Is anyone using a Sony stereo and if so, how was installation and fit?
It's really easy to add a stereo to our cars. I reuse the l shaped brackets from the stock stereo and space the head unit out until it's flush with the other stuff like the heater ect.
The only real complication is if you have premium sound with the factory eq or amplifier. Even still, a stereo was probably the first thing I ever did to a car and it really isn't too bad on these cars. Don't bother with a "dash install kit" and there is usually plenty of wire to splice the factory stuff. However a wire kit will make it easy to go back to stock if you so desire.
Hey Ed good to see you made it...
With premium sound there will be a unused plug above the Eq or storage well, whichever you have(no not all premium systems had Eq but AFAIK all Eq had premium amp)... That plug connects to all the speakers and output side of premium amp... You can use it, but is a absolute the premium amp must be disconnected or it will smoke... Yeah I have the T-Shirt...
Do you know what the worst feature is with many of these new radio's? Basic channel tuning! I'm an old fart, but I still feel one should be able to tune an FM station intuitively, without surfing a menu or reading a book. My wife and I went through the Walmart display to see how many of the stereo's we could just turn on and tune through intuition. Result? About 25% of them.
".........You can use it, but is a absolute the premium amp must be disconnected or it will smoke... Yeah I have the T-Shirt..."
All electrical appliances/devices contain smoke. I've become somewhat accomplished in releasing it.
It's the magic smoke. Once the smoke is released they never seem to work again.
Hey guys, i have a sony in my car it had the premium system but somebody already removed the amp, it fits nice no big gaps,it sounds ok, but speakers cant handle the watts the deck puts out.
I had the drivers door apart today (86 Elan) to replace the PL actuator and to put a new gear in the PW motor (chattered and skipped going down). The previous owner or their "mechanic" had previously been in there and made a real mess of it. There were pieces of rivets lying in the bottom of the door in addition to half of the door panel fasteners being gone and plastic being cracked from prying. I was shocked to find that there were no speakers in the door(s) despite the fact there are grills. The original radio (that was INOP) was an AM/FM cassette. I bought a nice Sony Bluetooth stereo at Walmart that I am also installing, so I purchased a pair of cheap door speakers as well.
Did Ford install speaker wires in the doors of Thunderbirds that did not have a premium sound system? I can't see any. It looks like I'll have to run some into the door(s).
Nope, they just splice in to the factory dash speakers. My first 86 had speakers but no wires in the door at all. Even had plugs instead of that rubbery thing the wires go through. This 86 was the opposite, wires but no speakers.
I don't know, every cougar I have owned has had the speaker wires in the door whether there were speakers or not. My current 85 XR-7 didn't come with speakers but it has the wiring in there. I have had mixed success if the wire is actually live or not, but the speaker wire has always been there in my case. If the speaker wire isn't live, it's usually disconnected in the kick panel, but at least you have a nice factory harness already pulled through the door-boot. Check right above the speaker hole. I usually find it clipped up there.
Again, I'm not saying it's always there, it just has been in all my fox cougars.
I'll post pics of my plug holes for my cougar.
There was a spare plug in there, but it had 4 wires going to it that didn't match anything going to the radio.
Another fun find. When I pulled out the power window motor and mechanism, I discovered it was an aftermarket unit where only two out of the three bolt holes on the motor aligned with the window mechanism. I was wondering if this unit was for a mustang or Thunderbird with vent windows?? Had to order a new one. At least I got the PL actuator changed and it works:banana:
Pretty much all ford power windows are the same. There are two different styles, but I swapped in a motor out of the rear door of a Crown Victoria when I was a kid and it dropped right in place.
Got the PW motor replaced. What a fun job. Now both the locks and window work properly. Have to tear apart the passenger door now to replace that PL actuator and install the other speaker.
I DID find the speaker wires behind the door sheetmetal. The guy that buggered up the first window motor replacement taped them up out of the way. I'm going to make some jumpers to see if the circuit has continuity to the radio.
Got the new speakers in the doors and replaced the drivers side dash speaker. System sounds GREAT! The speaker wires in the door were live, so that made things easier. Also replaced the lock actuator on the passenger side while I was in there. Next stop, replacing the remote trunk release.