# 2005 Mustang Convertible stock stereo sub install



## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

so my sister recently bought a new 2005 red mustang convertible which looks very similar to this one which isnt hers: http://norman.walsh.name/2005/01/19/images/Photo15.jpg . she has been wanting me to install her subs in the mustang for a few months now since she got rid of her gmc jimmy since it crapped on her. we still have it in the driveway so i will be scrounging her old sub wiring from it (except for the power wire since it is only 6 gauge wire and it might be too short since it is cut to length). i am just now getting on this install because i didnt know how to hook the rca's up to the headunit but now since injunv18 told me how to do it i am now just finishing up ordering the line out converter and will begin making a sealed sub box for my sisters JBL gtr5-12 sub. she had a box for her jimmy but it had two of those subs in it and im guessing the box is around 3 Cu Ft which is waaayyyy too big for the mustang trunk which in its usable area is only 1.75 Cu Ft at most. so i will be making a small ~1 Cu ft box for the JBL. i am going to carpet the box and find a way to sort of hide the amp since there wont be much room to use after the sub box is in there since i know she will try to cram stuff in there haha. i will be working on this for the next several days and will update with pics as i go along with it. i hope to get this all done by sunday with the exception of the line output converter because it will not get here in time so that will be the last piece to put on in the middle of next week and i will post a video of the finished product!  wish me luck as this is the third install ive ever done including my car and not to mention its a factory seamless headunit so this will be interesting. i may need some tips on how to get the headunit apart to get the remote wire attached somewhere or i may just find somewhere in the fuse relay box.


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## InjunV18 (Jun 16, 2008)

Austin, good to see you gettin started. Just a heads up, the LOC (line out converter) from navone, now has the remote turn on lead built into the circuitry. So you'll only have to run a line from it to the amps. A nice feature in my opinion.

Just be sure to tap your lines in the correct spot, or the LOC won't work very well.

What amp are you using by the way? And I couldn't seem to find the sub with a matching model number. Just wanted to look at the specs for them.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

InjunV18 said:


> Austin, good to see you gettin started. Just a heads up, the LOC (line out converter) from navone, now has the remote turn on lead built into the circuitry. So you'll only have to run a line from it to the amps. A nice feature in my opinion.
> 
> Just be sure to tap your lines in the correct spot, or the LOC won't work very well.
> 
> What amp are you using by the way? And I couldn't seem to find the sub with a matching model number. Just wanted to look at the specs for them.


the sub i am using is the jbl gt5-12. i may have said something different like gtr but it is right here: JBL Car & Marine Audio the amp i am using which is my sisters old amp is the memphis audio 16-pr1.500 which is right here: Class D Power Reference Amplifiers from Memphis Car Audio

i dont really like it because it seems to hum when the volume is down low but it may have just been the jimmy it was in. so we will see. it is going to be run at 4 ohms since the one jbl is a svc. so it will only see about 150 rms which is enough for her needs


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## InjunV18 (Jun 16, 2008)

It's unfortunate you won't be getting the potential out of that amp but as you said it may be ok for her. Perhaps there's a dual 4 vc sub in the classifieds that would get you more juice. But if you must use the equipment you have I'm sure it will be ok. Good luck! :beerchug:


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

ya i know its like breathing out of a coffee straw for that amp...if she does not like the bump i will sell her two jbls on here possibly and get a dvc sub for her = ] again pics will be up this weekend of the install. i am going to buy the wire after work tonight.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

here is the amp kit..same old same old stuff. 4 gauge...1000watt...150amp fuse yada yada yada:

p.s. i am starting the sealed sub box tonight after work. im hoping to get it all cut, glued, screwed, sealed, and carpeted tonight within a few hours. pics will go up soon after i am done.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

Austin said:


> so my sister recently bought a new 2005 red mustang convertible which looks very similar to this one which isnt hers: http://norman.walsh.name/2005/01/19/images/Photo15.jpg .


Not to be mean or anything, but that isn't a 2005 Mustang convertible in the link you provided That is the 4th Generation body style produced from 1994 - 2004.

