GTS Stereo Upgrade

[GTSnake]

It doesn't have to be "airtight". Just restrict the flow.

Hope you don't ever deploy your airbag and keep an eye on your hinges coming loose.

 

[Jance GTS]

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My flip out tv is about 2" longer than the factory head unit. It looks like I might have issues with it fitting into my dash without it sticking out? Has anyone else ran into this problem?

 

[Motivated]

The previous owner of my viper did run into that problem. I was not able to resolve it and ended up selling the source unit. Most flip out monitors are simply too large to install without modification to the car, something i am not willing to do.

 

[Jance GTS]

The previous owner of my viper did run into that problem. I was not able to resolve it and ended up selling the source unit. Most flip out monitors are simply too large to install without modification to the car, something i am not willing to do.

Crap! I've thought about flipping the ac controls and the head unit and relocating the air bag sensor to make up for the oversized flip out. I hope that works!!!

It looks like it won't because I won't have room to plug in my wires.

 

[Hirkophoto]

Crap! I've thought about flipping the ac controls and the head unit and relocating the air bag sensor to make up for the oversized flip out. I hope that works!!!

It looks like it won't because I won't have room to plug in my wires.

I looked at putting my AC controls on top as well. I think it requires some cutting and moving of a few things like the airbag sensor so I decided not to do it. I got used to my screen sticking up and if I need the AC I just hide the screen inside the unit.

 

[Jance GTS]

I looked at putting my AC controls on top as well. I think it requires some cutting and moving of a few things like the airbag sensor so I decided not to do it. I got used to my screen sticking up and if I need the AC I just hide the screen inside the unit.

I've got my entire dash out right now so I might be doing this. Relocating the sensor isn't that big of a deal for me. I just bought a harness for my stock stereo that was the wrong one.

I have only one small harness that plugs into the back of the stock head unit that I can splice into. I'm trying to find a harness that plugs into the factory harness so I do not have to cut the factory wires.

Will this work even though I have a 2000 and not an 02 Viper?

Stereo Wire Amp Harness Dodge Viper 02 03 04 - eBay (item 110139210786 end time Apr-29-10 17:48:31 PDT)

 

[GTSnake]

Be very careful of relocating the air bag sensor. If this is the piezoelectric type that I suspect then it's what triggers the airbag and there was a LOT of development that went into mounting it. Very complex algorithms were written that calculate when to deploy based on impact deflections. The sensor needs to be mounted in a very rigid and secure location with no deflection so it will receive impact stresses from the front or rear.

I wouldn't touch any of that safety stuff myself but hey it's your life...

 

[Red Snake]

I've got my entire dash out right now so I might be doing this. Relocating the sensor isn't that big of a deal for me. I just bought a harness for my stock stereo that was the wrong one.

I have only one small harness that plugs into the back of the stock head unit that I can splice into. I'm trying to find a harness that plugs into the factory harness so I do not have to cut the factory wires.

Will this work even though I have a 2000 and not an 02 Viper?

Stereo Wire Amp Harness Dodge Viper 02 03 04 - eBay (item 110139210786 end time Apr-29-10 17:48:31 PDT)

The 8 pin harness that comes up from the factory amp is the issue. I could not find a matching plug and play adapter. You can buy a female 8 pin fitting and create your own adapter. I believe thats the only way to make it plug and play.

I ended just splicing into the harness.

 

[RTTTTed]

Yes. Chopping the plug off and soldering those tiny wires is definitely a challenging job. It is how I installed my stereo though. It's also the cheapest and most difficult way.

I bought an Infinity Door Speaker kit while in Seattle from Car Toys. I had a slight arguement with the 'expert' there as I asked for 6 3/8" door speakers and he said, "You mean 6 1/2"." I argued. He made a call and said that I was DEFINITELY wrong and 6.5" speakers would fit right in by drilling new holes. Too smart to argue with "experts" I made arrangements to return the speakers (used Buddies CC to pay for speakers and gave buddy the cash). Here's the second Viper door panel that gets aftermarket speakers and the heavy modifications required to instal the cover (because they don't fit).

I used a bench grinder, a file and a die grinder to grind the speaker cover edges to less than half thickness because the top front edge of the covers gets compressed by the lower edge of the dashboard.

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This is what it looks like installed (Infinity) into my 2000 Viper GTS ACR

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This is what the better, Hertz door speakers look like when installed with ground down Kicker covers in my Sapphire/silver GTS in the other garage.

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The tweeters with the Hertz door speaker system required a little epoxy onto the stock tweeter retaining plate to instal them (no screw hole). The Infinity door speaker kit required use of a swivel mounting system in order to fill the factory mounting hole because the Infinity tweeter is smaller than stock.

