Car Stereos: Car Audio, wire harnesses, factory speakers

Question
I just bought a 1986 Lincoln Towncar and the previous owner has already installed an after market head unit...but I want to buy a new one and get some new front door speakers because the factory ones dont work anymore. What will I need to install the speakers and head unit myself ( i.e. wire harnesses...adapters anything ? I know nothing about cars so can u please help ???

Answer
Hi Joe,

Because you have an after-market head unit already installed in the vehicle, you shouldn't need any adapter parts to replace it with another head unit.  Normally, a head unit installation in this vehicle requires a mounting kit, to make the new deck fit securely in the dash opening; and a wire harness, to adapt the after-market wiring to the factory radio plugs.  If both these parts are present and in good condition, they can be re-used with the new head unit.  It's possible that the original installer didn't use a wire harness, and instead connected the after-market head unit's wires directly to the factory wires.  If so, your new head unit's wire colors should match those of the old head unit, so you can use it as a guide when connecting your new wires.  You shouldn't have a problem unless the current head unit is so old that it doesn't use the standard universal wire colors, or unless the original installer didn't wire the head unit correctly.

There are some tricky issues with the old Town Cars, which might require some extra work when replacing the factory head unit; but for now, we can assume that the original installer dealt with those problems, and you can just copy his work with the new deck.

The factory speakers are an unusual size compared to the after-market standard.  You can replace them with 5-1/4" speakers, but there might be a small gap between the outside edge of the speaker and the edge of the factory mounting hole.  For best results, you'll need to fill the gap.  Some 6-1/2" speakers will fit the opening, but not all.

You can purchase speaker harness adapters to let you connect the after-market speakers to the stock speaker plugs.  Your vehicle uses a Metra 72-5510 harness.

Hope this helps!


Brian