That dreaded feeling after you spend all day building wiring harnesses, removing dash boards, figuring out how to get power from the junction box, pouring over your wiring book, and then finally buttoning everything up only to realize you forgot the antenna and the microphone.............DOH!
The wife threw down for a head unit, SiriusXM, and a nice little class D amp so I matched it to some decent alpine speakers and got busy. Part of the install was also going to be upfitter switches which I needed to build my own harness for (thanks MG!!) as well as deaden the doors and add insulation.
I was able to remove the dash by taking off the front two Steering Column bolts. With a little pressure there was just enough room to squeek the dash out. Ford made sure their connector whips where just long enough for a toddler to get their hands in there. Unscrewing the climate control unit almost made me cry. Deep Breaths.
Here's my Homemade wire harness plugged into the back of the Upfitter Switches. this took way more research than is practical but I learned a lot in the process and big thanks to MG for cluing me in here. Hopefully my hand done crimps stay put.
Test run with the Head unit mounted. The chaotic mess behind it hidden. I did solder all my connections.
Sound Deadening on the doors. I really wanted to try to get some insulation in there but with that window coming down, I just knew I would mess it up some how.
The Door Panel with 3M thinsulate SM600L. Hopefully this stuff works as good as the $$. No irritants in it though, so your lungs and skin are safe.
The finished Dash after taking it off a second time to connect the mic and antenna. I think I am gonna make a nice panel next to the switches and mount the mic and USB and a phone holder right there.
Simple stuff, but I am realizing that a home build is a series of small wins that add up big. I have had several pioneer HU's and they are nice, but I really wanted a volume knob. This Kenwood is a pretty nice unit with a lot of features. With a little amp behind it it makes those 6x8's sing pretty good.