Both speaker systems came with crossover boxes. I epoxied them to the inside of the door panel and wired it up that way.

 

[Jance GTS]

What do you mean by drilling new holes? Screw holes or making the speaker holes bigger for the 6.5" speakers? I was thinking they were 6.5" also? I haven't gotten that far in my build LOL.

Thanks for the info! Your speakers look good!

 

[RTTTTed]

What do you mean by drilling new holes? Screw holes or making the speaker holes bigger for the 6.5" speakers? I was thinking they were 6.5" also? I haven't gotten that far in my build LOL.

Thanks for the info! Your speakers look good!

Stock speakers use only 3 screws (saves money) and aftermarket units are meant for "better than stock" (or fake better than stock) performance and 3 screws aren't enough.

If looking for MY recommendations find my thread on the Hertz speakers I installed after weeks of Research by my "stereo guy". My stereo sounds awesome and it has higher volume and quality than I'll ever use. Or, if you can't find the thread send me a PM and I'll go out and find the boxes and send yout the numbers.

Ted

 

[Jance GTS]

Thanks for clearing that up for me Ted! I've already got my 6.5" JL Audio XR components for the front and rear. I just wanted to make sure they would fit. Drilling more holes won't be problem!

BTW what headunit do you have?

 

[RTTTTed]

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inside of door panel.

 

[Jance GTS]

Thanks Ted! How much clearance do you have for your crossovers? And what is the easiest way to remove the door panel? I will be doing this in the next few weeks. Thanks for the picture!

 

[RTTTTed]

I have a Premier DEH-P790BT. ipod cable included and I installed that inside the glovebox so that the remote control can be used to control the ipod while it is locked up out of sight. I didn't want to buy another Sirrius Sat radio as I pay for 3 subscriptions now so I didn't use that feature of my head unit. I use my portable Sat radio and have it hardwired in 2 cars (Viper and 2 Stealth TTs). I love the Bluetooth as it is automatic and shows all my phone's status on the faceplate, even if my phone is in my jacket in the rear. Sound is like the person on the other end of the phone is sitting in the passenger seat! I retained the stock rear amp and stock wiring.

Ted

 

[RTTTTed]

I quickly edited the picture post with general isntructions on how I ground the covers down to fit over the speakers. I left the "tubes for the screws because they act like spacers and hole the speaker down at the bottom of the speaker hole while not causing the speaker grilles to be too far above the door panel to fit. My Hertz covers were a wire mesh and would have needed the topfront 3/4" trimmed to allow door closure. Stock the dash squished the wire mesh grilles. I did find the Kicker covers at my stereo shop for cheap and ground them down until they fit. The Infinity covers I was able to grind down to fit. I also found that after I epoxied and glued the crossover box inside the door panel (the rear bottom is the only area clear) a set of Ikea scews were shrot enough to give me a slight grip into the doorpanel without going through. On my Sapphire GTS I started some screws and then ground them short enough to keep the tips from poking through.

Ted

 

[RTTTTed]

There are screws at the top rear, front edge, bottom rear, (20 behind the 6 3/8" speaker and one behind the inside door handle. After removing all the screws there is a slotted plastic fitting (upper rear) that requires the door panel to be lifted an inch before the fitting releases the door panel.

 

[RTTTTed]

As far as the crossover goes they've got lots of clearance but only in the spot shown in the picture.

While you have the dash apart, if you're a 'Travellin Man' like myself you may want to invent your own cupholders like I did. The cupholder parts come off when not in use.

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Ted

 

[GTSnake]

Unfortunately the speaker size specs are not standardized. The term 6.5" speaker is used loosely. It actually means "around 6.5"". The industry has never set hard rules specifying dimensions, hole sizes, hole locations etc. So the term is used very loosely.

The shop was correct in saying it's a 6.5" speaker but in reality it may be closer to 6 3/8" or 6 1/4" or even sometimes down to 5 3/4". The dimension is actually based on the driver size not including the frame or housing.

 

[RTTTTed]

I know that 2 sets of 6 1/2" speakers don't fit into the 6 3/8" speaker hole in the Viper's doorpanels. The 6.5" covers actually meaasure 6 3/4"!

The Hertz tweeters needed a little trimming to fit the stock tweeter opening while the Infinity tweeters are way small for the stock hole.

Not much standardization is probably correct. Guess that all Viper door installs would be "custom installs and cost several hundreds of dollars for instal. This Inifity kit only came with wires for the wide frequency speaker to the crossover so that means that the two other wires (signal wires & tweeter supply) need to be cut and soldered.

Ted

 

[RTTTTed]

I recommend that anyone buying a door speaker kit buy the Hertz kit from my older thread and not this Infinity kit. These Infinity not much better than stock. The Hertz kit was a HUGE difference.

Ted