how to replace the mach 460 system by yourself!
 

a lot of people i've noticed, including myself.. have been looking for ways for a cheap and good way to replace the stock mach 460 audio system in thier late model mustangs.

THE HEADUNIT:

the first thing you need to do obviously is to find te right headunit for your needs. A lot of makes and models are out there to choose from, DVD, normal Mp3, Ipod and many more with soo many features. if you're going to be running any type of system with aftermarket amplifiers you'll need a HU with pre-out (the RCA connectors on the back) probably three, tow for the two sets of speakers and one for a subwoofer. I will explain more later on.
for this purpose i went with an alpine iDA-X100 (for ipod, bluetooth, and sat radio)

-- REMOVAL:
To remove the radio and/or CD player you will need to purchase or fabricate the tools needed to release the locks holding the two units in place. There are three different methods I have used.

-Take an old coat hanger and cut four lengths from it 4 inches long.

-Take four Allen wrenches just small enough to fit in the lock holes around the two units.

-Ford DIN tools. (U-shaped tool for removing the factory radio)

Slide the hangers/Allen wrenches/factory tools into the four holes located around the outside of each of the units. You will feel a little resistance when the tip of the tool reaches the locks, push passed this point a 1/8 to a 1/4 inch. Do not insert the tool more than a 1/4 inch past the resistance point, other wise the tool will prevent the locks from releasing.


Once all four coat hangers are in place put an inward pressure on them towards the center of the unit and pull the unit outward. It's a little tricky so just keep working with it. Do not force either of the units out of the dash. You may break the housing around the two units if too much force is used. I usually pull out on one side at a time when removing the units. Be careful not to pull either side out to far. You only want to release the latches and then work on the other side. If you pull one side out to far you will never pop the other side loose. This is due to the pressure placed on the locks with the units angle.

after that i recomend finding an aftermarket harness to match up with the ford harness so it's all just plug and play. most aftermarket harness' are colour coded te same as the head unit so it is easy as pie. and you can still retain all the stock speakers.

More advanced work

Amplifiers:

Now if you're still here and wanting to replace the speakers.. you can just run speakers from the HU.. but quality will lack, even over the stock sound system. I'd recomend waiting untill you have all the componants needed for a good system. and that includes an amplifier.
For te speaker all you need is a decent four channel amp (for four speakers..). the other thing you want to look at; is where are you putting it? I opted for a lower profile amp again from alpine to fit under my passenger seat. you want to find a place where it's not going to be damaged, has room to breathe and cool, and is decent to access. under the passenger seat is a great place because it isn't too far from the HU (you have to run RCA cables from the pre-outs to the amp, as well as a remote lead from the HU to tell the amp to turn on[usually a blue wire])
next thing is; how big of an amp do i need? speakers are fairly simple, for example: if you have 4 speakers able to run at 150W max each, 150W x 4 = 600W. Therefore you dont want to be pumping 1000W to your speakers unless you want to keep replacing them. go with a safe amp running 600W or 500W.

Subwoofers and thier amps i'll explain later..

the biggest issue with an aftermarket amp is the power lead. most people think "oh we'll just drill a hole in my firewall!" NO DO NOT ATTEMP UNLESS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU ARE DRILLING!! it's easy untill an amp install turns into replacing something like an ECU.. I went and found an exisisting hole on my driver side where i fit the little bugger in with no problem and then ran the lead under my HU, under my center console, under the carpet to here it met the amp under the seat. you'd never guess it was there.:tup

THE SPEAKERS!

now a lot of people will say: "wont it look ugly running wires in youre car's interior?" i'll explain where the best places to run wires are for front and rear.

SIZE:
size with the mach system seems to be another big issue. the stock speakers for the coupe are 5x7's all 'round and the convert has 5 1/2's i think in the rear..
**Note: this part is for coupe only... convert should be simmilar if not easier**

for the speakers i went with all alpine type S 6x9's. if you could find 5x7's that's even better, but i had no issues installing the ones i had.

FRONT:
Using a flat head screwdriver, pry off the trim around the door handle being careful not to break it.

Using a flat head screwdriver, pop the push in fastener from the leading edge of the door.

Using a flat head screwdriver, remove the trim panel housing the window and door lock controls by prying up on the panel. It should pop right up and off.

Next use a Philips head screwdriver and unscrew the switches from the window and door lock trim panel.

Remove the two Philips head screws on the door panel and remove the door panel off while lifting up and outward. If the panel has never been removed before it may take some force to remove. Keep working it up and out.

Note: On the drivers side door the electric windows wire harness will need to be unplugged.

once that is done, all you need is to remove the speaker and after that feed the wire lead through the "door pipe" (a little tricky but still very possible) and run the wire to your amp. install is reverse.

REAR:

Using a T-15 Torx headed driver or Allen wrench remove the two amps located on each corner of the sound board. There are four screws holding each amp!

There are five sunken holes around the center of the sound board. Using a nut driver, remove the four nuts located around the bottom center of the sound board. Note: The center hole has no bolt in it.

