bigchill's new 964 stereo install...not for the timid! (14 pics)

[bigchillcar]

wow. 9 hours later i have a new stereo. thank god my brother used to do installations or i'd been up a creek. i'd never seen such a mess in my life! a p.o. had installed a voice-activated, wild-ass stereo back in the early 90's with a huge amp, crossovers and other components i don't know the name of..but also had had front and rear radar detectors, and a hand's-free phone system, alarm stuff....whew..

at least 4-5 hours of our time was spent just trying to remove the okd stuff and wiring while not damaging anything electrical on the car, as the the pics attest - that was no small feat. one critical error i apparently made was not to disconnect the negative battery terminal, so now you later-car guy's guessed it - i have an airbag and seatbelt warning lights that won't extinguish. damn. anyway, the new blaupunkt bermuda looks and sounds great. no amp, i just wanted the head unit. already did my job of head-banging back in the day..i'm fine with 45x4 right now..lol. can't thank robin, my little brother, enough for his help. without him it simply wouldn't have gotten done..his install was purrrrrrfect. and a shop either would have sent me away or charged an arm and two legs for the job. here are the pics:
ryan

the big ass amp is attached to the other side of this plywood that was used for mounting up front:



factory radio wiring harness was butchered, so we saw we'd have to wire everything individually:



another angle of the mess up front. yes, my hood shocks are weak..lol.



robin's fave part - cutting!



robin in action, beginning to crimp wires..finally!


beautiful job of wiring, robin. i believe memory went to 'constant power' and stereo itself to 'switched power':



the new blaupunkt looks perfect in the dash. i hate gawdy radios.


the growing pile of old wire and components..

[bigchillcar]

trunk looking clean again.



lookin' good!



the 27-year old stereo maestro, mr. robin himself..


he's getting a little carried away if he thinks he's goin' anywhere far!


the car's much-relieved 41-year old owner, bigchillcar himself..



the final 'damage'..probably 20 lbs. of trash!

[Dottore]

Great job! Good to get rid of all that crap! Less is more in these cars!

[lendaddy]

Is that amp an ADS PQ20?

[bigchillcar]

problem is that by not disconnecting the negative terminal at the bat, i've triggered the airbag light..which automatically triggers the seatbelt light (there's a relationship there). bell has given me some advice that i'm gonna try, otherwise i'm gonna have to find a shop with a bosch hammer or borrow one of the homemade diagnostic devices from a rennlist member..

[bigchillcar]

Is that amp an ADS PQ20?

i think ads is correct..can you remind me what it stands for? something digital something...it was heavy and from about '92.

[lendaddy]

Could also be a PH-15(IIRC) anyway, they were top of the line.

Oh yea, it's Analog and Digital Systems. a/d/s

[bigchillcar]

bingo, len...a/d/s is what it is...or was. at least 12 inches wide. the car has 4 midrange (two in the rear sides) and two tweeters now (above the door midrange's..i got rid of a big subwoofer in the back).

[Don Plumley]

Nice work!

[bell]

what are you doing with the old equipment? pm me if you want to unload it all

[bigchillcar]

this stuff's pretty old tech i think, bell. not sure anyone's running this stuff anymore. it seems i have a need for a good 5 1/2" door midrange...under bass, it sounds like ass..fine in the mid and high ranges. thinking must be a blown cone?

[Gogar]

That looks great, Ryan.

[pwd72s]

Whew! Now I know why the new ones weigh so much...all that wiring must weigh a ton! New radio looks good, Ryan....

[bigchillcar]

jeremy and paul...thanks bunches! now if i can just get those darned codes to clear..

[livi]

Brothers are invaluable. I can relate. Without my brother my computer would not have worked at all. Good job. Although the sound of that 3.6 is superior to anything that pours out of a stereo.

[LeRoux Strydom]

bigchill, if I didn't live on another continent, you could have borrowed my rennlist-diagnostic tool to reset that pesky airbag light. Sorry, hope you get is fixed. Actually, I see there is now a guy on rennlist who made up a bunch of complete units with plug and all for sale.

[bigchillcar]

hi leroux, was hoping to hear from you. yeah, i've pm'd a couple rennlist guys but no replies. of course i've only been a member over there (and not even a paying member..yet) for like a week or so with maybe 15 posts, so they might not be too trusting right now to a newbie? i don't know. i was responding to the loaner thread as well. what is their asking price for the unit..you know? any chance that disconnecting both bat cables and holding them together for a few minutes, as my brother has said has worked for him on some cars in the past has worked, has any validity?
ryan
ryan

[RickM]

Very nice (and neat) work. Kudos to your bro

[k9handler]

good job Ryan...tunes are nice to have now and then.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Congrats! I feel your pain. I replaced the entire dashboard assembly on my Callaway 944 last weekend; hoping to finish up by installing a new stereo (gotta' be Blaupunkt!) this weekend and get everything zipped back up. The old system was a mess - wires run through about a dozen different harnesses, etc. Should be an absolute dream when done - clean looking and sound good - just like yours!

Great work!