Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

MWBoatFan

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Mods, if this is not the place for this thread, feel free to move it.

1996 Mariah Shabah 180 SE

My new (to me) boat came in really nice shape but mostly original shape, meaning it still had a Jensen AM/FM Cassette stereo with only 2, very weak, 5 inch speakers. For the kids in the audience, a cassette was a music delivery system used in the 80's and 90's, very uneventful, it came between the long playing album, 8-track era and the compact disk. It's only claim to fame was the ability for pimple faced high schoolers to make the now famous "MIX-TAPE" in the attempts to win the hearts of their one true love.

But I digress. :D

So my plans were to remove, replace and upgrade the stereo and add water proof, RGB, LED lighting strips to make the old girl a little more exciting.

I will not go very deep into the lighting used, where I got it, or why I chose what I did there is a great thread available on this very site that covers all the basics and was my inspiration. That thread can be found here: http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=544182

BIG THANKS to chriscraft254 and lil buggy for the great info and the helpful answers to questions. You guys make this a GREAT site as do many many others.

Up next, the start of the projects.
 

MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

So we started Saturday morning by pulling the outdrive, WHAT???? why would we do that? Well I needed to change out my exhaust bellows so that came first. That burned a few hours and I will not cover the horrors involved here. It's not really THAT bad but I could have never done it without the resources found here.

After that, we started with the "fun" stuff.

We pulled the old stereo and stashed it, and I inspected the old mounting panel. Not in great shape and it would be discarded. For several reasons really, not in good enough shape to modify for the new stereo and I wanted to add some additional options.

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I also decided to remove the passenger kick panel, the initial plan was to mount the 10 inch sub here. (Initial plan, stay tuned)

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EWWW, somebody get a vacuum.

This would make a great place to mount a sub right? You'd think so wouldn't you?

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MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Well once we had all that out of the way we started working on separate things, my buddy the "stereo guy" started plotting the sub box I began working on a new stereo panel.

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See my plan is this, the single din Kenwood, a cubby for my Ipod and LED remote and then 2 switches, one for internal LED's and then down the road a switch for my underwater LEDs. Always a good idea to plan in advance. :cool:

I will want to vinyl the new piece, but I am waiting for a good custom match color, so to finish the season, I thought I'd add some color and .....

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BAM - sealed and painted it red.

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Looks ok right?
 

MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Oh it's 1/2 inch oak plywood. Light coat of epoxy and then about 4 - 5 coats of red indoor/outdoor paint, front, back and all the edges. :D

Then, we pulled the interior.

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And even a small part of the bow seating. And the bow cubby.

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Three reasons for this, 1. It made it much easier to get around in there 2. We are mounting rear speakers in the rear seat base and the amp on the back of the rear seat and 3. THIS BOAT NEEDED SOME SERIOUS CLEANING!
 

MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Next we marked out where we were going to mount the rear speakers.

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Then cut out the carpet and vinyl with a box knife.

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Then we cut the holes .... :eek:

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MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Those horrible, horrible holes look MUCH BETTER with speakers in them

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We chose this location for a couple reasons, first we didn't have to add anything that would take away from the storage in the gunwales, second it directed the sound into the cabin and would not take away from storage beneath the seats as these speakers are pretty shallow and they are right below the cross-members on the seats.

We mounted the amp to the back of the seat on the same side as my dual battery set up, shorter run for the amp power. :)

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MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

My wife (God I am a LUCKY MAN) took this opportunity to clean, clean, clean and vacuum!

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MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

So remember I mentioned mounting the sub in the passenger kick panel? Well JL 10 inch subs (well MY JL 10 inch sub anyway) requires almost exactly 1 cubic foot of space in a sealed box to perform at optimal levels. Up under the kick panel it would have been a nightmare to create a box with that internal dimensions.

