Jump to content
SAU Community

FAQ: BA Falcon and stereo changes

paulr33

By paulr33,
in Car Audio & Electrical

 Share

Recommended Posts

paulr33 Grand Master

paulr33

Posted
Posted

Q) I have BA Falcon and I don't like the stereo

A) Read below

My friend got his xr6turbo mark II yesterday and we went to garys car radio to check out stereo options for it.

Headunit and Engine Management System

The BA falcon head unit is part of the engine management system and if removed/disabled it will cease to function and render the car un-startable. The headunit system is about $2000 brand new if its busted or damaged. They can also be repaired for a small fee to a few select electronic freaks if the damage isn't too bad. There have been some cases of the unit being damaged by tampering and you have one of those two options, costly either way.

Premium Sound vs Standard

The head unit I am talking about is the sound upgrade option. Not to be

confused with the Premium Sound option which has the TV display. The upgrade sound option has a 6 disc built in stack and its the stereo control and aircon control in one.

3rd Party Headunits

If you want to install your own head unit it must be installed in another location, the first place would be where the cigarette and tissue compartment is. We had a look at a BA falcon today that had this setup. The only downside to this is the factory head unit is still there and still works, just no sound comes out of it. You can then tap your head unit into power, acc, ground and speaker wires according and the other downside is the head unit is down low and just in front of the gearstick

New speakers & Amps

If you opt to keep the factory unit which you can do then you can get the front speaker wires, install a stinger high gain adapter and use it as a form of RCA out. The stock headunit doesn't have RCA preamped/gain outputs so you have to use inline adapters. You can then run these to your own amps and replace the factory speakers with 6" splits and and subs and amp to your hearts content. We got an install that used the front wires with an inline adapter and this ran the fronts and rears on a 4 channel amp. The rear speaker wires from the stock head unit were plugged to a monoblock amp and the set off to run 2 x 10" subs.

Caution

We were cautioned about doing this setup in the event of spark or voltage surge the factory head unit could be damaged or placed at risk and then be up for some costly repairs. The solution was to use inline fuses on the speaker wire so they break before the voltage/surge gets to the head unit. Although not 100% a lot better.

Result

This was the most cost effective and easiest method whilst retaining the factory system as it has controls on the steering wheel to choose tracks etc.

The standard system is a 6 disc in dash changer so its not too bad as a full package.

Conclusion

It seems Ford wanted to prevent people from changing the head unit and tampering with its sound setup. If you want better sound and a better setup they wanted you to get the premium sound option.

:)

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/55334-faq-ba-falcon-and-stereo-changes/
Share on other sites
sewid Grand Master

sewid

Posted
Posted

fun stuff!

As an aside Nissan tried to do some similar stuff with the R34 GTR and the built in LCD display has no RCA input or any easy way to plug your own video source into it unless you option it when you buy the car. They had at least 10 different Navi/TV options you could choose from the factory and/or dealer.

Luckily nowdays there is a guide floating around on how to hook any NTSC video source up with a bit of soldering and I have done it on mine, installed a DVD headunit, and watched "The Usual Suspects" on the screen the other night. Works brilliant :P:)

Chris Rogers Grand Master

Chris Rogers

Posted
Posted

fun car to work on. (BA) did one today with TV interface and a decent stereo as well.

this one had the premium system on it and I still have a bit of a probelm with engine noise on it . this is using the stinger line out units.

if you are playing with the unit ( IE pulling it out) have the keys handy.

still waiting for someone to throw a 34 GTR at me...

Chris Rogers Grand Master

Chris Rogers

Posted
Posted

still waiting for an alternative mounting from aeropro. was talking to the local rep and he's says if theres enough interest then they will make one...

( I already get 5-6 called a week on VY commys.. same problem easier solution.)