I will agree though, no matter which 1995 or later Mustang you are working with.... you will find out that the trunk SUCKS! It is even worse if it is a vert.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

06BLMUSTANGGT said:


> Not to be mean or anything, but that isn't a 2005 Mustang convertible in the link you provided That is the 4th Generation body style produced from 1994 - 2004.
> 
> I will agree though, no matter which 1995 or later Mustang you are working with.... you will find out that the trunk SUCKS! It is even worse if it is a vert.


haha im sure your right. i just googled 2005 red convertable mustang since i didnt have a pic of her car handy. thats pretty funny though that that person said it was an 05. but her car does look very similiar and yes the trunk sucks very much. its going to be a pain to get the amp and box to fit in there nicely


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

so its 10:30 and i got done what i could tonight on the box. i only got the wood cut, the back and four sides screwed and glued together, and the wire panel cutout. tomorrow is when i am running all the wire. i got new battery terminals so it will be easier to hook more wires up. i bought a new ground wire just to upgrade the batt to ground since im not sure how big it is right now. by the way my sister is seriously never home so i cant just go outside and look at it when i need to haha. other than that it is going very well and according to plan except i wanted to get the box done tonight. but that is what tomorrow is for. pictures for all!


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

ok so i worked on the car all day. i got the main power wire run, a new ground cable installed (the stock was at most 16 gauge), new ground battery terminal installed, fuse block installed in main wire, trunk torn apart, and i have managed to screw up all of the mid bass in the car...this is what i need help on.

so im in the trunk trying to find a 12V + on the harness from the factory amp with a volt meter and i have the negative lead on a chassis point and the positive im poking around in the harness. then i hear and zzz (zap sound) and it sounded like a short to me. so i kind of paused then put the harness back in and there is no midbass at all just the tweeters are a goin. so im thinking a fuse popped so i checked all of them in the engine compartment and under the dash...all of them are good. i tried resetting the entire car by unhooking the battery. nothing. i took it to best buy and they said they could look at it for $20 but id rather go to you guys first and see if it is an easy fix. its a 2005 mustang convertible if that helps you at all. and there are two factory amps side by side in the back and one doesnt really seam to do much since i unplugged it and nothing changed. pics....


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

anyone?? just throw out an idea because im desperate to find out what happened


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## akanoon (Aug 12, 2008)

Are both of those amps on?

From what I've been reading (see 2006 Mustang V6 Subwoofer Project: Shaker 1100), there is one amp for the speaker in each door. Kind of weird but I guess that's how it's done.

If that is true and while probing something - now the midbass doesn't work for both doors - you may have done some damage to the HU. I dont' mean to panic you, just a theory.

I'd say disconnect both amps and see if you hear anything different. I wouldn't recommend probing anymore with your multimeter (if you did know which wire did what then I'd tell you how to continue with your troubleshooting... which would consist of seeing if the amp gets power and signal).

Maybe if you add some close pics of the amps and wiring coming out of them - it would be more helpful.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

akanoon said:


> Are both of those amps on?
> 
> From what I've been reading (see 2006 Mustang V6 Subwoofer Project: Shaker 1100), there is one amp for the speaker in each door. Kind of weird but I guess that's how it's done.
> 
> ...


The Mach 460 sound system in the 1994-2004 stangs is a tad bit different than the Shaker 500 and Shaker 1000 systems in the current mustangs. IIRC, all the speakers were fed by the amps for the Mach 460 setup.

**CLICK HERE** if you feel like reading more than you ever wanted to know about the Mach 460 setup.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

OK so i finally was able to get at the box again. Ive got some pics of what Ive done so far. i just need to glue and screw it all together, put the wire panel on and bolt the sub down then carpet and i am all set to go. i have decided to bring the car into best buy for them to look at it for $20  sadly i have no choice since i have no idea what happened. if it is the deck then hopefully the sub will make it sound like normal again, if not then a new head unit will be in order.

speaking of order, i received my LOC today. nothing special just the usual. i got it off buy"dot"com for 10.99 when it is usually 24.99 and now it is 22.99 so i'm glad i got it when i did 

this Sunday i plan to tackle finding the correct wires for the LOC. this time i will do it from the head unit ha ha. i will try and use the diagram from the links up above me in order to use the right ones.

i still need to find a spot to mount the amp because there is absolutely no where to mount it to the car so i may need to make support somewhere that it isn't obvious or in the way


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

ok magically the gods of car audio made my mids work again in my sisters mustang. i was wiring up the LOC and tried to turn the deck on with the key in acc and it wouldnt turn on. so i checked out the fuses and found a 15 amp fuse blown. (before this i blew a 30 amp fuse trying to find an acc/ignition wire dont ask how ) so i replaced that and the head unit turned on and then the bass came on! i was so excited and didnt know what happened because i thought it was the sub making the bass but i went to the back and it wasnt doing much so i was really happy. i have everything wired up and in the right place i just need to straighten up the trunk since all of the carpet is torn out still and the amp is not mounted anywhere. i didnt take any pics because i was in a hurry to get it done. tommorow morning i am going to tune the amp so the sub is louder since it is turned wayyyy down. i had some fun with this install because it turned out to work perfect with some big and little problems in the middle.
p.s. my back hurts really bad from hopping in and out of the drivers side floor, seat and leaning into the trunk!


