A few minor interior mods and a cool discovery

[acbarnett]

With the weather sucking today, i decided it would be a good way to install a set of 760 vertical door handles that I picked up at the junkyard last week. I also replaced the center light on the headliner with the cooler looking (and much better at light aiming unit from a 960. In the process of taking the door panels to drill holed for the handles, I noticed that volvo left in the wiring on the rear doors for door speakers (the rear speakers on my car are rear-deck 6x9's). Now I'm going to get a pair of nice volvo door speakers from the JY for cheap (I actually like the OEM sound) and I will have an easy 8-piece speaker system. I have pre-emptively replaced the plastic rear covers with mesh ones and cut out the holes in the door panels. Here are some pics of the handles and the working center light.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ACBarnett/LR.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ACBarnett/RR.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ACBarnett/RF.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ACBarnett/RoofLightoff.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y244/ACBarnett/RoofLighton.jpg
I am happy with myself as I got the wiring right by trial and error (no the colors didn't match up. Also, the reason for the black color, is that I plan on getting a valentine one, along with a black sunroof motor cover, and doing some fab work to end up with a hidden V1 cradle built into the sunroof motor housing that will be next to invisible from the outside of the car. (this will also involve making a custom stem for the rearview mirror so it hangs ~1-1 1/2 inches lowew allowing the V1 to see forward. I also have the rear carpet patches for the lower panels of the rear doors off of a 760, and I am going to replace the front map pockets with the much less crack-prone carpeted ones off of a 760/960. I think the interior will look quite pimp when all of that is done.

[PWRPUFF]

(this will also involve making a custom stem for the rearview mirror so it hangs ~1-1 1/2 inches lowew allowing the V1 to see forward.
Get a universal mirror that mounts on the glass like how they do on other cars.

[acbarnett]

ewww, that's not OEM

[blu92in99]

ewww, that's not OEMNo, but clean, functional, and it won't draw any attention from Johnny Law.


I like your plans, BTW. Keep us updated as you get the V1 integrated. :badboy:


-Justin

[PWRPUFF]

It won't have a metal post sticking down to obstruct the V1 either.

-- Kane

[DoubleV]

OEM sucks... It's all about taking what is not OEM and making it look like it was.

[acbarnett]

that too, at least for electronics. Alot of the 960 interior goodies are fine by me, and I'm always surprised by how nice some of the OEM stuff can be, both looking and functionally.

[socalsean]

OEM speakers are junk. If you don't believe me listen to them, then listen to a pair of MB quartz

[740TurboPerformance]

hey, how'd you got those nice speaker grills are those OE on newer volvos or from older volvos? probably newer volvos? I hate mine that match the door panel . . . .

About Volvo speakers or whoever made them for Volvo I give them speakers "not those that are blown or have a hole in them" but OE speakers a lot of freakin' credit! First I remember my mother when I was young blasting the hell out of her Volvo 245's speakers when it was practically new (premium system) where you almost thought your ears were gonna bleed. (of course the EQ was set accordingly for those dinky woofers in this case). I have a cheap a** AIWA CD deck but it puts out 45 watts per channel and has a built in mosfet amp (I bought it for like $60 on employee discount working at best buy a while ago); anyway, I can surprsingly get some very decent bass for the size of the speakers out of them, have been crankin' them up for the last 2 years and finally just blew one the the rear speakers (it popps now), the sound is very good and you can crank it way up, way more than you'd think. This is coming from a guy with a 500 watt SONY surround sound system and Cerwin Vega E710's that neighbors can hear down the block, I've litterally shook my whole complex with these speakers where neighbors thought the walls were gonna come down. Point is I listen to loud music and I'm a pretty big critic myself, but I felt the original speakers from my '745T have hit pretty damn hard and sounded extremely good for some cheap a** stock speakers, sound pretty good and were pretty damn hard to blow (unless you're trying to put subwoofer bass to them). Sound good enough where I still have them installed (even to my surprise), It's enough to vibrate my mirrors and rearview mirror. Of course i'm getting ready to replace them with some JBL's or some Cerwin Vegas, maybe JBL's due to the low price.

[acbarnett]

Yeah, I have nothing but respect for the stock volvo sound system (when it's all in good condition). Alot of friends who have ridden in my car think it has aftermarket speakers, and the bass from the 6x9's is enough that I need to go throughout the car on a crusade against rattles and buzzes from the fittings in the door panels before I even think of subs or anything substantially more powerful that what I have. Also, I do love MB quart's product, and I hope somewhere down the line to swap all of my speakers over to them. In the meantime, a pair of mint door speakers from a 940SE for ~20-30 is a great deal in terms of sound for what I pay. I also love the look and ergonomics of the stock headunit, leading me to be wary of getting any aftermarket system that isn't at least as nice looking and simple to use on the run. As to the speaker grilles, they were OEM on most 900 series cars, so it shouldn't be that difficult to get ahold of them from a JY for cheap. And I always have the music cranked up with the dial set to "loud" and the bass and treble EQ's all the way up. I only buzz the front speakers when playing rap or other bass-heavy music without shifting the fader farther back to the 6x9's.