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • myrbgivesmeheadaches
      RB25DET NEO Cylinder Head

      By myrbgivesmeheadaches · Posted

      Did this end up working? Did you take some pictures?
    • Duncan
      V37 Suspension change

      By Duncan · Posted

      And finally, the front lower mount. It was doubly weird. Firstly, the lower mount is held in with a bracket that has 3 bolts (it also acts as the steering lock stop), and then a nut on the shock lower mount itself. So, remove the 3x 14mm head bolts , then the 17mm nut that holds the shock in. From there, you can't actually remove the shock from the lower mount bolt (took me a while to work that out....) Sadly I don't have a pic of the other side, but the swaybar mounts to the same bolt that holds the shock in. You need to push that swaybar mount/bolt back so the shock can be pulled out past the lower control arm.  In this pic you can see the bolt partly pushed back, but it had to go further than that to release the shock. Once the shock is out, putting the new one in is "reverse of disassembly". Put the top of the shock through at least one hole and put a nut on loosely to hold it in place. Put the lower end in place and push the swaybar mount / shock bolt back in place, then loosely attach the other 2 top nuts. Bolt the bracket back in place with the 14mm head bolts and finally put the nut onto the lower bolt. Done....you have new suspension on your v37!
    • Duncan
      V37 Suspension change

      By Duncan · Posted

      And now to the front.  No pics of the 3 nuts holding the front struts on, they are easy to spot. Undo 2 and leave the closest one on loosely. Underneath we have to deal with the wiring again, but this time its worse because the plug is behind the guard liner. You'll have to decide how much of the guard liner to remove, I undid the lower liner's top, inside and lower clips, but didn't pull it full off the guard. Same issue undoing the plug as at the rear, you need to firmly push the release clip from below while equally firmly gripping the plug body and pulling it out of  the socket. I used my fancy electrical disconnect pliers to get in there There is also one clip for the wiring, unlike at the rear I could not get behind it so just had to lever it up and out.....not in great condition to re-use in future.
    • Duncan
      V37 Suspension change

      By Duncan · Posted

      Onto the rear lower shock mount. It's worth starting with a decent degrease to remove 10+ years of road grime, and perhaps also spray a penetrating oil on the shock lower nut. Don't forget to include the shock wiring and plug in the clean.... Deal with the wiring first; you need to release 2 clips where the wiring goes into the bracket (use long nose pliers behind the bracket to compress the clip so you can reuse it), and the rubber mount slides out, then release the plug.  I found it very hard to unplug, from underneath you can compress the tab with a screwdriver or similar, and gently but firmly pull the plug out of the socket (regular pliers may help but don't put too much pressure on the plastic. The lower mount is straightforward, 17mm nut and you can pull the shock out. As I wasn't putting a standard shock back in, I gave the car side wiring socket a generous gob of dialectric grease to keep crap out in the future. Putting the new shock in is straightforward, feed it into at least 1 of the bolt holes at the top and reach around to put a nut on it to hold it up. Then put on the other 2 top nuts loosely and put the shock onto the lower mounting bolt (you may need to lift the hub a little if the new shock is shorter). Tighten the lower nut and 3 upper nuts and you are done. In my case the BC Racing shocks came assembled for the fronts, but the rears needed to re-use the factory strut tops. For that you need spring compressors to take the pressure off the top nut (they are compressed enough when the spring can move between the top and bottom spring seats. Then a 17mm ring spanner to undo the nut while using an 8mm open spanner to stop the shaft turning (or, if you are really lucky you might get it off with a rattle gun).
    • Duncan
      V37 Suspension change

      By Duncan · Posted

      You will now be able to lift the parcel shelf trim enough to get to the shock cover bolts; if you need to full remove the parcel shelf trim for some reason you also remove the escutcheons around the rear seat release and you will have to unplug the high stop light wiring from the boot. Next up is removal of the bracket; 6 nuts and a bolt Good news, you've finally got to the strut top! Remove the dust cover and the 3 shock mount nuts (perhaps leave 1 on lightly for now....) Same on the other side, but easier now you've done it all before
×
×
  • Create New...