A client from Harvey, Louisiana, came to Prestige Car Audio & Marine with his beautiful 1967 Ford Mustang. Now, this is no ordinary vehicle. The client bought this vehicle new in 1967 and has kept it ever since. A few years ago, he embarked on a long-term project to build it into the ultimate Mustang, combining modern power, suspension and brakes with the beautiful lines that only a classic car can provide. Everything from the 5.0 Coyote engine to the aluminum and stainless hardware makes this vehicle a piece of rolling art. When it came time to do the Mustang stereo, he came looking for us. He knew of our reputation for building some of the finest audio systems in the nation, and we were humbled that he thought of us.
Classic Mustang Stereo Build Starts With Us Doing The Listening
We sat down with the client and got to know him better. What we like to do is ask several leading questions, and then sit back and listen as the client elaborates on goals and desires for the project. Our team will tell the client about all of the possibilities available so he can make educated decisions. We went out to the vehicle together and looked it over from head to toe, exploring all of the incredible detail already put into this Mustang. Once we gathered all of our information, we created a proposal that we thought best suited the client. He was thrilled with our ideas, so we booked him an installation appointment.
From the get-go, we knew our installation team had their work cut out. Keeping the attention to detail at the same level as the rest of the items in this Mustang meant they had to bring their A-game.
The First Step Was To Reduce The Road Noise And Resonances
This under construction picture gives a glimpse into the detail that went into the sound proofing of the car. Every area was addressed for the most quiet ride possible.
We started this build by stripping the whole interior and trunk, and applying sound-damping material to the whole vehicle. We did this for a number of reasons, but first and foremost, we wanted to reduce road noise. You can always count on two things with a classic car – they will be beautiful, and they will be loud inside. Modern vehicles may not be as pretty, but they are much quieter. And at the end of a nice drive, you shouldn’t have a headache from road noise. Our sound-damping makes a dramatic reduction in noise level, so when our client gets out of his vehicle, he is smiling as much as when he first got in it. The sound-damping will also eliminate any rattling or vibration that may occur from installing a high-performance audio system, so that is another bonus.
Great Sounding Alpine Radio Is The System Source Unit
In the dash, we installed an Alpine CDEHD149BT stereo system. It gives the client an easy-to-use interface, allowing him to play digital music off of his smart phone and carry on a hands-free conversation, should he ever decide to do that. The Alpine unit also has a great pre-amp, so it provides a high-quality musical signal to the amplifier, resulting in better sound quality.
JL Audio Speakers Mounted In Custom Kick Panels
For sound in the front of the vehicle, the team at Prestige Car Audio & Marine made custom kick panels to hold JL Audio C5-650 speakers. They consist of a 6.5” woofer and a .75” tweeter, and reproduce music with incredible detail. We chose to go with kick panels for multiple reasons. First, they sound better because we can aim the speakers up at the driver and passenger for a more realistic soundstage. Second, we don’t have to cut up the doors or disturb their classic look. Third, it allowed us to build custom pressed grilles with aluminum trim rings that continued the polished metal theme into the interior of the vehicle.
Gorgeous Rear Deck Renovation Vents Subwoofer And Holds JL Audio Speakers
The rear deck was rebuilt with aluminum ringed grills that cover the JL Audio speakers and the subwoofer vent.
In the rear deck, we continued that theme and rebuilt the rear deck with three custom grilles with the aluminum trim rings. The outer grilles hide a second set of JL Audio C5-650 speakers that we used for the rear soundstage. The center grille allows the bass from the subwoofer to easily enter the cabin of the vehicle.
Stunning Trunk Design Compliments Performance Themed Mustang
The magic continued in the trunk. Our team built and sculpted all of the trunk panels in-house to give a dramatic look that complemented the awesome engine compartment. We made a custom ported subwoofer enclosure to house a JL Audio 8W3v3 8” subwoofer. We love this woofer for its combination of great output in a small enclosure. The client can now reproduce a kick drum and bass guitar with authority, the way the artists intended their music to sound. As you can see from the pictures, we also made a custom aluminum trimmed panel in front of the woofer to match the cosmetics of the front grille.
JL Audio Amplifier Powers System
When it came time for power for our classic Mustang stereo upgrade, we went back to JL Audio, choosing their XD700/5v2 amplifier. The customer now has over 700 watts of clean power in a small chassis. We built a custom trim panel into the driver’s-side trunk panel to house the amplifier and, again, we made a custom pressed grill for protection. Our team upholstered all the panels in-house and did all of the aluminum work in-house as well.
Final Tuning Makes All The Difference
When the installation was finished, we gave extensive time to the final tuning of the audio system. It is our opinion that a client should get all the sound they paid for, but many shops will only spend a few minutes on tuning. We have found that spending the extra time on tuning may make the audio system sound 25–50% better, and that is protocol in our shop.
Once a vehicle is done, we can’t wait to deliver it to our client. We love seeing their first impression of the finished product. And it was safe to say that this client loved his vehicle! He looked over all of the work and marveled at our attention to detail. And once he sat inside it and played his new system for the first time, he was excited all over again. His music had never sounded so good. And that made our day.
Stop By With Your Classic Car Today
When you are in the market for an audio upgrade for your classic car, we invite you to stop by Prestige Car Audio & Marine and get to know us better. If you love your vehicle, and want it treated with the utmost care, we are going to get along fine.
You can also contact us here for more information about any of our products and services.
Awesome build. I love how the trunk and kick panels came out. Keep up the good work guys!