Next using the same driver and while supporting the sound board, remove the two nuts located under the two amps you removed earlier. Note: Support the sound board while removing the last two nuts. Once these nuts are removed the sound board will drop to the trunk floor. Also as the sound board is dropping you will see two wires running into the top of the sound board. Unplug these before it drops to the floor. They will not reach and you may damage the plugs. (you wont need the plugs if replacing the speakers.)

again remove the speakers and feed the wires through the sound board. leave a bit of overhanging so you can grab them again.

re-install the sound board

grab the wires you left hanging and keep the lead hidden. i ran mine under the carpet in the inside of the trunk beside the fold down seats, ran them throught a hole in the metal wall. under the seats, under the carpet again (can also go under the mouldings along the side. but is long and may require a lot of speaker lead.) hook up to your amp, make sure all you're wiring is good and snug (not going to need fixing..)
and test the system.

TESTING:

Most HU's now have a fader, use it to see if all four speakers are working, just has to work and have music playing. it may not be the greatest off the bat at higher levels, but we're not done. set your HU's volume to half it's max and fine tune youre amp to what you like.


most people do not pay much attention to it but all speaker do have a break in period! slowly start at 5 and every fifteen minutes go up another 5 volume untill you reach max and you should be good. i know it's hard, but unless you spent $50 on all ur speakers you'll probably want them to last. it's just like a new clutch.

after that have fun and rock had. it's a lot of time involved. but i went to the shop and asked. my speaker system: i spent $1500 with everything, (wiring speakers, HU, Amp.) and my local installer wanted 2.5k to do it..:banghead: it was well worth it, a lot of fun, and not all that hard. and sounds great!:tup

any quetsions?

Great layout! thumb:

great writeup!!!

thanks guys! :)

Wow..I saved that..I was just going to go down to ye Ole stero Store..

Grassy

http://studio711.com/cs/blogs/ben/pages/28052.aspx

Follow this link, it has pictures to remove the headunit

Crafty, when you just replaced the head unit, did you notice any difference in the sound? My cd's are stuck again, and it's time to upgrade to a unit that plays my ipod, but I don't want the sound to suffer.

There isn't too much of a difference unless you crank it all the way up. the thing with the Mach system is if you plan on keeping your stock speakers you HAVE TO get an adapter. I am currently using an Alpine CDA-9885 with iPod, sat radio, the works.. and it ran great without amps untill I pushed the dial too far. now because your Mustang Has a 2DIN sterio, you can do two things.. Get a mount that uses a 1DIN HU and gives you a cubby. or spend a little more and get a 2DIN (something like a touchscreen)

White Beauty,

For about 2 bucks, you can get a fm transmitter thta will fit on your ipod that will broadcast it's signal to a unused band such as 107.1 that you can set your car radio to...we bought one a couple of years ago for our subaru..kinda made the cd player obsolete..

Grassy

I had the ipod through FM, wasn\t too bad, but when you go direct there is a huge difference and its hard to go back. I have an Edge with Sync and it palys direct and you can select the song.
Crafty when you say an adapter are you talking about the wiring adapter??

yea i am. because the mach system uses the amplifiers and doesn't go straight to the speakers. i can be done without but it's a pain in the ass

lol i think this should make sticky ;) i'm replacing my speakers in my door panels again sometime soon so i'll make a point to add some pics :tup

Sticky'd just for you :tup

yay lol thanks :)

The headunit setup seems different in my 96. Looks like I can still run my doubledin screen/headunit but just have to seperate them and put the headunit in the lower cubby.

Where was the amp located for the mach 460 system? I think mine was taken out.

Also IMO, I think FM transmitters for the ipod are horrible. Go direct.

The speakers size in the rear of the vert is 6.5 inch i just replaced them is how i know.

I hated the sizes of the holes for the rear speakers.... I had to get the guys who did a full blown custom install to make them bigger to fit 6x9s with huge magnets.

I'll tell ya - even though I have a crappy pioneer that had 1 bit digital conversion so there is always static with the radio and CDs... it pumps out some nice quality sound.

The mustang is a great platform for a Stereo build up if you don't mind some MDF in the trunk ;)

you should have a split single DIN system in ur 96, the easiest way to put a duble DIN HU in would to either go find a double DIN dash peice from a scraped 01-04 stang, or do some custom fab. and i agree that direct iPod connections are the only way to go :tup
**edit** also the amps for the mach system: 2 under the rear sound deck (coupe) and one behind the HU

good to know. 6.5" are a more popular size and a lot easier to deal with..

Personally in the rear deck, at first i just slammed my 6x9's on there and did some cheap fab work to seal it up.. but really an effort should be made to get the proper sizes for best overall performance.

Could I replace my rear speakers with 6.5s also, like wannabesaleen's vert? or are they different than mine... I just figured out that the guy I bought the car of off swapped in some sh!tty sony explode 6x9s in there and the aren't even bolted down. :mad:

and about the split singledin setup. I could just get separate mounts for the screen and head unit and put them in each compartment. Only problem is that I don't have beauty rings for the units. :bleh: So it might look sloppy.

