Electrical Mach 460 Bypass Install

[firedawgy]

I have been surfing for a while for the corect info to install a Alpine deck, bypassing the amps, into a 94 GT convertible with the Mach 460 system. I thought I had it figured out buying a Metra 70-5514 wiring harness, then Metra tells me that theres no harness for the 460 system because of the 3 amps. Crutchfield tells me to get the 2 piece harness with the rca jacks. According to them if I use the grey plug and plug the speaker wires into the rca jacks on the Alpine it will use the car amps and not the Alpine amps, not overloading the system. I am about to hang it up and save to replace the entire system, but after all this would prefer to salvage what I have. Can someone please point me in the right direction.

 

[Chythar]

Crutchfield is correct; you want the Metra 70-5510. I'm using it in my GT, which has the Mach 460 installed. Works like a charm with the Mach 460. The harness is not listed in Metra's system as usable for the 94-98 Mach 460, but it's a perfect fit.

I would also recommend putting some sound insulation in the doors. Ford's OEM radio cuts out a lot of bass because the bass reverberates in the doors and tends to muddy up the sound. After putting in some from Cascade Audio Engineering, the audio cleared up quite a bit. I don't recommend Dynamat because most of their products use a tar blend, which smells a lot.

 

[firedawgy]

Thank you for the info Chythar, ordered the 5510 this morning and will hopefuly have it soon. Will look around for some sound insulation but just want to get this deck in for now. Curious about speakers, I have heard that you really cant change them if using the original amps, guess I'm hoping for a better sound with the Alpine then my original deck with the killer inoperable cassette

 

[Chythar]

As far as I know, the Mach 460 parts aren't interchangeable with anything else. The large door speakers also double as subwoofers somehow, so if you replace them with aftermarket speakers you'll lose all your bass. The Alpine (or any other aftermarket deck, for that matter) will sound far better than the OEM deck. If you lived in Los Angeles somewhere, I'd be happy to demo my Mach 460 with a Pioneer deck.

 

[firedawgy]

I'm sure the Alpine will do me just fine, but thanks for the offer. I am on the prowl for a good set of mufflers, or catback for the 94gt, but I would imagine shipping would kill me from LA to South Carolina

 

[revhead347]

You need the harness and an adaptor that takes the amplified speaker outlets on the aftermarket radio down to signal. They run about $50. An aftermarket head unit really wakes the 460 system up.

Kurt