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Stereo installation question...again...

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TNMGB

TNMGB

Jedi Trainee
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I know this will make Jaybird cringe and run screaming from her computer again but I have a stereo installation question for my 1979 B.

I just bought an Alpine unit, standard DIN, and am curious as to the mounting box I need to get. Do I just get a "universal" box and are they all the same or do I need to get something in particular?

I also am having a hard time with speaker depth (have tried 3 different times and come just a fraction of an inch from getting it right...dang window mechanism. What have you guys found to fit without having to use a spacer? Or will I just need to use one?
 
What "box" are you refering to? The stereo should come with its own rack/tray that you install in the dash, then slide the radio in. After I got the wiring harness made up it took me about 15 minutes to "mount" my Kenwood (if that long).

As for speakers: a lot of people go with under-dash speakers, they make boxes that work as kickpanels in front of the doors, hack big holes for speakers in the sheet metal behind the cockpit, drop box-speakers behind the seats, etc. I wanted to stay away from all that and stick with the doors - I found Alpine SPS1329S 5.25" speakers that fit perfectly in the doors. I think they've been discontinued, but they're a sure fit if you can find them. JBL 404GTi woofer/tweeter combos were my second choice (with crossovers).

5.25" Door-Speakers
mgb8112173-400.jpg


The dimensional specs of the Alpines speakers are, 135mm in diameter, 39mm deep. It's 5-years old now, but the notes I kept speaker possibilities for the MGB are here. You need to find something with a "top depth" of around 38-40mm (up to roughly 1-5/8", you can go deeper by using a spacer (even some nylon washers will do) behind the speaker.

I also found several systems with a woofer/tweeter combo with crossovers that had the right dimensions (Polk and JBL made them when I put my system together, I used crutchfield.com a lot as a reference). They're not going to blow you out of the car when the top is down, but they sound perfectly ok for what they are - a compromise.

I think my set-up would actually be really quite good with the addition of a couple of small tweeters hidden up top somewhere and a small subwoofer behind the seat (in the area the earlier cars used for the 2nd battery), I just don't care enough to go hacking up sheet metal.

Here's what my stereo installation looks like. The final installation can be seen here.
 
when I designed the stereo in my 78 B I also had a hard time finding any quality speakers that would fit the depth requirments for the door. In the end I used some spacers sourced from e-bay with some JL Audio 4 inch components. Scott, you can see the tweeters mounted on the windscreen frame in the bottom picture, the wires run behind the pillar gasket and cannot be seen. I also found some thin free air 8 inch subs that mount under the seats to fill in the bass. Two old school RF Punch 45HD amps in the trunk handle the power requiriments nicely.
The spacers being the same color as the speaker grills blend in very nicely and do not bother your leg when sitting in the seat.


Too bad I rarely turn it on prefering the Pico sound system instead /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif


hope this helps,
Paul

some pictures for refrance
speakers1.jpg



speakers2.jpg
 
Well, yes the CD unit did come with a sleeve but I haven't quite seen what the sleeve is supposed to mount to. Taking it out was not a big deal and of course, sliding a DIN unit into a sleeve is nothing either but I've never had to actually mount the sleeve...okay, so it's a Sparkomatic unit circa 1982 that I'm replacing so it's a different dog for me.

I almost bought some Alpine speakers instead of the Kenwoods and might get them becasue they are a tiny bit shallower; I didn't care for the design and figured it might be worth it to see if the other ones I bought fit well enough; I may go buy the Alpines today.

And Rick, ironically, I used to own a Fiero...loved it! Should have kept the car for the seats and had the speakers installed there!
 
And Scott, I meant to thank you for all of the specs on speakers...! And by the way, I didn't really ask but you would know, how do you maount that sleeve to the dash? All that came with the unit was the metal sleeve...is that all I need?
 
normally, you slide the sleeve into the dash opening, and then bend little tabs all around the edge of it so it's secure. Then you slide the radio in.
 
Ah, thanks, Kenny! I was just going down to take a look at it.
 
Surely is a nice interor shot.
 
Yeah - what Kenny said. Sometimes there are rails you can screw the tray to, or even hang the rear off a support strap (sometimes included). Otherwise just push the tray into the hole and bend the tabs down - they're usually "V" shaped so the more you bend the tighter it gets.
 
[ QUOTE ]
when I designed the stereo in my 78 B I also had a hard time finding any quality speakers that would fit the depth requirments for the door. In the end I used some spacers sourced from e-bay with some JL Audio 4 inch components.

[/ QUOTE ]

Looks good. That's pretty much what I came up with, but in the end I decided I wanted the speakers more flush-mounted and just wanted the radio for something to listen to, rather than something to marvel at (if you know what I mean). I was surprised at how good it was, but it's typical of what you'd expect from the single speakers.
 
The box to hold the radio in the car should be the same between brands. I've used one from a kenwood on a alpine and a kenwoo (no miss spelling) on a kenwood. The alpine should of come with the mounting box. The last 2 I bought did.

Odd are you are going to have to space out the speakers. The 5 1/2's I installed were the shallowist I could find and they needed to be spaced out a 1/4 inch or so.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Paul, that interior is a wonder to behold. Is the whole car as restored as that interior?

[/ QUOTE ]


contrastsign.jpg



Thanks for the complement.

here is a link to some before, during and after pictures of the restoration https://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hondamr2/a...m/ph//my_photos
I went a little overboard on this one as I had just gotten a bead blast cabinet and used it on everything. I purchased the car for 400 dollars and it took 2.5 years to finish. I have put over 11k miles on it since the restoration and still get that silly grin on my face when I drive it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

these pictures are not for the purest.....

Paul
 
Mommy, mommy, when I grow up can I have one just like that.

That is beyond beautiful.
 
The beginning and ending photos are quite different! You should name the car Phoenix, or something similar.

But not to derail the topic: when I bought a replacement stereo (at Wal-Mart, actually--cheap, good, and has a mini-jack input) all I needed to do was remove the old one and slip in the metal cage that the new stereo came with.

There were two speakers already behind the seats (extending into the trunk) so I just used these, and didn't bother with door speakers.
 
Well, now that I've sliced my finger while trying to removed the steel cage form the CD unit...sigh...I'll attempt this again today. I now see how it's supposed to fit in there and will take the plunge again today.
Thanks!
 
Not sure if this is helpful, TNMGB, but on the cage on my Sony unit there are these two metal sticks you kind of push in on either side, which buckles the metal slightly and releases the stereo, so it is free to slide out.
 
sorry to hijack the thread.

on my 78 I had to file the edges of the radio console before the cage would fit. The edges were slightly round and needed to be more like a 90 degree angle instead for the cd player cage to fit correctly.


Paul
 
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