MG ZT sound system install

[Sonus]

To keep the spirit up since my MGB GT restoration is taking way longer than I first believed, I’ve bought a ’04 MG ZT. I was thinking of getting a Fiat 500 Abarth, but decided I wanted a larger and more comfortable car. So with the GT on hold, I’m fitting the stereo I had planed for it to the ZT.

I’m using my McIntosh MX406 Head unit, a DLS A5 3-channel amp and my DALI A6CS components and my DALI A10WD subwoofer.

I’ve bought 8m2 of Second Skin Damplifier Pro that I’ve used to sound deaden the boot, and will use for the front doors.

I’ve managed to run a 0/1 AWG power cable from the front mounted battery to the boot. I’ll mount a 100AMP automatic fuse as close to the battery as possible.

I set out wanting to retain as much boot space as possible, so started making a sub and amp enclosure in the spare wheel well.


Because my ZT is a sedan and pretty well insulated between the boot and cabin I thought that a 4th order band pass box would be the way to go. I was trying to fit the whole box in the fiberglass box in the well and fitting the port underneath the false floor and ending in the passenger compartment just underneath the rear seat armrest. However I wasn’t able to fit the port through the rear seat. But while I was trying to find a way through the rear seat I decided to remove the rear seat arm rest altogether and fit the sub enclosure there instead. The armrest in the ZT is 11” wide so my 10” DALI A10WD just fits. It will be poking thought the rear seat and the rest of the box will be attached to the foldable rear seat back.


The enclosure only adds 10cm to the rear seat back. I could have made it even thinner, but was worried about placing the rear wall, which will be Plexiglas, to close to the vent in the subs magnet.


I will still be able to fold the rear seat back as original. The only drawback to this is that the opening when the rear seat back is folded down the opening is reduced from 38 cm to 28 cm. Its okay though as I will still be able to fit my skis and snowboard in there.

So the fiberglass enclosure for the spare tire well is obsolete and I’m now planning an amp rack with some simple motorization to lift the amp out of the enclosure so that I can adjust it etc. I’m also designing the rack so that I can expand in the future as I’d really like to run a 3-way active front end in the future. Because of this the amp rack will be designed to be able to take three amps and also hide the Phoenix Gold EQ232 equalizer that I’m looking for.
I’m also considering fitting the EQ232 in the front passenger foot well underneath a false floor - time will tell.
So that’s as far as I’ve gotten until today. Will probably not be able to do anything more until next weekend.

Comments and ideas are more than welcome.

Sorry if this post is a bit technical is because i copied it from my talkaudio.co.uk thread

[Thomas]

Looks great !

[sworks]

excellent work, please continue posting with updates. I think I'm registered with talk audio - been a long while since being on there though

[Sonus]

Managed to get the 50mm2 cable to the boot. Had to drill two new holes through the bulk head. Holes were fitted with rubber grommets to stop the steel eating through the cable. I've mounted an 100AMP automatic fuse to the battery box 30cm from the battery. Luckily there's a 8M tapped hole in the original battery terminal so attached my power cable to that.

Here's a pic of the new hole from the plenum into the cabin



I've decided to build a box with a plexi glass rear wall to bling up the install :redface:

I'mm also trying to figure out if it will be possible to make the cd-players dsiplay show on the cars LCD-info dsiplay and convert the signals from the steering wheel controls to operate some functions on the Mcintosh cd-player I'm using
According to some internet forums the steering wheel control is run on a serial interface so I'll have to make some kind of converter for it to work. I've got a former collegue that might be able to help with this

[Sonus]

I've run the 0AWG to the boot as can be seen in a few earlier pics. I've now also mounted an 100AMP auto fuse to the battery box. The box is of plastics so should be fine. I need to work out how to protect the terminals however. Any suggestions?



I've also started looking into if it's at all possible to tap into my MX406 to retrieve the display signal. I'm trying to figure out if it would be possible to replicate the display in the cars info-LCD in the instrument binnacle. I'd also like to be able to use the stock steering wheel remote to skip tracks etc.
I know the remote on the steering wheel uses a serial interface so we'll have to see if I can make the cd-player and the seriel interface talk to each other.





I've also managed to break loose the door trim. I broke quite a lot of the clips etc. to get it off, so need to get some replacements.
I started to make a backing for the door builds.



I'm still not sure which speakers I'm going to use, but wil most likely use the DALIs to start with, and then go 3-way at a later date. I'm making the pods so that they will be possible to modify to accept 8" midbasses in the future. If I need 8" midbasses I don't know, but it leaves my with the option non the less.
Unfortunatly I didn't take a photo of the door trim, but it has a quite odd shaped speaker grill that was glued/melted to the trim. I snapped most tags/melted pins trying to remove it with the trim still attached to the door. I'm hoping to be able to make a pod that can be attached to the door frame with the trim in place as it is such a hassle to get off.
The doors are quite well dampened from factory, but I'll still fit som Second Skin Damplifier to them.

[matt1301]

I've never seen a proper install in a ZT before. Looking forward to the end result.

Are you planning on competing with it or is it just a hobby? The reason I ask is that you wanted the steering controls and display working which is a point gainer in some competitions.

[Sonus]

I'm not building it to compete, but I might enter it just to see how it stacks up when finished. I'm building it primarily for my love of music.

The display and controls I'd want to do because;
1. I'd hate having the controls on the steering wheel without any function 2. improved safety
3. a challenge

[Sonus]

Managed to get the sub runnig this weekend

I decided against plexiglass rear wall in the sub enclosure so sealed of the box with a double layer 12mm plywood glued together. Mounted the amp and connected it to the cheap Pioneer unit I've got in the car as a temporary fix. The HU is running the original speakers, and the amp the 10" DALI. Sounds good to me, but the sub needs running in.

I'll be doing the front speaker pods next.

I've got a slight problem though. I used some QED spaker cable, but the insulation is way to stiff- When I pulled it through some places the insulation got scraped of some places. So I'll need to replace it with some thing with better insulation. A big bummer as I used almost an entire day fitting one wire

[savvy]

Looks very tidy.

I'll be doing similar this weekend if my wiring kit arrives.

I see you've taken a photo of how to wire the power cable to the battery.
Where exactly have you gone through the bulkhead and where does it enter the car?
Under the glove box etc?

[Ackel]

Looks really impressive! Looking forward to the next few steps and the final result!

I have myself been thinking along something similar. My idea is to remove just the ski hatch and keep the armrest, with a 10" speaker and a port above the armrest. By the way, was it difficult to remove the hatch and armrest? Did you have to remove the whole seat?

/Ackel