mkpony.com - My 2011 Mustang GT Fun Page

Sound System & Center Console

Yes, I'm a Stereo/Audio weenie, plus I'm a Ham operator, so all my cars have to have a premo sound system, and incorporate my VHF/UHF Ham gear. But, it must be done well, and blend in. Pony came with the bargain basement stereo. No "shaker", crappy speakers, no options! UGH!! Plus, I didn't even get the upgraded dash with the good gauge package! This shall not stand!

I went off to my friends at Crutchfield and bought a Kenwood Excelon DNX692 system. It has HD Stereo, Phone integration, Navigation, CD/DVD player, Aux audio & USB inputs, Well the whole smash! I also got the iDataLink MUS-1 center console insert to suport its double DIN chassis, and the optional CAN-bus interface to allow it all to connect with all of Pony's systems. I can also keep all the climate controls and OEM data screens, but now I can program the functions. (see the vendor's page for all the links).

The MUS-1 center console replacement leaves a single DIN cut out at the bottom, where they put a "pocket", but that's where my Kenwood TM-742A tri-band VHF-UHF ham radio is going to mount.

Now, what about gauges? I don't want to pull the dash, so I'm going to add the Ford Motorsport gauge pod, that's original equipment on the Boss 302, and fill it with the AutoMeter gauges I want. I'm adding Volts, Oil Pressure, and Vacumme. Vacumme, you say? I know most folks like fuel pressure in these cars, but I've found over the years that I've had more issues with vac leaks than I've had with anything else. Holes rubbed in hoses, bad re-cirq systems, shot gaskets... All have lead to low vacumme and bad engine activity, response, mileage, etc. Plus, with a vac gauge, you can keep an eye on your foot and improve mileage by keeping the vac as high as possible at all times.

Lastly the Ford speakers suck monkey balls! Sound like mushy marbles in a dogs butt! I bought a pair of direct replacement 6x9s from Crutchfield as well. They are Jensen DUBS257 units. I'm usually a JBL guy, but they didn't have a good set of direct replacements, and the Jensens had extremely good effeciency, which is what I was looking for. I'll think about rear replacements later, or a sub, or amps, or........ :-)

Once I'm done with all of the brakes & suspension over Xmas... The dash work comes next. Sounds like a good garage project for the cold months. All of this is in house, waiting for install!

I'll keep you informed! Hopefully with project pictures.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with Pony and I.

EMAIL: mkpony@mkpony.com

Sound, Communications, & Gauges

Original Set-Up

Original

Kenwood

Dash Replacement

Dash

Front Speakers

Speakers

Doing the Deed!

It's 1/30/16 the latest snowmageddon is past and I've got Pony back in the main garage slot. Time to start on the interior, sound, gauges! As you can see from the below pics I tore out the factory stereo, and I'm getting prepped to put in the new Kenwood, and the Boss 302 gauge pod. (you can see it sitting on the dash), and the ham radio! More to come!

dash

Getting back to it!

It's 2/12/16 and I've not had a lot of time to work on Pony's interior due to work commitments lately, but I've got all the piece parts on the bench and I'm integrating all of the various systems. The CAN-Bus, audio, lighting, power, data. Not a small job!

rework

Putting it back together

It's 3/19/16 and I've finally gotten back to finish the stereo work, I've got the gauges mounted and wired into the pod, and the pod mounted to the dash. I've also started to rough in the Kenwood unit & it's wiring.

pod1

pod2

rough1

rough2

rough3

Finishing it all up

It's 3/21/16 and taken a couple of hours to close out the job. We'll mostly.. The Kenwood Stereo is fully wired and installed. The Kenwood ham radio head unit is as well. All the cables for the ham radio are laid in, but I still need to mount the main unit "somewhere" and hook it in. Finally I need to bring the vac line and oil pressure signal line through the firewall, and mate it up under the dash. Then I'm 100% done.

Here's the finished up interior. Pretty snappy, I think!

done1

BEFORE

dash

AFTER

done2

Update 3/31/2016...

I pulled the rear seat and mounted the Kenwood TM-742 ham radio in the well on the drivers side. Got the head cable routed, power, and audio, pulled through the antenna cable from the trunk, and closed out all the wiring.

While I had the seat out I decided to mount those Jensen DUBS257 speakers in the rear, so I got that done as well. The speaker install took a whole 15 min. Easy-Peasy!

Here are the pics of the ham radio & speaker install.

ham1

ham2

ham3

Speaker Job... OK, full disclosure.. I'm NOT wild about these DUBS257 speakers! They have a really tinny, shrill, high end, and absolutely ZERO base response! I actually think the factory speakers were better! Need to think about this. They may be OK for fronts, but they don't float my boat as rears!

Speak1

Speak2

Speak3

Speak4

OK, a few open issues remain!

Now that the ham radio is in the back seat well, the back seat won't go back in. It seems that the seat has a deep plastic bucket that sits down in that well, so well... Now it won't go in there. So I have 2 choices, as I see it. One, Cut out the plastic bucket on the drivers side, and put the seat back. Two, buy/build a rear seat delete for the back seat.

I think I'm going to try option 2. If I cut up the seat, it hurts resale. Also I may want to put an audio amp, or subs under there as well, and then I'm doing more cutting! Making the seat useless.

The truth is, unless you're Peter Dinklage, you're not fitting back there anyway! So, I bought some generic black auto carpet, and I'm going to go to Home Depot and get some wood, build a frame, apply the carpet, and Voila! A rear seat delete!

I can use that area for storage, and mount whatever... Out of sight!

More on this project at the following link....

Rear Seat Delete