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Want to save some money? Ever wonder if you could do a car stereo installation yourself? Yes, you can do it yourself! Go ahead, spend that money on your hardware! Don’t spend it on labor. Besides, doing a car stereo installation yourself can be a very rewarding experience, not to mention you can learn a lot from it too. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing your “creation” in action, running smoothly and perfectly.

But be very careful, you really won’t want to damage your expensive hardware. Well, most car audio hardware are no-brainers to install, you’d find that most of the time the parts have specially shaped sockets and slots etc. and would only fit where it’s supposed to be installed. Still, it’s best to proceed methodically.

In a car stereo installation, you have to determine what kind of rig you’re going to put into your vehicle. If you’re a beginner, it’s best you do a car stereo installation if it’s just a simple system. You may want to leave the complicated stuff to the professionals, like installing delicate equipment like LCD panels, motorized parts etc. especially if it requires the creation of custom panels and such.

Head units are one of the easiest to do in a car stereo installation. Fortunately, most units follow the same size standards (DIN). In many cars, once the factory radio is removed the aftermarket radio will fit in the hole. In many other cars, a kit is needed if the factory hole is too big, or not deep enough. In some cases the dash has to be cut.  Any car stereo store should have kits required for installation.

There are two types of mounting in a car stereo installation. ISO mounting is when the radio can be screwed to existing factory radio brackets, such as in most Japanese cars. Ring mounting is when an aftermarket radio comes with a metal ring that gets mounted to the factory radio hole or aftermarket kit via bendable tabs. In many cars, dash and trim rings have to be filed to enlarge the radio hole. Once the ring is installed, the radio slides in and is held by snaps. In most cases, special tools are required to remove the radio.

Speakers are very critical in a car stereo installation. No matter how expensive your speakers are, if they are not properly installed, the sound will not be up to par.

In a simple car stereo installation, you’ll probably be using speakers that fit into a factory location. Just make sure there are no gaps or holes. Sometimes building a wood or fiberglass baffle helps reduce holes and gives you much better sound. But always be careful when using power tools around speakers. Car stereo installation warranties usually don’t cover holes in speakers.

For unconventional speaker locations, sometimes metal has to be cut. You might want to leave this to the professionals, tools like plasma cutters and pneumatics drills are required. But if you’re going to insist, a pair of metal snips (left and right cut) will do.

A car stereo installation has to put up with vibrations and other noise sources in its environment. Even though it is impossible to eliminate these completely, there are products that will greatly decrease the noise and rattling, particularly on non-luxury cars. Liners, sprays and adhesive strips and even carpeting applied onto the panels can make a world of difference.  

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This portion of your muscle-car-to-be process is a critical one, as when it’s all said and done…..what you end up doing with the car is almost the entire reason to purchase one!  Below are the six most common uses of muscle cars today:

* Weekend Funmobile
* Car Show Winner
* Pro-Touring Car (i.e. – a muscle car that can go, stop, and turn)
* Drag Racer
* Investment
* Drive Anywhere, Anytime

Now that we know what the common uses are, let’s break those down a bit – and see which one if a fit for you!

Weekend Funmobile:
A  car that fits this category is one that you purchase simply for the please of driving it on nice days.  It’s never going to see snow, and will only see rain if you can’t beat the storm clouds home.  It need not have it’s original engine, transmission, etc., nor does it need not have a K paint job.  It’s only real goal is to be a reliably running, comfortable driving car that is likely in stock condition with the addition of a set of nice sounding mufflers.  Hop in and take the friends and family over to the Dairy Queen!

Car Show Winner:
A car that fits this category on a consistent basis will either be an all original numbers-matching car (meaning it has it’s original engine and transmission) that is in meticulous condition, or is a modified car – also in meticulous condition.   As a general rule of thumb, the popular models (Camaro’s, Charger’s, etc.) are a good fit here.  If they are a modified car, the modification will need to be unique and really well done (it needs to look expensive).  This is a car that won’t be driven all that much – perhaps only a few times a year.  It’s main goal is to sit, look pretty, and win you some trophy’s!

Pro-Touring Car:
A Pro-Touring car is a muscle car modified with some of the latest “go fast” suspension, wheels/tires, and braking components required to make a world-class handling cars.  It will likely have some engine mods done as well.  (View products from Heidts, Detroit Speed, Hotchkis, and Griggs to get a general idea of what I am referring to.)  You can purchase an existing car and bolt on the fun parts, or purchase a car that is already modified.  A numbers-matching car in this category is not overly important.  This is a car that you will take autocrossing or to open track events at road courses.  It’s main goal is to give you the driving experience of a new Corvette with the classic lines of American muscle.  Gas-brake-gas-shift-go!

