Eclipse Audio Upgrade

Audio Upgrades

Page 1

The search for audio nirvana is never ending.

When building the system, there will always be ways to improve it. That is where all the fun comes in. How can we do this better?

When the car was only days old, I was already planning to pull her apart to see what I could make of her audio system.
The stock speaker locations offer great flexibility and a wide range of options. The only way it would have been better is if the tweets had been located in the pillar.

The trunk is very roomy, so long as you don't fill it with sub boxes. My system will have to use some of the space, but to keep the room most of my efforts will be to keep the equipment out of the way.

Pulling the interior out is not difficult. The garage section of Club3G helped with finding the screw and tab locations. The Eclipse has some soft plastic that is a bit brittle so I was very careful while removing the panels. Still, they scratch easy.
While I worked on the car, I stored the panels in the house to avoid any more damage than necessary.

The seats are heavy, but they were the first to go. Four 14mm bolts each and unplugging the sensors was all it took.
The car is so much easier to work with when you don't have to fight to get around the seats.

Once the car was prepped, I could run power into the cabin.
From the battery, I followed the factory wiring loom around the driver's side front tire well.

Propping the car up and removing the tire makes this job possible. After removing the wheel well lining, it's easy to see where the factory wires are run into the cabin. I just strung the 4 gauge power wire along the run coming in from the engine bay just behind the headlight.

I used wire loom to cover the wire. The loom should reduce the chances that the wire will be rubbed bare and short out on the frame. I also used a number of zip ties to tie it to the factory wiring.
NOTE: The amp wire is still in the car for the next stereo project. (9/23/2009)

The wiring went into the cabin just behind the driver's side wheel. I used a small pipe that was just larger in diameter than the power wire so that I could pass it through the rubber easier. After punching the pipe into the rubber just below the factory wiring, the power wire slid easily into the cabin.

I pulled about 16 foot of wire so that I could get power back to the trunk and to the amplifier. The factory wires run just inside the door inside a plastic run. The power wire slide into and along that run fairly easily. So it was the perfect way to get the line back to the trunk without having to worry about ugly bumps under the carpet.

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K r o n d o r

Copyright (c) 2005 Krondor's World. All rights reserved.
All other trademarks shown are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
Revised: Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Audio Upgrades
Page 1

The search for audio nirvana is never ending.

When building the system, there will always be ways to improve it. That is where all the fun comes in. How can we do this better?

	When the car was only days old, I was already planning to pull her apart to see what I could make of her audio system. The stock speaker locations offer great flexibility and a wide range of options. The only way it would have been better is if the tweets had been located in the pillar.

	The trunk is very roomy, so long as you don't fill it with sub boxes. My system will have to use some of the space, but to keep the room most of my efforts will be to keep the equipment out of the way.

	Pulling the interior out is not difficult. The garage section of Club3G helped with finding the screw and tab locations. The Eclipse has some soft plastic that is a bit brittle so I was very careful while removing the panels. Still, they scratch easy. While I worked on the car, I stored the panels in the house to avoid any more damage than necessary.

	The seats are heavy, but they were the first to go. Four 14mm bolts each and unplugging the sensors was all it took. The car is so much easier to work with when you don't have to fight to get around the seats.

	Once the car was prepped, I could run power into the cabin. From the battery, I followed the factory wiring loom around the driver's side front tire well.

	Propping the car up and removing the tire makes this job possible. After removing the wheel well lining, it's easy to see where the factory wires are run into the cabin. I just strung the 4 gauge power wire along the run coming in from the engine bay just behind the headlight.

	I used wire loom to cover the wire. The loom should reduce the chances that the wire will be rubbed bare and short out on the frame. I also used a number of zip ties to tie it to the factory wiring. NOTE: The amp wire is still in the car for the next stereo project. (9/23/2009)

	The wiring went into the cabin just behind the driver's side wheel. I used a small pipe that was just larger in diameter than the power wire so that I could pass it through the rubber easier. After punching the pipe into the rubber just below the factory wiring, the power wire slid easily into the cabin.

	I pulled about 16 foot of wire so that I could get power back to the trunk and to the amplifier. The factory wires run just inside the door inside a plastic run. The power wire slide into and along that run fairly easily. So it was the perfect way to get the line back to the trunk without having to worry about ugly bumps under the carpet.



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K r o n d o r Copyright (c) 2005 Krondor's World. All rights reserved. All other trademarks shown are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. Revised: Wednesday, September 23, 2009.