Sound system install

Rodger said:
Yes, I did the carpet install myself. I started with the MWB carpet kit. It's starts off as a one piece kit, but it is really finicky where the middle seam is. There are cutouts for the parking brake and gearshift/console. I pulled on it a little and the whole seam opened up through the carpet. Any cut in the carpet is really prone to fraying, so I ended up cutting the carpet where the middle seam was. Every cut that I made, I sealed with a small butane torch to keep it from fraying anymore. I glued it down over the tunnel area and carefully matched the sides so the seam is practically invisible. It's detailed a bit more in my build thread. It's partway down this page. https://xwebforums.com/forum/index....ct-off-to-a-good-start-volume-2.32624/page-11
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Great, thanks. If it hadn’t have been for the MWB sizing problem, would you say it’s an easy job? What did MWB have to say....
 
I did not find it particularly easy to install. Other than the openings for the parking brake and console, there are no holes for the seat tracks or seat belts, so all of those have to be cut in on site. I thought the size of the carpet was a little too big but by taking out the excess in the middle seam, it finally laid down ok. I found that by placing the side edges along the door sills first, then working in toward the center was best. That allowed me to decide how much to cut out of the seam. There is still the need to glue it in places to keep it from moving around too much. It not a molded carpet like the factory originals, but pieces sewn together. Once I figured out to seal the cut edges to prevent the fraying, it went ok. It's like anything you try for the first time. Awkward until you get used to the material and come up with a plan.

I did not contact MWB about my issues with it. If it had torn like it did so that it was not usable, then I probably would have said something. As it turned out, there was too much width anyway, so taking it out of the middle worked well for me. Overall, I think it is a decent kit for the price, but it is definitely not plug and play.
 
Beautiful job.
I had a Pioneer spare tire sub, can't remember the speakers in the rear deck but they were decent. They were what your heard on the the road.
I also had set of Blaupunkt tweeters mounted on the dash. Sony deck and driven by Vintage Alpine amps.
Sitting in the drive way it sounded like I had head phones on. Likely a pic or 2 somewhere here.
 
Rodger said:
As part of my K20 build, I wanted to have a nice sound system. As most of you know, the stock tiny rear shelf speakers are pretty weak. I wanted to figure out how to install front and rear speakers, as well as a subwoofer. I have seen several installs of front speakers in the door panels, but I was never a fan of the look, plus I did not want to cut up my new custom made panels. In my ’79, I had once mounted a pair of small bookshelf type speakers to the side kick panels in the foot wells, but they were always getting the way or getting kicked when getting into the car.

Since the car was stripped down, I could really get a good look at what space was available. There is quite a bit of space in the rear part of the front fenders and there is just the sheet metal of the kick panel separating it from the foot wells.
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It looked like there was enough room to mount a 4” speaker there. The passenger side was unobstructed, but the driver side has the mounting bracket for the frunk release lever spot welded right in the middle of it. I had the body shop remove the bracket and re-weld it higher up on the panel to clear the space for a speaker. It doesn’t seem to affect the operation of the latch or cable.

I lined the cavity in the rear of the fenders with some of the left over foam blanket from my firewall covering. I also put a piece of that on the back side of the plastic covers that separate that cavity from the rest of the fender well, then closed it up. I put some tacky weatherstrip material along the edge that meets the fender to seal it better.
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I had cut the 4” holes previously in the kick panels and run the wires for the speakers through a grommet into the space. I put some foam speaker liners that I had gotten from Crutchfield, then mounted the JL Audio speakers. They are fairly close to the drain tubes so I don’t think I will be able to mount the speaker grills directly to the speakers once the carpet is in place. My plan is to attach the grills to the carpet with short screws. We’ll see.
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The rear speakers are 3.5” JL Audio and are mounted in the Crutchfield foam cups in the stock locations.
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The biggest challenge was finding room for a subwoofer. Most of the subwoofers that I have seen in other X’s in person or on the forum use one made to fit into the spare tire, or just get rid of the spare all together and put a stand-alone sub in the spare tire well. With the firewall mods to make room for the K20 intake manifold, a lot of the spare tire well is taken by the access panel box. JL Audio makes a 6” sub and a fairly small amplifier. I mounted the amplifier to the firewall in the space next to the access panel box. It just fit! I ran all of the wires, then made a custom subwoofer box below the access panel box. The box is a little smaller than what JL Audio recommends, but it was the best I could come up with. I had to make it in two pieces then assemble it in the well. I covered it with the same black vinyl that I had used to cover the access panel.
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I hooked up the head unit to power to try it out. It sounds great! It feels good to get one project on this car pretty well put to bed.
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Me again, still referencing your awesome post. How did you anchor the small, two-piece subwoofer box to the frame to avoid low-frequency rattling? I only see what looks like a single, threaded bolt. Is that run thru from underneath the car? What did you do to seal the contact hole to avoid later rust, etc.?
 
