Pictures of my X1/9 entertainment system install

Jim McKenzie

Jim McKenzie

1972 850 Spider
I promised some pictures yesterday of the recent install I had done. MCOR Automotive http://www.mcorautomotive.com/ did these, and did a superb job. So what was done?

a Kenwood KVT-516 head unit was installed. This has a 7" touchscreen display that comes out with a Z-motorized methodology. The screen extends out a ways from the unit (maybe 3 inches) and might be a little too close for some drivers. For me it is perfect and is even legible (at brightest/high contrast settings) to be easily visible even in direct light.

Kenwood Garmin Nav unit was installed, the latest 610 version with lane change features.

Bluetooth/IPOD/USB modules were installed and configured

a 300 watt JL Audio 4-channel amp was installed in the front trunk. All new fused power to all units was run. http://mobile.jlaudio.com/?utm_sour...aign=adwords&gclid=CI3m3qjFuqcCFQjs7QodYS667A

7 speakers, 6 Hertz Eddison (An Italian company btw) and a JL Audio 10" subwoofer were installed.

We originally wanted to go 12" but in test listening it overpowered the other speakers. I listened to it with George Duke's old CD Master of the Game (best test cd for bass I have found) and it was fantastic. The sub has it's power doubled up, so gets 150 W itself.

The install used the 1974 X1/9 plastic radio shell to be "authentic" (LOL). However it does not mount as snug as I would have liked, and I may subsequently use rubber stripping around the seam/joining area to seal and not have any gap at all.

The 1300 dash was repaired, it had MAJOR issues and needed full restoral by the radio area.

The door panels, rear bulkhead and console side cushions were dyed to match the newly recovered 1974 seats. Entire dying job and dash repair was $ 300.

The spare tire panel (which was badly rotted) was rebuilt with wood, and recovered to mount the subwoofer.

The spare tire wheel well area was fitted with Dynamat with the distributor panel left as accessible. The mounting post for the spare tire was cut off. I wasn't happy about that but it needed to be done. My Sumo spare was too big for the well anyway.

Other than small holes in the dash to mount the dome tweets, no cutting of any kind was done. The midrange/subwoofers (6 1/4) were mounted in existing boxes, and the 4" all range speakers were mounted in custom designed boxes that mount via two "lips" under the rear window and small "wall" of the fron bulkhead. By being cut exactly and recovered in vinyl, friction alone holds these in very tightly.

Exact cut and vinyl also holds in the subwoofer panel...I had some serious concerns about high volume causing vibrations, but even at painful volume levels the speakers do not vibrate or move at all. Time will tell of course if this is a good long-term solution.

I've attached a few photos so you can see this. I can take more or a video if desired.

First off a couple of photos of the all-range 4" speakers behind the seats on rear bulkead. A box was created with two wooden "lips" coveed in vinyl.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5502673471/in/photostream/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasakee/5502673141/sizes/l/in/photostream/

The JL Audio 10" sub with matching yellow trim and new panel

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5503263238/in/photostream/lightbox/

Hertz Eddison 6.25's replacing JBL's. Exising boxes kept...but carpetting needs to be redone throughcar http://www.hertzaudiovideo.com/default_en.htm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5503262922/in/photostream/lightbox/

Overall interior showing placement of sub, tweeters, all-range and woofers, shows dyed panels. Color matches seats perfectly, lighting on photo indicates differances because some panels not in light. BTW ALL of this pictures can be resized to make bigger for detail on Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5502672001/in/photostream/lightbox/

Headunit (closed). Uses 1974 plastic shell...dash on left side was completely torn up...now nearly as good as new. Note that the shell itself was dyed brown too, from its original black.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5503262262/in/photostream/lightbox/

Shows tweeter placement. Single speaker hole put through dash...unfortunate...but no one had a good solution :) As we know space is a huge issue with our cars.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5503261876/in/photostream/lightbox/

What interior used to be:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5492812260/in/photostream/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5492812232/in/photostream/lightbox/

Hope this post adds to X1/9 speaker options. In the end, I did this for ME :) and my tastes and I like it!

