Well here she is.. my Accessory. This is my Zune work in progress. My mission is to tell you what my plans are to make this a one bad rolling Zune Accessory. Since the Mods don't want to have a car audio section, I will try to explain with as much detail as I can how this worked out, my costs, successes and failures. I have a general plan and feel free to comment on my choices... after all that's why I am here... to promote healthy Zune discussion.
Back story:
I picked this 1999 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer 4x4 for $3000 USD with 100k miles. This car belonged to a co-worker of my moms and she got it from a divorce. I looked at it and started it up.. drove it around the block and and could not give the lady 3g's fast enough. I noticed a few things that did not work but I figured.. aww dumb lady does not know how to change fuses(turns out I was the dummy). She sent me the title in a week or so and by this time I had check the fuses and figured out there was more to this car then met the eye. The title said Salvaged on it and with a little more checking I found out it had been stolen and stripped. After talking to her she knocked off $1000 so I figured well that's a good deal.
Onward!
So basicall the MACH1 sound system was totally gutted and I working with a blank canvas ready to create my masterpiece(for not a whole lot of money). My ride was missing a lot of stuff. Actually the only thing it had was most of the wiring, the "
head unit" (industry term for the stereo or deck) and the front door speakers.
Missing or broken:
Head unit: Display crystal broken but it works(BAD BAD reception)
Antenna: not connected in fender(see above)($55/hr to fix.. bought a Zune LOL)
Backdoor speakers: Gone along with the Plastic sealed mounting pieces that are Ford only.
Rear Sub woofer box: Missing
Rear Sub woofer amp: Missing
Friends:
Ebay
Craigslist
The local stereo shop
Enemies:
Ebay
Craigslist
The local stereo shop
My bigass hands.
So, you see I have the somethings listed in both..This is because you can get good and bad from both places but you need to make them work in your favor... You have 2 ears 2 eyes and 1 mouth, you should look and listen 4 times more then you talk.. trust me it will save you money. Listen to everything.. do research and make up your own mind.
So I get to the Stereo shop and show the guy what I have, and tell him what I want.(I want a stereo that sounds brilliant and will make my neighbors brains bleed and I wan it for free!) So I don't have much money and and I would like a decent stereo.. I can make just get something new every week or so and do a layaway.(Most stereo shops will work with you and they should be willing to bargin)
I decided to start by replacing missing things first so that I had a fully functioning stereo then do the upgrades. Now most of this stuff I could do myself and save a TON of money but I got hurt at work and I am not allowed to do anything so.. the pro's make money.
First was the rear door speakers. I bought some
Kicker KS860's Good speakers at a good price. Installed $150 but they did not really sound very good. After he installed them he told me about the missing pieces and they they should make a big difference. I hit up Ebay and Craig's list. Nothing on Ebay but Craigs list yielded a 98 just like mine that had a engine fire and he was selling all the interior. He had EVERYTHING on my missing list! (turns out he was selling it but his PSYCHOWIFE was calling the shots.) She wanted $80 for the rear box and the amp (crappy 100watt stock amp that I would replace anyway). I had checked ebay the night before and found one for .99c w/$20 shipping(always watch shipping cost). She/He wanted $7/ea for the rear door speaker and $10/ea for the speakers inside. I told him I didn't need the speakers but I would give him $20 for the set to make it easy and have a nice day.
I took the enclosures back to the shop and he installed them for free since he had already charged me for installation. So.. ok these did make a BIG difference but it still was just not even close. I was still missing the sub enclosure and the rear amp.. and turns out there was a missing front amp too.
The guy says he has a JVC that was originally $899 amd he would sell it to me for $499. a JVC
KW-AVX710. I did some checking and while it was a great deck.. it was not a great price. I got one on Ebay for $329. This has a Built in MOS-FET Amplifier (20 watts RMS / 50 watts Peak x 4 Channel) as well as some other nice features. It's a double din so it will be nice in my dash hole.
The rear enclosure is not here yet but I will spab either a
CompVT8 or a Compvt10 is we can mod the enclosure. And I will try to fit a
ZX400.1 sub amp and after I get the
Head unit installed we will fiure out if I need another Amp up front.
OK now.. the icing on the cake is the
Kicker/Soundgate solution Now go to that site if you have a newer car with a stock sound system.. But since I am going after market I am just getting the
cable and core pack!
So this is where I am now. I will keep you posted.
Accessory 99 Expedition. Work in progress.
