Stereo in an '84 wagon

[krankitup]

I've done a little searching on here about installing a stereo in my '84 wagon. I was wondering if anyone had any pictures or their deck installed, and speaker locations. The stock locations suck, they are right up against the seats! Thanks in advance.

[ReaLiTY]

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures. But in my '84 Wagon I had Polk EX346 4"x6" speakers in the dash in the factory locations and Polk EX350 5" speakers in the rear doors. The one in the right side of the dash above the glove box fit perfect but on the left side the stock speaker was a little smaller so I just wedged the 4"x6" in. For the rear doors I just drilled new holes in the speaker plates to acommidate the 5" speakers. Everything fit, looked stock and sounded great too. I purchased them from Crutchfield so they included all of the wiring needed (which is important since the stock speakers are ran off the same wires for front and back) and then I found a dash that was cut for a regular sized deck at the junkyard and installed my Kenwood KDC-416S Receiver.

[carfreak85]

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures. But in my '84 Wagon I had Polk EX346 4"x6" speakers in the dash in the factory locations and Polk EX350 5" speakers in the rear doors. The one in the right side of the dash above the glove box fit perfect but on the left side the stock speaker was a little smaller so I just wedged the 4"x6" in. For the rear doors I just drilled new holes in the speaker plates to acommidate the 5" speakers. Everything fit, looked stock and sounded great too. I purchased them from Crutchfield so they included all of the wiring needed (which is important since the stock speakers are ran off the same wires for front and back) and then I found a dash that was cut for a regular sized deck at the junkyard and installed my Kenwood KDC-416S Receiver.

 

Do you have pics of your installation?

[TheSubaruJunkie]

here are a couple pix of my various stereo installs:

 

Most recent in my RX:

 

Here is my setup in my old '83 Wagon:

 

Here's a shot of my stereo console in my old '86 brat:

 

And here is the current setup in my '84 lifted wagon:

 

As far as speakers, i usually replace the door speakers with 6.5" or if you want 5.5" speakers. You may find the speaker to be too thick, if so you can buy spacers for your speakers so they stick out enough for your window to roll down.

 

Right now, in my RX i have 6x8 3 way speakers in the front doors. On your '84 you might not be able to fit anything that large, but a dremel really helps

 

-Brian

[GoldDiggerRoo]

Has anyone ever put speakers in the front map pockets in the doors? I had a friend who was always wanting to buy them off my car so he could use them to do that in his Dart.

[subieman]

The front speakers wont fit where the door pocket is because the way the door is made. I went a head and rewired all the speakers so no more common ground BS.

 

A few pics....

[krankitup]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

 

TheSubaruJunkie: The one in the '83 wagon...How did you get the deck angled like that? Thats pretty cool too.

[GoldDiggerRoo]

What size are those speakers subieman? 4 or 6 inch?

[GoldDiggerRoo]

Oh, here's a pic of my stereo installation which acording to the guys at circut city was impossible. I plan on removing the stock stereo soon and putting the pocket back in it's place.

[subieman]

What size are those speakers subieman? 4 or 6 inch?

6.5 in the front and 4 in the back.

[subarunewbie2005]

Oh, here's a pic of my stereo installation which acording to the guys at circut city was impossible. I plan on removing the stock stereo soon and putting the pocket back in it's place.

 

thats where me and my son decided to locate his new stereo................but it was bought by my wife at a yard sale for 5 bucks the lady said it still worked her son just wanted a bigger stereo for his car. I believe she mentioned it was a ford but what year she didnt say. So there in lies the problem with hooking the stereo the rest of the way up........without knowing what year ford it was i cant find a wiring harness to hook to the back of the stereo. The GL came with a cassette player seperate from the stock radio, Ive been thinking that if I can get a harness that attaches to the stereo itself that maybe I can do some rewiring and make a harness that will plug into the stock harness, provide power to the stereo and speakers. As for rear speakers my son already has two roadmaster 2way 6x9's that he did have in the family Dynasty. Im hoping that someone on here can point me in the right direction with this or tell me if my idea wil;l work or turn the car into a rolling fireball. . HELP!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks Again for any input

[GoldDiggerRoo]

unless you can find the harness for the stero and figure out what wires are aht, you're gonna have some big problems. In my opinion I would say just give up on that one and buy a non factory stereo that already has the wires. The biggest problem I had was with the speakers. Subarus from the factory use a common ground system, meaning all the speakers use the same gound unlike most other stereos that have a positive an negative wire per speaker, so to use any non common ground stereo you'll need to rewire all speakers. It seemed like a pain to me espically all the ones in the dash, so I took my car to circut city and they did it all for $60, and I'm sure you could have the same done cheaper at a stereo shop. I'm not sure how well I explained that, but if you have any questions let me know, I'll try and clarify things.

[subarunewbie2005]

Ok I figured out what type of connector I need, its a 12 pin harnes for a Pioneer DEH-205 CD player. I found the wiring color codes (what wire goes where) on another mesage board. As far as the stock wiring, Ill get a Chiltons manual which from my experience usually have pretty good wiring diagrams.

 

Now as to the speakers we were planning to rewire them anyways all I need is power to the stereo and I have a lead on where to find that as well. Luckily my son is a electrical wiz when it comes to radios and speakers so between the two of us we will get it to work (Crossing fingers). thanks for the info

[sregor13]

Use Crutchfield if you can, they will send you the Wiring Harness and Deck adapter for free. I strongly recommend that you do not bypass the Wiring Harness. This is a must in my opinion. If you go without it you are asking for trouble. You might be able to get a deck to fit that Crutchfield or Circuit City says wont fit. Be Careful if you do, sometimes the deck seems to fit fine but the way it rests in the back my put the heatsink right up against 20 year old wires. Eventually it may melt through a wire and cause a fire or fry your entire wiring harness right through the Combination Switch. Sound like extreme paranoia? I will just say that I speak from hands-on experience.

As far as Speakers go, I would just consider getting some components and flush mounting the tweeter somewhere else on the door. I dont know where the Front Speakers are on the 84 Wagon but I would go for a 4 inch or 5&1/4" Component up Front. There isnt much room for play behind the door panel so make sure you window is rolled completely down while doing you install.

You should be able to use a adapter plate and a riser to get one in there. The directional music up against the seat will be greatly improved by the seperate tweeter.

Focus your efforts on the rear. On a couple of my older Wagons I have removed the tailgateand drilled holes right through the roof. This would be in the crease where your tailgate normally is. The I stuck bolts through there, drilled holes in some 6x9 Boxes and bolted them right in with some washers. I just added some Aqaurium Sealant on the top side and put the tailgate back on. It covers the holes completely. (The wierd thing is that on my Legacy there was already some threaded holes under the trim right where I needed to bolt on the speakers. What the &^54 are those for)

 

Anyhow, another thing to do in a Wagon is to build a Sub Box and make it the width between your wheel wells. Then build two more boxes to bolt onto your Sub Box that you can put some 6 & 1/2's or 6x9's in there. It can all be one box but you need the Subs airspace to be different than the Component or Coaxial Full Range Speakers. So just aim to have those pointed directly at your roof and just above the top of the back seat. You can angle them a little toward the front but not to much if at all. That way the Folks in the back Seat dont get blarred becasue it is so close to the their head.

Both of those options result in a lot of lost space. Another idea I have never tried is to put them on the rear pillar. Like maybe build a box for some 5x7's or something.

I have seen a cuople of those 84's with some sort of Pro looking speaker mod on the front door. I wouldnt be suprised if something existed on the Market for your needs. Good Luck.