Drag Racer:
A drag racing car is one……that you will take drag racing!  This category is fairly straight forward, but is specific to cars that have been purposely modified to run the 1/4 mile.  (As a side note, you can take any car you own to the strip and run it, but a purpose built car will beat you ever time!)  This car will run free flowing exhaust, a hopped up engine and transmission, will have a sparse interior, and will (likely) have a roll cage.  It’s not one for the faint of heart and DOES need a mechanically inclined owner.

Investment:
An investment car is one that you purchase strictly for it’s potential growth in value.  You’re buying it now to sell it later (hopefully) at a higher price.  We’ll still assume that you want to like the car, but truthfully, an investment car simply needs to hit a few (or most) of these criteria: be a popular make/model, be a rare model, be all original, be meticulously kept, be well documented, and be in as close to original condition as possible (it should look like it just rolled off of the assembly line).  These are the reaaaaaly high dollar cars you may find at a Barrett-Jackson auction.  Think of cars like original COPO Camaro’s, Plymouth Superbirds, and BOSS Mustangs.

Drive Anywhere, Anytime:
A drive anywhere, anytime car is one that you would (almost) treat just like a regular car, and is essentially a mix-match of the other 5 categories mentioned.  Want to run it to Wal Mart?  No problem.   Taking a road trip to New York?  Top off the tank and let’s go.  Cars that fit this category need not be numbers matching, nor do they necessarily need to have terrific paint and body work.  On the flip side, if money is no object, it can have flawless paint work, a hot engine, great suspension, and still fit this category.  It may or may not be a car that goes to car shows, but it does need to run well, be reliable, and (above all else) be incredibly fun and enjoyable to drive.

Which category fits you best?  Put your thinking cap on.  The next section of our series will help whittle things down even further:  “Determine your price range and payment method.”  Take your time through this process and give it a lot of thought.  Know this though – somewhere out there a muscle car, which is a perfect fit for you, is waiting on you!

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Car modification is an area I have dabbled in myself and I must confess to finding great enjoyment in it. There will always be those who see anyone who modifies their car as a “Boy” or “Girl” racer. Of course, this may be the case for some, but others spend a huge amount of time and money on their beloved cars. The last thing on their mind would be driving dangerously and jeopardising the safety of their most precious item.

The modifying of your car can provide a welcomed focus and is certainly very enjoyable. There are many hobbies that appear superficially to follow a similar theme. Modifying a Pc and adding the latest parts, such as a new processor to increase performance is very similar to adding a new component to a car to increase speed and performance. Indeed, it can be said that to many of us, most things in life can come down to speed or performance in one way or another.

The topic that will never be far from this one is that of modified or performance car insurance. Of course if you modify and improve the performance of your car you will pay a higher premium price. Nevertheless, for some of us it can be a struggle to find a car insurance company even willing to insure a modified or performance car in the first place. Then you will have to consider paying an extortionate amount to cover your car, leaving most us a nervous wreck.

The problem lies mainly in the engine modification department. Changes to exterior fittings such as tailgate spoilers, new alloy wheels and body kit will make a noticeable difference in your premium, but at least this is an area most insurance companies are willing to cover. When it comes to engine modifications and cars with extremely powerful engines, a lot of them will not even enter into giving you a quote.

If you have added only exterior items or changed the in-car entertainment system then you can pretty much go ahead and search through quotes in the usual manner. You must remember to ring the car insurance company you have chosen after selecting the best quote for your car as standard. I would suggest picking several of the better value for money quotes, ensuring they give you the coverage your looking for (remember cheapest is not always best) and then ringing the company to continue the quote and give details of your modification. You should find most companies are pretty modification friendly as long as there only minor changes.

If you have modified you engine by way of a chip, induction kit or similar then things start to get a little trickier. This is also the case with having a generally high-powered performance engine. Many mainstream insurers will not insure a car with engine modifications or a high-powered car with a young driver. Here you will be best to follow the same procedure as above and seek quotes from specialist insurers. You may find the process a little slower but you will be rewarded with a more tailored and possibly cheaper policy.

Above all, you must remember to be honest to your insurer. Something as small as misinforming the insurer as to where you car will be kept overnight can be seen as fraud. Altering details to give yourself a cheaper policy, if not accurate, will ultimately result in voided insurance when the issuing company finds out.

Creatif or dumb ?

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