Now if I could just embed the photos from Flickr instead of links I'd be happy :)
 
Last edited:
Nope... I'm afraid none of this will work Jim...

HA!

Hey... DOES IT WORK... ya never said a thing about it WORKING!

Lots of great fabrication here and "different" ideas... and you apparently carried out every idea you could think of!

Thanks for posting!

Hey... I really think ya GOTTA make a video after all this... Somehow all the masses just haveta hear this!
 
Jim this is beautiful work

Everything a custom fit. I hope someday to get a chance to hear it. :thumbsup:

Someday, mine will be enhanced like this. My challenge for the front is to install small drivers as you've done but in a different location. (relatively invisible)

Again, nice job!
 
What year is this car? The interior is way different from mine and I like every thing better than mine except the tac going the normal direction (I prefer the backwards-ness of mine). I had been wondering if there was a way to move my heater controls down and instead put a double din deck up there and this gives hope. Any dash kits that allow for this change available?
 
its a hybrid :)

it's a 1977, with a 1300 dash, 74 set if seats, 85 engine and transmission

not ure about the double DIN though I thnk Alpine and Kenwood have them..but witht he 1300 dash I was limited to a single DIN
 
Well some custom fabrication would be necessary of course, really I'm just interested in the heater control box, how difficult was finding and installing that?
 
74-78 interior

Jase,

That dash set up goes with the 74-78 interior. I know there are folks that have taken converted their early X to a late dash, but I am nit sure I have seen anyone go the other way and put an early dash in a late car. I am sure there would be mods necessary as the console was narrower in the early cars and the wiring and heater control cable runs are obviously different.

Here is a pic of my 78, you can see it is laid out the same os Jim's.

im0012468ds.jpg


Jim's plastic radio thingy looks less warped than mine. I am still rockin' a Kenwood AM/FM Cassette! :)

im0011371at.jpg
 
Love the rear deck too!

I think that's an idea I'd like to steal (OK borrow). The 4x6 Infinity speakers I have in the rear deck (4 of them. stereo for driver and passenger) have too big of a magnet on them to install flat on the gas tank side and are also too big to install in a tilted deck (like I've seen others do). Forming a new molded deck like the one they did for you would solve my problem and look good too.

Really clean setup. I bet it sounds as good as it looks! Nice work!
 
Questions.....

Does your car have the 65 amp alternator? Did you sacrifice something to get the power to run the thing, or take measures to stabilize the other electrical components? Nice look, I've always admired your interior color.
 
Great setup, I'm looking forward to doing something similar with my Sub Set up. Did you encounter any problems with constructing the sub box? Is it removable so you can still get to the distributor?

Job well done, thanks for sharing the pics!

Dave
 
I didn't do it personally..

just wrote the check...which honestly at times is the hardest part :)

Yes the access panel is still er, accessible :) The box is the space itself I believe. with Dynamat and wood on front...
 
Jim, you got yourself a radio station on wheels

Very nice installations, well done.
A few innovations I may adopt AFTER WhiteX resurrection.

Enjoy -
 
Jim McKenzie said:
I promised some pictures yesterday of the recent install I had done. MCOR Automotive http://www.mcorautomotive.com/ did these, and did a superb job. So what was done?

a Kenwood KVT-516 head unit was installed. This has a 7" touchscreen display that comes out with a Z-motorized methodology. The screen extends out a ways from the unit (maybe 3 inches) and might be a little too close for some drivers. For me it is perfect and is even legible (at brightest/high contrast settings) to be easily visible even in direct light.

Kenwood Garmin Nav unit was installed, the latest 610 version with lane change features.

Bluetooth/IPOD/USB modules were installed and configured

a 300 watt JL Audio 4-channel amp was installed in the front trunk. All new fused power to all units was run. http://mobile.jlaudio.com/?utm_sour...aign=adwords&gclid=CI3m3qjFuqcCFQjs7QodYS667A

7 speakers, 6 Hertz Eddison (An Italian company btw) and a JL Audio 10" subwoofer were installed.

