Install is coming along well.

Thanks to all those who pitched in and helped me along this journey!!! Engin_ear, Spyder78, GS3Tek and others I am sure I have missed. You guys are the best!

This was a very long journey indeed. I bought the components over two years ago, but didn't have the funds to have the system installed professionally. Finally I gave up, just bought a new Nav and did the install myself. Needless to say I could not have done this without everyones assisstance and encouragement here! ClubLexus RULES!!!!


In the last two weekends I managed to do the following:

Navigation System installed

1. Pioneer AVIC-D1 navigation system installed and tested – works flawlessly. Speed sensor wire, reverse signal wire, GPS antenna, amp remote turn on wire all connected and wire run.
2. Bypass function that enables you to change destinations on Navigation system is the green wire connected to the top right slot of the power wiring harness on the navigation system. The bypass function works properly.
3. Back-up rear view camera installed and works great.

Wiring

1. Wiring (Special DIN to RCA cables for the Zapco amps - apparently these are supposed to be much better than regular RCA cables as the signal voltage is balanced and more cleaner - pricey though at $89.00 each! ) from Navigation front output preamp and sub output preamp run through center of car on transmission tunnel back to the rear.
2. Third DIN cable also runs from Nav system to trunk. The front preamp output on the nav will be split using Y-splitters so that we have two sets of RCA cables from the single front output running to the trunk. This is because I will not using be crossovers and I want to be able to crossover the output properly so that the higher range of frequencies goes to the tweeters and the next range to the midrange speakers.
3. 4 guage Power wire run from engine on the + side of the battery, through firewall on drivers side, along the left hand side of car all the way to the trunk
4. 4 pairs of 16-guage wire for front midrange speakers and tweeters from the amps in the back run through the center of the car above the transmission tunnel to the front of the car and then 2 pairs out through to the doors. One pair is for the tweeters and the other pair is for the front midrange speakers.

Baffles and amp rack

1. Front midrange speakers baffles made from 3/4 inch high-density MDF cut and installed in the front doors
2. Amp rack made from high-density ½ inch MDF cut and installed behind rear seats.
3. Both front door panels removed.

Sound Deadening Installation

1. In the outer skin and inner skin of all four doors
2. On and below the rear parcel shelf
3. In the trunk
4. May install some under the rear seats - not sure yet of the benefit this would provide as it seems pretty solid to me and is not on the outside of the car like the outer skins of the doors and trunk.

Following is left to be done this weekend:

1. Finish up sound deadening installation
2. Connect all wires to amps and then to speakers. Ground amps etc.
3. Mount sub box somewhere in the trunk - still undecided on where to place it
4. Relocate gps antenna to rear parcel shelf (it is currently sitting on the trunk lid)
5. Put everything back together
6. Drop the car off at a shop and get custom pods made for the tweeters and have those installed somewhere in the front of the car.
7. Enjoy the music!!!!!! Hurray!!!!

Here's a teaser pic:



The only thing I can't get around is the mess of wires right where the ashtray is supposed to go, I have a feeling that will be the biggest challenge of this install - where the heck to put those damn wires........

 

hameed is that you wiring kit for the amp on top of the engine?? If so I dont advise you to put it there. I told you to put it next to the battery because it looks cleaner and heat from the intake manifold might not be good.

 

That pic is kinda deceiving - it is not actually on top of the engine - it is on top of some other cables (like my grounding kit and some others) at the very far end of the engine.

I took the lazy way out and ran it through the same grommet that I have my EDFC cables running into the car. It actually looks much better in person than in the pic - yes in the pic it kinda stands out too much and does not look good.

 

Awesome Hameed. We'll wait for the celebration when ALL your wirings are done

I'm not sure if you tried this, but can you shove the wirings higher up from the ashtray to have them sit BEHIND avic?

 

Yes, I spent an hour with Zapco on the phone and figured it all out - made lots of notes, asked bazillion questions and got a rudimentary education in frequency theory and wiring! I am very comfortable about doing this wiring now.

I tried that already - there is no space behind the D1 - what little space is there, is taken up by the two wiring harnesses connected to the D1

 

any pics of the finalized install??

 

No pics yet as I am missing my ashtray - getting it modified to have the EDFC installed in it and to create some space behind it so that it will fit into the space there which is much less now because of all the wires.

The nav is amazing. I upgraded it to a D2 already using the disc update from Pioneer.

I will post up pics eventually when I have gotten the ashtray back in and it looks "finished".

 

awesome. cant wait. i am contemplating this myself [either D2 or Z1]. as i have a 99 with the nak as well. ur thread will be my guide . ive been researching a bit, and the newer Z1s cannot be bypassed. so if i cant find an early model Z1, its going to be a D2 for me.

 

What color is the speed sensor wire and where is it located????

 

Please use the search engine for this. You will find what you're looking for.

 

I'm about to install my D1. I need a little help. Did you all hook up the AUTO-ANTENNA REMOTE CONTROL wire, or did you pull that wire out of the harness to do the hack mod?

 

I didn't pull anything out of my harness. There is already one empty slot on the harness that is used for the hack mod.

That is what I used and it works perfectly for me.

 

hey haeed,
did you get any engine noise/ whine/alternator whine after your install?

 

None whatsoever.

I was very careful with the install. I ran the power wire down the left hand side of the car.

I ran all speaker wire down the middle of the car and I made sure I had solid ground connections wherever they were needed.

The only thing left to do is to get the ashtray modded and put back in with the EDFC in it, secure the sub box in the trunk and tune the system a bit better.

Everything works very well and I am very happy with the outcome. Once I get the ashtray back in, sub box secured, I will take some pics and post them up. Hopefully spring next year it will be done. Car is in storage now for the winter months - Jan to March 2007.

 

i finally finished installing my eclipse nav unit but had some engine whine.
so i took out the rca cables and swapped them with some thick ones.
the noise went down but i think i might still add an alternator noise filter.(not sure if this is a problem but i ran th power cable on the side of the battery with the gps antenna wire, the remote amp wire and the reverse wire for the deck. i don't think that matters cos its just the RCAs and speaker wires that should be kept away fro the power wire, right?)
now i have to focus on how i want to modify the trunk with the sub.
all the learning on CL has made me feel i can almost do anything with confidence.Plus i saved a good 700 by installing everything myself.