[Aquarius]

Hey Guys,

I'm going to be pulling out the Mach 460 completely this weekend and I have a few last minute questions before I get down to it. First, if I'm going with a brand new head unit, new speakers, and 4-channel amp do I need any type of wiring harness or is it all direct wiring? If so, which one? I have a 2003 GT.

Also, how many people have 6.5's in the lower door? Was it hard to do? What did you do for brackets? Same with installing aftermarket tweeters in the door sails. Difficult?

Finally, has anybody completely removed the rear deck where the Mach amps are? I was wondering what kind of vertical clearance I'd be looking at if this was removed. I'm going to put aftermarket 6x8's back there but, I still have a 10" MTX sledgehammer sub/box from my last car and it'd be great to get that in there if it was possible. The dimensions on the box are 14" H 19.375" W 16" D.

I plan to do a full tutorial on removal, wiring, and installation of all components for future reference as well. Thanks for you help!

[Storkdork]

If you take out the rear sub enclosure and amps, you will have 15" in hieght and around 35" of width to play with...

The wiring you will need to do is find the 12 volt constant (purple with blue stripe) and 12 volt switched (black with red stripe) to power up the new headunit. I dont trust factory grounds so I used a self tapping screw to drill into the big silver bracket behind the deck. Other than that, if you are using an aftermarket 4 channel amp to power your system, then any other factory wiring is not needed at all. Just run your own power wire, speaker wire, remote wire and RCAs and have at it.

6.5s in the door is actually an easy process. Take your factory speaker, flip it upside down and trace the shape onto a piece of half inch wood. Mark the mounting holes. Now place the template for the new speaker onto the trace to see where it fits best. You will more than likely need to cut the wood a little larger than what you have traced from the factory speaker. You will see what I mean. Cut out the hole for the new speaker and mount the new piece to the plastic piece in the door where he 6x8 was, wire the speaker and screw it to the wood. We're not done yet... on the inner portion of the door panel where it meets the factory speaker is a ring that needs to be ground down or it will not let the door panel go back on. Again, you will see what I mean. There are other ways to this but this is the easiest. You could probably get away with quarter inch wood but with a good amount of power going to the speaker, I suggest half inch. Another tip... tear down that plastic cover on the door skin and cover EVERY hole With some sound dampening material. I usually just cover the entire inner skin with one solid piece that is cut to fit. It WILL make a difference in sound, especially when amping up the speakers. All the power in the world won't help a speaker in a door full of holes. Hope this helps...