We originally wanted to go 12" but in test listening it overpowered the other speakers. I listened to it with George Duke's old CD Master of the Game (best test cd for bass I have found) and it was fantastic. The sub has it's power doubled up, so gets 150 W itself.

The install used the 1974 X1/9 plastic radio shell to be "authentic" (LOL). However it does not mount as snug as I would have liked, and I may subsequently use rubber stripping around the seam/joining area to seal and not have any gap at all.

The 1300 dash was repaired, it had MAJOR issues and needed full restoral by the radio area.

The door panels, rear bulkhead and console side cushions were dyed to match the newly recovered 1974 seats. Entire dying job and dash repair was $ 300.

The spare tire panel (which was badly rotted) was rebuilt with wood, and recovered to mount the subwoofer.

The spare tire wheel well area was fitted with Dynamat with the distributor panel left as accessible. The mounting post for the spare tire was cut off. I wasn't happy about that but it needed to be done. My Sumo spare was too big for the well anyway.

Other than small holes in the dash to mount the dome tweets, no cutting of any kind was done. The midrange/subwoofers (6 1/4) were mounted in existing boxes, and the 4" all range speakers were mounted in custom designed boxes that mount via two "lips" under the rear window and small "wall" of the fron bulkhead. By being cut exactly and recovered in vinyl, friction alone holds these in very tightly.

Exact cut and vinyl also holds in the subwoofer panel...I had some serious concerns about high volume causing vibrations, but even at painful volume levels the speakers do not vibrate or move at all. Time will tell of course if this is a good long-term solution.

I've attached a few photos so you can see this. I can take more or a video if desired.

First off a couple of photos of the all-range 4" speakers behind the seats on rear bulkead. A box was created with two wooden "lips" coveed in vinyl.

https://flic.kr/p/9ofD7x

https://flic.kr/p/9ofD1R

The JL Audio 10" sub with matching yellow trim and new panel

https://flic.kr/p/9ofD7x

Hertz Eddison 6.25's replacing JBL's. Exising boxes kept...but carpetting needs to be redone throughcar http://www.hertzaudiovideo.com/default_en.htm

https://flic.kr/p/9ofD7x

Overall interior showing placement of sub, tweeters, all-range and woofers, shows dyed panels. Color matches seats perfectly, lighting on photo indicates differances because some panels not in light. BTW ALL of this pictures can be resized to make bigger for detail on Flickr.

https://flic.kr/p/9ofD7x

Headunit (closed). Uses 1974 plastic shell...dash on left side was completely torn up...now nearly as good as new. Note that the shell itself was dyed brown too, from its original black.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5503262262/in/photostream/lightbox/

Shows tweeter placement. Single speaker hole put through dash...unfortunate...but no one had a good solution :) As we know space is a huge issue with our cars.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5503261876/in/photostream/lightbox/

What interior used to be:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5492812260/in/photostream/lightbox/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasa...nagasakee/5492812232/in/photostream/lightbox/

Hope this post adds to X1/9 speaker options. In the end, I did this for ME :) and my tastes and I like it!

Now if I could just embed the photos from Flickr instead of links I'd be happy :)
Click to expand...
Hi - I realize this is a 10-year-old post, but since you're still lurking on the site, I hope you see this reply. I'm looking for info on how they built those rear-shelf, 4" speaker enclosures. Exactly what I'm looking to do in a '74 X 1/9.
Thanks
 
tvmaster said:
Hi - I realize this is a 10-year-old post, but since you're still lurking on the site, I hope you see this reply. I'm looking for info on how they built those rear-shelf, 4" speaker enclosures. Exactly what I'm looking to do in a '74 X 1/9.
Thanks
Click to expand...
I’m not the poster, but I’m working on a similar project at the moment utilizing 3D printed parts and vinyl covering. I think the basic shape would be pretty easy to build out of some sort of mdf or particular board, and to make it look cushy the whole thing could be covered in batting or foam and vinyl wrapped.
 
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