tvmaster said:
Me again, still referencing your awesome post. How did you anchor the small, two-piece subwoofer box to the frame to avoid low-frequency rattling? I only see what looks like a single, threaded bolt. Is that run thru from underneath the car? What did you do to seal the contact hole to avoid later rust, etc.?
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There is only a single bolt going through the rear of the spare tire well. Here is a photo of the other side.
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It is a flanged nut. I don't recall if I did anything to seal it or not. The car is not allowed to get wet so no issues with water ingress or rust ;) . Even if I did end up in an unexpected rain storm, I don't think much water gets up on that surface.
 
I like the looks of the Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB. Nice find. I have been looking for a new unit for, well, decades and all the new offferings leave me without feeling that late 20th century vibe. This looks interesting.
 
LarryC said:
I like the looks of the Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB. Nice find. I have been looking for a new unit for, well, decades and all the new offferings leave me without feeling that late 20th century vibe. This looks interesting.
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LarryC said:
I like the looks of the Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB. Nice find. I have been looking for a new unit for, well, decades and all the new offferings leave me without feeling that late 20th century vibe. This looks interesting.
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So far, I have been happy with it. It's a bit pricey, but it has a lot of modern features and you can't beat the esthetics if you want to match the era of the X1/9. It took a while to puzzle out the menu tree and to get the settings dialed in the way I wanted them, but once set, then it is good to go. It is nice having the separate bass and treble knobs on the face. The manual is printed in really small type so it is a little hard to read.
 
Rodger said:
There is only a single bolt going through the rear of the spare tire well. Here is a photo of the other side.
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It is a flanged nut. I don't recall if I did anything to seal it or not. The car is not allowed to get wet so no issues with water ingress or rust ;) . Even if I did end up in an unexpected rain storm, I don't think much water gets up on that surface.
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Okay, this is good. What about the power amp: is that just screwed into the metal firewall? Any special screws needed for that? I’ve got a Rockville under seat powered subwoofer which I need to mount vertically, so I either have to make a shelf with a back brace to mount the sub on, or just screw it right into the firewall. On an un-modified, 74 exxe, there‘s a gap behind the spare tire wall and the firewall proper, isn’t there?
 
tvmaster said:
Okay, this is good. What about the power amp: is that just screwed into the metal firewall? Any special screws needed for that? I’ve got a Rockville under seat powered subwoofer which I need to mount vertically, so I either have to make a shelf with a back brace to mount the sub on, or just screw it right into the firewall. On an un-modified, 74 exxe, there‘s a gap behind the spare tire wall and the firewall proper, isn’t there?
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My amp is just screwed to the firewall. The rear wall of the spare tire well is the firewall. Just a single sheet of metal.
 
Rodger said:
My amp is just screwed to the firewall. The rear wall of the spare tire well is the firewall. Just a single sheet of metal.
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Really? That’s confusing, as on the lower wall, there seems to be a gap where those two, stamp, cut-outs are (at least in pre-79 cars. So,no worries going thru the firewall? Kinda makes me nervous…
 
tvmaster said:
Really? That’s confusing, as on the lower wall, there seems to be a gap where those two, stamp, cut-outs are (at least in pre-79 cars. So,no worries going thru the firewall? Kinda makes me nervous…
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Yes, you are right about down low where the crossmember is. Up where I put my amp, it is just single layer.
 
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