I'm always picky about my systems. If I get the setup done I will see what you guys think. I'm wondering if any other people with 94-98s have a split singledin setup? I will probly end up getting a single din screen if all else fails.

the only real way you could pull off 6.5's without sounding like a POS is to get a 100% custom setup with custom mounts, and if ur gonna spend that money there's no reason to get just 6.5's.. in all honesty just do what I did, I went with 5x7 componant's with tweeters from hertz or another company you prefer.. they fit perfectly and i have them connected to a kicker multi-channel amp, and my Alpine HU. I have 5x7's in my doors too. the weets are even in the right places

I do have a split single DIN setup in my stang, I have a 2DIN dvd player waiting to go in but i want to find the 2DIN dash piece

It didnt take much at all i swapped in my mtx 6.5's and i had to cut just alittle bit out just to fit the metal on the back of the speaker, very little and they fit great.The 3.5's on the other hand the set above the 6.5's i bought jl's and they dont fit the space is so small the speakers are just too deep so i am just going to put the stock ones back unless i can find a slim 3 inch speakers.

now are the front door speakers 6x8's or 6x9's i have heard different people say different things.

my 5x7's matched perfectly.. 6x9 is waaayyy too big. IMO.. try to find componant 5x7's so you can put the tweets up top where the orginals are. my Hertz sound perfect there

Agreed on the 5x7s. I just thought that 6.5 was the factory replacement in the rear. Although I can replace them with some Alpine type R 6x9s I can pick up cheap, I not shy with custom mounting speakers. My last vehicle was an all custom mounted Alpine Type X system. I pulled it all out and will probably end up putting it in this car when I have time on my hands.

Also, do you have pics of your split single din setup? I'm curious to see how it looks.

Look into Bose. They have a 3" tweeter that is pretty shallow. I think you can even find them cheap on Ebay, and they are pretty good quality.

What size are the factory tweeters BTW?

6.5's are factory replacement for convert's only
I'll look into the tweeters and i'll post some pics up tomorrow when the sun rises and I decide to put another coat of wax on the car.. :rolleyes:

I just rewired the head unit Because the guy that switched the decks before I bought it wired it all backwards. I was wondering what all the extra wires are for on the harness that the power and remote turn on are from? They all looked likethey were cut... I had to clean up the mess.

A wire diagram would be great. I couldn't find one on the site.

are you talking about the wiring from the car or ur HU?

Crafty,

I have a friend up in Castlegar..not sure how big the town is but the last time I saw her must be 20 years or so ago....anyway, her last name was Hiscock...

..anyway, the system in the 'stang isn't as good as what is in my RAM..I don't have big bucks to spend this year because I have already blown a way for other mustang bits but is there a set of speackers I can just drop in where the old ones reside to make the stock radio unit any better ?

Thanks
Grassy

HU.. I also have to buy a harness.

as long as your stock harness isn't molested you should be ok. aftermarket HU's are pretty generic.

Yellow = Power constant
Black = Ground
Red = Ignition
Blue = Remote (for amp)
Blue/white = Power antenna
Green, White, Purple, Grey = all are speakers (i dont remember which is which)
Orange =alumination (for stuff like underglow pulses and other RICE crap lol)
Pink = Remote (alpine acessory)

some brands have different special wires.. (orange and pink for my Alpine HU) and are not really needed.

if it's the ford harness you need, next time i head out to my gf's parent's place (stang being stored.. which is another story...) i'll pull the HU and have a look. mine's all directly wired in so i can tell you which are for power/ingition

Right.. thanx, that's basic wire code for headunits... The wires that come out of the power/ignition harness from the car is the ones I was wondering about.

ok. yea i wasn't too sure if you wanted the HU wires or the car wires. best way to check is to geab a test light. the constant will be constant lol:wiggle: and the ignition will only be on when you have the key in the acc or on position.
but if you dont have a test light i think i'm headin to the gf's parent's place tonight for the canucks game so if i'm not too drunk i'll have a quick look for yea. just pull it, look, and write it down for ya

I'm looking forward to adding some more components to the car once I pay off some body work. I hate having this as my only ride in the winter.. rear wheel drive and 2 ft. of snow sucks sometimes.

Haha, k... I know that.. It's all hooked up already. But there are 4-5 other wires in that harness that are cut and those are the ones I'm talking about. Sorry for all the confusion. They probably don't even matter anyway, but it looks like they were suppost to be hooked up to factory components in the car which is why I was concerned. They are probably just Antenna, and rear speakers because my rears were rewired with 16ga wire.

I have 2 sets of RCA's that I'm going to run to my 4 channel Rockford 900 for the speakers anyway.

Ooooo ok i see.. yea that might be it. other thing is maybe the connection wires from teh lower deck to the upper (if you had said system)

Are Rockford 900 speakers ?

4 channel amp... for the speakers.

Just swapped the doubledin in. No beauty rings though. :bleh:

Still looks alright though.

Attachment 21348

Attachment 21349

Thanks. Do you know of any quality speakers that you can just swap in ?

thanks
grassy

Lol.. speaking of that... I just ordered some 5x7 infinity kapa's.

Look on ebay for 5x7 speakers.. lots of decent stuff there.