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## OnYrMrk (Apr 20, 2009)

oops


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

i have another problem. now the amp is getting a really low signal. so low that it barely moves even with the gain and bass boost all the way up it moves like half a millimeter, if that. so i have an idea of what it could be. when i hooked the LOC up i had some schematics of what the wiring should be. one thing is that it didnt say which wire was positive or negative. so i just guessed. could that be the reason there is a very low signal? i tried just using on rca plugged in because maybe the two signals were cancelling each other out but no it got even quieter.

i was reading the instuctions that came with the LOC and it said there is a gain knob on it...there isnt one that i could see. maybe its inside of the box??

other than that the mids work again and it looks amazing. i still need to throw a fuse on the remote wire but i think it will be ok for now. let me know what you all think of this. pics will go up later or the finished install.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

Saturday I worked on finding the right wires to hook the loc up. I took apart the rear quarter panels and checked the rear mids for a signal which they had none. So the stock amp in the back isn’t working for those rear mids which I don’t mind and neither does my sister. I then decided to jump to the front mids in the driver door. I got the panel off and found out there is a 5X7 as the mid!!!!  I was surprised but I continued on my journey. I unscrewed it and found the wires I needed. So I installed it all back together so I could work on it the next day. Sunday I went to the back and found the right wires on the stock amp. I spliced into those and voila it worked!! Very well actually and it really moved that sub for only 150 watts rms. I will post pics and videos of the completed install when I can get them. Probably tonight. I am very pleased with how it turned out and so is my sister. Now I just need to stop her license plate from slapping against the trunk haha.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

pics of the finished install = ]


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## phantomtides (Nov 11, 2008)

So? How's it sound!?


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

it sounds awesome...when the trunk is open it sounds kind of flat but once it is closed and your in the car it sounds amazing. and out side the car is really rattly but im going to fix that problem with the license plate. i can post a video within the next day. but im really happy with how it turned out = ]


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## munkie007 (Jun 26, 2009)

can you post pictures of where you sliced wires? and what colors you sliced into etc..

would be really helpful!


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## Topless Stang (Nov 30, 2009)

That's not a 2005 Mustang...too bad the title can't be changed. It's an '04 at best. I only mention this because I was trying to search for mustang convertible install tips for my year range and found this. Good 1st time install by OP, but it wasn't helpful to me since the year in the title is wrong. My sig pic is what an '05 drop top would look like...even though mine is not an '05.


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

Austin said:


> it sounds awesome...when the trunk is open it sounds kind of flat but once it is closed and your in the car it sounds amazing. and out side the car is really rattly but im going to fix that problem with the license plate. i can post a video within the next day. but im really happy with how it turned out = ]


You are experiencing cabin gain with the trunk closed.Those JBL's are very effecient so adjust your gains accordingly.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

Topless Stang said:


> That's not a 2005 Mustang...too bad the title can't be changed. It's an '04 at best. I only mention this because I was trying to search for mustang convertible install tips for my year range and found this. Good 1st time install by OP, but it wasn't helpful to me since the year in the title is wrong. My sig pic is what an '05 drop top would look like...even though mine is not an '05.


Ya its a mistake, It is a 2004. And this isn't a first time install though it is a first time stock integration install.



munkie007 said:


> can you post pictures of where you sliced wires? and what colors you sliced into etc..
> 
> would be really helpful!


Sorry, I guess i never saw this. This is your first post since June so idk if you will see my answer. I can get back to this in the next few days possibly.


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## munkie007 (Jun 26, 2009)

Thanks i already installed it a while back.

fairly simple, just follow the colours leading out of the rear speakers.


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## Austin (Mar 12, 2009)

munkie007 said:


> Thanks i already installed it a while back.
> 
> fairly simple, just follow the colours leading out of the rear speakers.


Ya thats what i did except i used the front door speakers. And i only used one side (shh my sister won't know haha) which isn't the greatest but it works.


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## Topless Stang (Nov 30, 2009)

Austin said:


> Ya thats what i did except i used the front door speakers. And i only used one side (shh my sister won't know haha) which isn't the greatest but it works.


Looks great, you did a good job. I don't think anyone's going to tell her lol


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