Thread: 2001 Mustang Convertible -- Second Attempt

Oh How wonderful excuses can be haha

Yes sir, they are wonderful!

Good news, problem is fixed. Bad news: internet doesn't work. Pictures next week for sure Ordering the screen tomorrow when I get my paycheuqe!

Nice; Will be looking forward to seeing them

Hey guys, I just shot these pictures. They show my car, my wiring, and my equipment. Enjoy.

This is what's under the hood. On the left are the intakes (purdy) and on the right is my stuff. That's an Optima Yellow-Top with some upgraded terminals. Upgraded the negative wiring a bit, but never got to the positive one. The blue wire is 0awg going into a digital fuse and then out through the fender. The piece of wood underneath the fuse will be painted black. Promise.


Here's a bit more of a close-up.


This one is my dash, apart. The note under the vents reminds me of which switch does what (check the shifter bezel, there's 6 switches -- they light up when they're turned on). It also has the radio pin-out and the notes about the air-conditioning vacuum tubes. The screen will be right under the vents, and then the DVD drive below that, and then the air-conditioning below that for manual control overrides.


This is my trunk. The panels have been taken out and the top is up so it looks a little bigger than it really is. On the left side, there are 2 runs of 4awg for the amplifiers, and a single 8awg for the computer and accessories. They are coming from a fused distribution block that I hid under the rear seats. Easy to replace fuses if anything goes wrong. There's also 5 runs of remote turn-on wires (just in case), and a single cord for the bass adjustment that came with the amplifier. On the right side, there's USB, VGA, and a very nice 2-channel audio which will be for an AUX jack in the front for random MP3 players.


This is my workspace in the garage, messy I know. The sheet of wood will be my false floor on which my amps and computer will sit. I have 3 or 4 bezels that I "bought" from the junk yard a few nights ago. All my speaker wiring and new tools and bags of materials that I bought are there too, near the back. There's fiberglass stuff, USB hubs taken apart, wire runs, etc etc etc.


From the top left: HD radio cord (made it myself), universal garage door opener (to hack into the computer later), P4 cord for the computer (made it too). Second row: Box with wires and small parts, breadboard (don't know why that's there), M2-ATX power supply, 250gb SATA hard drive (3.5", I know I know), WiFi dongle, Bluetooth dongle.


My prototyping breadboard (where I made my HD radio circuit), slim slot-load DVD drive with a power adapter and then a USB adapter on that, my huge motherboard (mATX, 9.5", dual core low power... somehow), and at the top is the M2 cord.


MTX Audio 8001. 800w RMS subwoofer amp. This thing is heavier than I am!


Kenwood eXcelon 4-channel 400w RMS speaker amp. This thing is beautiful. It has a screen on the top and a fan to cool it and everything! It has a remote-control interface, but I've never been able to figure it out and I'm not wasting money on a controller!


My "programming box". These are the circuit boards I produced. In the box, there's just a bunch of small SMD parts and wire and connectors. Below that is a tube of solder paste and the screen to my HD radio. To the top right, there's a bag of relay boards, serial boards, and ethernet boards. Towards the bottom is my actual programmer (yay, eBay), and the control board itself! This thing has been revised and it was an old version (never finished). Ill be sending out the new panels to be made soon! Now it has PWM outputs, 500mA x 14 outputs, 11 analog inputs, firmware over USB, and very slim figure to be put into a box (which was just ordered as a sample). Overall, 3"x3".


I'll take pictures of my speakers and subwoofers in a bit.

Why did I keep thinking you had a old school mustang!?!?!?! Anyways I didn't know you can make a HD RADIO, thats cool! My next step is to also replace my 4 gauge with a 0 gauge. To much $h!+ on my system. I am also replacing all the stock wiring, like ground and alternator cable with 0 gauge. I am going to put a bigger alternator.

Did that cold air intake come with the car? Looks cool. I have to get one for my truck in the future. Thats phase 3 though, lol.

Originally Posted by HiJackZX1

Why did I keep thinking you had a old school mustang!?!?!?! Anyways I didn't know you can make a HD RADIO, thats cool! My next step is to also replace my 4 gauge with a 0 gauge. To much $h!+ on my system. I am also replacing all the stock wiring, like ground and alternator cable with 0 gauge. I am going to put a bigger alternator.

Did that cold air intake come with the car? Looks cool. I have to get one for my truck in the future. Thats phase 3 though, lol.

I didn't make the HD radio, I wish! I made the cable and the interface. Sort of like what Mitch did, but I did it straight to USB so there's no problems with converters and stuff. I'm gonna get a new alternator too..... eventually

Yes, the cold air intake came with the car. I have to do a bit of work to get it to sit pretty, but it came with when I bought it. Also has a dual-exhaust kit on it.

I love my baby!

Originally Posted by colin

I didn't make the HD radio, I wish! I made the cable and the interface. Sort of like what Mitch did, but I did it straight to USB so there's no problems with converters and stuff. I'm gonna get a new alternator too..... eventually

Yes, the cold air intake came with the car. I have to do a bit of work to get it to sit pretty, but it came with when I bought it. Also has a dual-exhaust kit on it.

I love my baby!

I see...... cant wait to see it finished. You'll most likely finish before I do, lol

From top left to bottom right: Latex gloves for fiberglassing, paintbrushes to apply the resin, 6 bags of fiberglass mat, a container of fiberglass resin, a 6-pack of good electrical tape that stays sticky even when it hits 1000 degrees, a set of router bits for fine work, a set of files for cutting rectangles and doing my bezel, 2 rolls of very expensive blue tape to lay down before fiberglassing, a dremel router attachment to cut and route, a dremel attachment kit that was on sale the other day -- never too many of those!


Same deal: OBD scanner, a few molex-SATA connectors for me to cut apart, a few 3-way molex splitters, 4 blue LED fans to keep it nice and cool in the back, an iPod cable to connect iPods and charge while you listen, 2 7-port USB hubs to be powered by a DC-DC converter I just bought, 2-USB extension cable with faceplate, an audio splitter -- one of many, the vacuum manifold to control the air conditioning, USB mini extension cables and another bluetooth dongle, the AUX-in port split into 2-channel audio (which is already run through the car).


One of the sets of speakers. Infinity Kappa 682.9cf component speakers with adjustable bass and external crossovers. 100w RMS a piece, one for each door and the rear panels.


Top view of one of the Kickers. 12" subwoofers, 400w RMS each. I'm going to fiberglass an enclosure for them in the trunk... eventually.


A side profile of the speakers and subs. They're huge. The subs are very heavy too, my goodness! Little bit of dust from all the cutting, oops!

Wow Colin, you sure are making my setup seem silly. lol! I can't wait to see your fiberglass work...I never was brave enough to attempt it. I installed those kicker subs into a Tahoe earlier this year, and they sure get the job done. Too bad the amps we installed with them tend to overheat with over-use.

Anywhoo..if you would be willing to make a USB HD adapter for me, I would be willing to spot you some money. Of course it would have to work ;-), and just let me know the cost before hand!