[mattquerio]

First of all, HELLO ALL. I am a new comer and this is my first post. I bought my 85 gt back in july 2007 with a blown motor. This is my 3rd mustang, and my 2nd GT. Well every other 85 Ive seen has the "info center" in the center console, ahead of the ashtray, with the car diagram and the dummy lights. This car has a equalizer in that location... I believe its a 7 band...and is factory.. with ford printed right on it. It is one piece with the panel that mounts to the console, and has a harness that goes to the stereo itself. The car is otherwise equipped with a tape deck, which is also the original. Im pretty sure its the top of the line premium sound, because it doesnt have the knobs..its a digital tuner. Anyone ever seen one of these Equalizers?, or have any idea how many were produced??? I will post pictures shortly if you havent ever saw one.. I don't know who to ask about it, so i said well hell.. it's about time I join a forum.

 

[jim293]

Welcome to AFM. Well you are in the right section to get an answer. Thanks for coming in and joining the group.

 

[MustangMike94]

welcome! but i have no idea thats a first that ive actually heard of, wait till Rlg (reggie) or Eagleautosports chimes in they are the fox body gods around here

 

[FoxChassis]

That's not an original item for that car. Fox Mustangs did not have an "equalizer" until the 1987 model year.

 

[mattquerio]

I will get you pics, it is built right into the car, it is not aftermarket and the unit itself says ford. As I said it is the first one I have ever seen, and is attached to my factory tape deck with ford harness's. I will take pics tomorrow, so you can see what Im talking about.

 

[mattquerio]

actually here is a pic, you can see it... i will take closer pics tomorrow, it has knobs to fade.. front to rear, and a power on off button...

if you save the pic and look you can see the ford symbol right on it, and the words "premium sound". It is one piece with the center console.

 

[FoxChassis]

Because it has "Ford" on it and it's wired to the radio (which may not be original either) does not mean the equalizer is original to that car.

That picture is not very big, and it wouldn't tell me anything if it was bigger. There is a Ford engineering number somewhere on it and that will tell me what year is was designed for. A picture of the radio - and a large one at that - will tell me if it is original too.

 

[mattquerio]

I will get you a better picture in about 12 hours from this post, It is most definitely the original radio to the car. I know cars.. I am not an amatuer. I bought the car from the original owner...and he told me he never changed anything as far as the stereo... including the speakers which do not have surrounds...... but regardless it is most definitely original to the car, it is one unit with the console...I will get you a closer pic soon, trust me I have no found any info on this... ANYWHERE... I searched.. and searched..... and searched more. It lights up red... on each band on the adjuster...

 

[RLG34750]

just for my own curiosity could it have been a dealer installed option......

 

[FoxChassis]

It is most definitely the original radio to the car.

Then it should be mounted from behind the dash, not through the front, and it should look like this:

 

[mattquerio]

yes that is it, and it lights up red

 

[FoxChassis]

Oh, and if the vehicle had the "Premium Sound" option, it would say so on the lower-right face of the radio, there would be a knob attached to the underside of the dash hull with a plate that says "AMP PULL", and there would be an amplifier beneath the center of the dashpad and it would be plugged into the factory radio.

If the car did not have the Premium Sound option, the radio would say "Electronic" on the lower-right of the radio's face, like in the above attached image.

The Electronic and Premium Sound radios were the same, they had a different face depending on whether the Premium Sound option was ordered.

 

[FoxChassis]

just for my own curiosity could it have been a dealer installed option......

Maybe. Maybe not. I don't have a 1985 Ford Dealer Accessories catalog to know either way.

But that would not have been "factory" anyway. There was no factory equalizer in a 1985 Mustang. It was not a factory option.

The engineering number from the equalizer would clear this all up.

 

[mattquerio]

It doesnt say amp pull anywhere that I ever saw, Unless I never noticed. It says amp pull right on the stereo itself?? I will find out.. the car is at my moms in storage, but i will go there later and see if there are any pictures on her computer, I have a lot. Otherwise I will take some new ones and post them tonight

How would I find out if it was a dealer installed option? Is there anyway.. The car was originally sold in grand rapids michigan but to my recollection that is the only info carfax gave me, I dont believe it gave a dealership name.

 

[90 stock stang]

I never realized that the amp pull feature was the factory ford premium system on the older foxes. A friend of mine had an 86 mustang with the 3.8 v6 and hubcaps and this car had that pull knob for the amp to turn on. If I remember right it had a big impact on the sound for a factory system.

 

[FoxChassis]

It doesnt say amp pull anywhere that I ever saw, Unless I never noticed. It says amp pull right on the stereo itself??

It would be to the left of the radio and right of the steering column, mounted to the underside of the dash hull. The knob faces down towards the floor and it is pulled down towards the floor to turn the amplifier on and pushed up towards the roof to turn the amplifier off. There would be a plate on the dash, above the knob, that would say "AMP PULL".

 

[mattquerio]

finally got pics of the EQ

Finally got you guys more pics... these ones are a lot clearer.. if this eq looks like something u saw in another ford or something let me know.. im trying to figure out its origins....

 

[FoxChassis]

Only way you're going to figure out it's true origins is to get the engineering number from the top, sides, or rear of it.

The one in your car looks just like this one, which is an '87-'93 Mustang unit...

 

[Greg B]

Ford only offerd the grapic equalizer as an option on 87-89 and 92 Feature cars in a Mustang. Being an MCA judge and former assistant head judge for Fox Mustangs I had to research a lot of this sort of thing on Foxes. It also helps that I have owned several and have very good examples of unrestored originals of every year except 80 & 81 within a 50 mile radius of my home. Even though it looks like a very nice installation, it's not original to 85.

Greg B