New 944 owner : Stereo fitting advice needed

[scam]

Hello!

Car is an '86 8V NA...beautiful slate gray color with black and grey pinstripe interior and light beige carpets. It was my old man's in the 90s before he sold it to someone who didn't look after it very well. Dad's now got a really nice one-previous-owner S2 with very low miles which is mint. Anyway, we bought the old 944 back off this guy and have been getting it back up to it's former glory. Couple of grand gone already...gulp...but enjoying it enormously though. Been lovely to be able to take the sunroof out recently and pop it in the boot ;-) All work done thus far by the splendid chaps at JZ Mach Tech, who seem very good.

As much as I'd love to keep the old Panasonic cassette radio (which is delightfully 80s!) it's given up playing tapes and I was thinking it would be nice to be able to plug in the iPod and so on. Anyone had any good experience with fitters in London? I'm after someone who's not gonna bugger anything up or damage trim etc.

Cheers! sCam

 

[zcacogp]

It's so easy I'd find a soldering iron and do it yourself.

Identify what wires do what, buy some of the standard DIN (I think?) connectors and wire them as necessary.

To make a really neat job, use heat-shrink on the joins rather than tape.

You'll save the cost of the fitter, know that the job is done properly and not have to worry about broken trim.


Oli.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Hello!

Car is an '86 8V NA...beautiful slate gray color with black and grey pinstripe interior and light beige carpets. It was my old man's in the 90s before he sold it to someone who didn't look after it very well. Dad's now got a really nice one-previous-owner S2 with very low miles which is mint. Anyway, we bought the old 944 back off this guy and have been getting it back up to it's former glory. Couple of grand gone already...gulp...but enjoying it enormously though. Been lovely to be able to take the sunroof out recently and pop it in the boot ;-) All work done thus far by the splendid chaps at JZ Mach Tech, who seem very good.

Welcome!

You must be fairly near me if you use JZ. The car looks great in the picture. []

 

[scam]

Welcome!

Thank you! Nice to see there's such a good community of 944-heads here!

You must be fairly near me if you use JZ

I'm actually round the M25 in north east London, there might be closer indy porsche specialists but JZ seemed to be highly recommended on the forums, so I thought I'd go with them.

@zcacogp, thanks mate, might just do that! Anyone know how if you can replace the original speakers with something a bit better? I'm too old for super loud music but it might be nice to have something with a bit more fidelity.

Cheers all, sCam

 

[zcacogp]

Scam,

Whereabouts in NE London? I'm in Bow.

Speakers. If it's a coupe, your problem is the depth available in the doors when fitting replacement 6x4's as the window slides down behind them. I can't remember the models, but search around on here as there are ones from JBL and Alpine which fit. I have the JBL's, and they are OK. (Not 'great', not 'terrible', but 'OK'.)

Biggest improvement is putting a small amplifier in the system as well. No, not to make things stupidly loud, but the amplifier is always the weakest link in a head unit/speaker system, and more power never goes amiss. A seperate amp will make the sound "bigger" without being "louder". It need only be small ... mine's about the size of a couple of paperback books.

There is a thread about this running on TIPEC at the moment ... you may want to have a look at it over there:

http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=4129

... or do a search on here as it has been raised several times in the last year or so.


Oli.

 

[MRGT]

To add to Oli, the JBL's are often available on Ebay, usually for around £18-20 (thats what I paid for mine anyway). Door speakers are a bit of a bugger due to limited depth but no restrictions for the rear.

(fiddlesticks, fell foul of the profanity filter [&o] )

 

[jasonp]

hiya mate, great news about your 944, unfortunatly unable to rec anyone for your stereo but agree totally with other users re jz , they are always helpful on the phone and customers cant speak highly enough sadly i live on the wrong end of the north circular otherwise i would take my baby there, i am in wanstead [east london/essex borders] and need to use specialist nearer to me and cos of work commitments/ lack of time prevents me going to jz, my pioneer cd head unit occassionally slips when playing and i need a changer, i will address this small problem after my baby goes in tommorow[wed] to have her bonnet/headlights and back wing re -lacquared at cost of £400 [ouch] , so summers nearly here and there are lots of us 944 owners in north/east london/essex enjoy jason p

 

[scam]

Blimey, small world...I live in Wanstead as well! Do you London chaps ever go to meets and so on?

Thanks to everyone else for the advice! Will have a browse on Ebay.

Cheers, sCam

 

[Peter Empson]

ORIGINAL: scam

Blimey, small world...I live in Wanstead as well! Do you London chaps ever go to meets and so on?

Hi Simon,
Some of us go to the Ace Cafe meet which is in the evening of the 3rd Saturday of each Month. There can be half a dozen 944's there some weeks and lots of other interesting stuff to look at too.

 

[jasonp]

hiya olli. i live in wanstead and am about to take my s2 to top gear in walthamstow to have rod sorted on pass door cental locking [locked,unable to open even with mech using slim jims] as i believe you are based in east london and wondered who you use? regards jason p

 

[zcacogp]

Jason,

I haven't used a garage for about three years - all my maintenance is DIY.

However, when I first bought the S2 I used Tower Porsche, at the south end of Tower Bridge, for a PPI as I was recommended to them, and I have used the once since to do the cambelts and a rear wheel bearing. They are good, their workmanship is good quality and their prices fair. The downside is that they never manage to finish work on time and their workshop is a complete tip. (And they got rid of their foxy female assistant mechanic - think early-days Kylie with a splodge of grease on her nose ... Mmmmmmm!) They can be contacted on 020 7357 0911, and ask for Jon. They are extremely friendly and helpful and always very happy to give lots of advice.

If you do contact Jon tell him Oli with the Blue S2 sent you.


Oli.

 

[zcacogp]

Alternatively, I had a DIY-meet at my house about 3 or 4 months ago which was a bit of a laugh, and I am thinking of doing something similar again in the summer. Central door locking problems would be an ideal small job that we could tackle on such a day, if you could wait until then. Just an idea.


Oli.

 

[Fat Albert]

ORIGINAL: sc0tty

I can't help with installation but I can thoroughly recommend this unit;

http://www.bluespot.co.uk/stock/brisbane.asp

I have installed one in my car and it is fantastic ! you can plug an portable CD player or MP3 player in the AUX jack, and use a SD card and use a USB flash stick.

Top quality head unit !

Hmmm, that with the optional Bluetooth module looks an excellent setup and would de-clutter the car somewhat....might have to drop a few hints for Father's Day...

 

[scam]

I'd be up for an east london posse meet up! I've promised myself that once I've got the stereo sorted on the car, I'm gonna put some 80s classics on and go for a cruise round Canary Wharf at night ;-)

sCam

 

[Fat Albert]

Was listening to The Cult; Love with the roof off at the weekend.....Sad I know but it is my fave '80s album

 

[TheFiend]

My Sisters of Mercy CDs were one of the first CDs to be played in mine......., along with the various 80s 12" compilation box sets....[8D]

Haven't had time to do my install but will probably consist of components in the front and an 8" or 10" boxed sub in the rear drived by 2 Alpine amps I already have in my possession.