

[Ace2cool]

$300?

[BlackWidowZ]

I paid 150.

[EvanW]

I paid 150.

is there a special somewhere at that price, or were there "circumstances"? I.e. eBay?

[BlackWidowZ]

ebay

[zswap0429]

Hmm. Ill have to start looking for one there.
What head unit did you use?

[BlackWidowZ]

Almost done and just wanted to give a heads up on a couple things.

Clearance on the rear speakers. There isn't a lot of space between the speaker surrounds and the plastic trunk panels. There is enough room but the problem is that the plastic panels start to sag over so many years.

I have a little solution to that though. I used a shim. I took a plastic wine bottle quark and cut it up into shims that I Hot glued to the tops of the speaker boxes. Those shims prevent the plastic panels from saging. So if you go the route I went with 6.5s in the back like I did, dont fear when you think there isnt enough room for the speaker to vibrate.

Heres the pics showing what I did to solve the problem.

[Trimble Epic]

Were you going to cover any of the original topics in any more detail? I'd still be interested to hear your comments on some of these things

Wiring and best practices.

How best to run wires through the car.

Using the Hatch Glass Antenna.

Best place to put amps.

[BlackWidowZ]

best practices would be to run new wires and use a wiring harness to connect the stereo. tie wrap back the oem speaker wires.

I ran my signal rca cables, remote wires, and front speaker wires down the middle under the center console, and I ran my power cables down the passenger side. If you run the signal wires and speaker wires down the middle there is no other wires there to interfere with the signals.

I bolted my amps to a wood board I carpeted then bolted the wood board to the back seat in the 2+2. In 2+0 you can do somthing similar but bolt them behind the front seats. antenna I haven't really tested it I get back to you on that.

[Trimble Epic]

I finally spent some time today digging into my rear speakers...

The previous owner had installed 6.5" speakers in the back by removing the tops of the Bose enclosures and adding a slab of MDF ... Only, the problem is the Bose box has screw slots that stick up past the top edge... So, to "seal" the air gap, he went all the way around the box three or four times with a bead of some clay-like caulk or something... And it was a complete failure because the MDF had pulled away by at least 1/4 inch all the way around... /facepalm...

Anyway, I spent a few hours rebuilding the box... Drilled out depressions on the bottom side of the MDF board so that it would sit flush with the top of the Bose box, and added some foam as a gasket between both the box and MDF, and the speaker and the MDF. Now it's sealed.

But now I'm starting to wonder... Are the Bose boxes ANYWHERE near big enough for a 6.5" speaker? I mean seriously, a 6.5 should require about half a cubic foot of airspace... I measured the Bose box at about 1/20th of a cubic foot... (It held 1800 ML of water)

Am I wasting my time trying to shoehorn a 6.5 into these boxes??

[Ace2cool]

You know, that's something I've never thought of before. Very good question. I always thought my 4.5's sounded fine though.

[BigTDogg (MA)]

They're fine for midbass and midrange, but you won't get any low end from them. The same bottom half was used in the 1990 enclosures, which the top half is fitted for 6.5" drivers.

[Ricardosaurusrex]

Hi,

This is a great thread, i used it recently to install an audio system in my z as well. just wondering, what gauge wire did you use to run from the battery into the cabine. I have 1/0 AWG is it possible to run this through that specific hole in the passanger side? thank you.

[sgiles93]

what size are those wheels?

[jpwiega]

Sorry to resurrect the thread, but this is the go to place for stereo installation.

My question--is replacing the wiring really necessary if you are upgrading the head unit and speakers (not adding any external amps)? It seems like everyone is on board with replacing wires, but I'm having a hard time seeing the benefit for the basic head unit/speaker replacement.

Thanks in advance for thoughts/experience.