I was sad

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But I sucked it up and we moved forward. Remember kids, it's not about how many times you fall down, it's about how many times you get back up! ;)

So my buddy "The Stereo Guy" just happened to have a box for dual 10 inch subs that he was not using. And you'll never guess what the internal dimensions were on one of those two sides? Yep you guessed it, 1 cubic foot.

So we sawed that sum batch in half and after sealing and painting the newly exposed side, we mounted up the sub. (The box is 3/4 inch MDF that was previously sealed and carpeted with the outdoor carpet.) Good enough for now anyway. :rolleyes:

Then we tucked it alllllll the way back on the opposite side from the dual batteries.

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After that we put the back seat back in and hooked up the Kenwood, just to see what we had...

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Oh my diggity, it sounds really really good and really MUCH louder than I had assumed. (And we still have yet to mount the front speakers!

It was late by this point on Sunday, we were tired, we were hungry and my wife said, we're done. :D So we wrapped up.

I am going to be back at it tonight. More to come.
 

ShowMeGuy

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Looks good.. Boom Chik BOOM BOOM! repeat.. etc..:)
 

lil buggy

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Congratulations, and welcome to the madness! Cool idea with the new cutout, where you putting that? Looking good man:)
 

MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Hey Buggy, thanks for stopping by! I will be mounting it in the same spot. Just wanted it to look a little nicer and do a little more.

We did complete the stereo install last night, I got the cubby done and installed and we got the LEDs up in the gunwales and under both dashes ....however I am having trouble getting logged into photobucket this morning to get pics up here. All I got was some after dark LED shots on my cell, so I will post when I can. And I will add more pics later in the week of the completed installs, where I placed the lights and how they were wired etc.

Thanks all.
 

MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

As promised, horrible cell phone pics, more to follow (and I promise I will use the good camera).
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lil buggy

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Looks great man, I love the color fade setting.

Did you use the clips or solder to the strip? Also did you get the 4 wire or use telephone line?
How much strip you got left?
 

MWBoatFan

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Messages
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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Looks great man, I love the color fade setting.

Did you use the clips or solder to the strip? Also did you get the 4 wire or use telephone line?
How much strip you got left?

Yea it looks great so far. I got the connectors and the 4 wire, and was creative. I only got one roll so 16 ft 4 inches I think, I used 1 foot under the drivers dash, 3 feet on the drivers gunwale, 4 feet on the passenger gunwale, 10 inches under the passenger dash ... so I got what a bit over 7 feet left to go along the bow. BTW - is there a recommended adhesive to help out where the 3m sticky wears out?

I will get er done soon.
:)
 

lil buggy

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

After a while at the slip under the cover the 3m strip on mine started to come unstuck! I used marine goop to reattach it is clear and has been holding great for most of the season so far. I don't think the goop will fail, I got it at the local auto parts store.
Dont try to use the stuff inside the clips,,,,,,,, ask me how I know:(

Love the colors man! Wait till your on the water at night,,,,,, woooooo
 

MWBoatFan

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

Well after a bit of illness and the first rain we've seen around these parts in while, I was back at it last night and completed phase one of the updates. All the lights are in and my stereo install (including new mounting plate) is complete.

Again my apologies for the "crappy" cell phone pics, I was pressed for time.

Stereo -
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Close up -
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And the lights ....
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More to come. (After I go camping and actually ENJOY the boat over the holiday weekend)
 

lil buggy

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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

looks great sir:D! love the placement in the open bow! enjoy the holiday, i'm looking forward to the next step;)
 

MWBoatFan

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Messages
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Re: Finally got going on stereo and LED lighting install...

looks great sir:D! love the placement in the open bow! enjoy the holiday, i'm looking forward to the next step;)

Hey Buggy, thanks man! The Admiral also really likes the placement in the open bow (officially her area of the boat). :D

Yea it's sounding good now and looking good and I have just about everything working :facepalm:

But she's good enough to get her wet this weekend.

Have fun this holiday weekend!
 
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