When I was a teenager, I drove a 1990 Nissan pickup truck. Rear wheel drive, automatic transmission, two door. From an economical standpoint, it was pretty solid. My parents bought it as an extra vehicle and agreed to let me drive it, if I kept a job and paid the insurance. I managed my end of the bargain pretty responsibly but like many teenagers of my generation, I also found it absolutely necessary to equip said pickup with as much noise and bass as possible. I spent hundreds of dollars (probably thousands) upgrading head units, speakers, amplifiers, cables, and wiring. Sometimes I paid a friend or acquaintance. Sometimes I paid Best Buy. Unfortunately, I rarely paid attention to the processes and learned little to nothing about how to install a new head unit, wire an amp, or wire new speakers. This week, I was reminded of my ignorance on these processes and now, the Fox Mustang doesn’t have a functioning stereo system.

For those who haven’t been along for the whole process of the Fox Mustang project, the car had a pretty substantial stereo system, albeit one that was pretty old. Two subwoofers in a fairly amateurish looking box, two amps mounted to the back of the backseats, another amp underneath the passenger seat, upgraded tweeters and door speakers, and an Alpine head unit. The sound was distorted but it made some serious bass…when it was working. Somewhere along the line, the subwoofers stopped working. If you’re trying to maximize performance in a 32 year old car, having a 50+ pound paperweight in the trunk isn’t the most useful. Initially I just removed the subwoofer box and backseat amps. Since I had to remove the center console to install a new short throw shifter anyways, I went ahead and removed the wires and cables from the old system. Getting the head unit out was a pain and I wasn’t really sure how to rewire the speakers anyways, so the Fox currently has no stereo.

The process for removing all this stuff and getting the old shifter out took a lot longer than expected and is the focus of my latest video on the Taco Potato Mustang YouTube channel. Have a look and let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading. Thanks for watching. Stand by for more updates as the project continues.