Aaron Cake
09-15-2025, 05:21 PM
When I bought #5637, the Sony stereo installed by one of the previous owners was non-functional. No power at all. Don't know why, didn't care. I already knew I'd replace it as I run the same model stereo in all of my vehicles.
My personal opinion is that the JVC KD-BT1 is the peak of early 2000s single DIN car stereos. It plays media files from USB and CD, supports all the relevant radio bands, has Bluetooth connectivity (audio, phone, SMS, etc.) and an excellent RGB backlight transflective display. I cannot stress how good the display is. No silly segmented characters and it is visible in every lighting condition. Plus, the USB port is on a lead from the back of the unit allowing it to be routed into a glove box or similar hidden compartment for out of sight storage as opposed to every other unit which simply has a front port.
I found a KD-BT1 on eBay for a reasonable price. Once it arrived I disassembled the face of the unit, cleaned everything up and polished out 90% of the wear and scratches one would expect on a used part.
Then it was time to install it in the DeLorean, which I did over a 3 day holiday weekend. After all the old stuff was removed, I ran new wires along the harness in the center console.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/1 - New Wiring Along Center Console.jpg
The only wires worth saving from the previous owner installation were the runs to the rear speakers. Everything else were varying levels of terrible. The accessory power wire fell out of the crimp when I tugged on it. The 12V constant wire was simply held together by electrical tape. Two different splices within 6 inches made up the run to the driver side speaker, which fell apart when pulled slightly. Sadly this wiring atrocity was not the reason the Sony stereo didn't work because when I tested it on the bench, it still didn't power on and was thus non-functional e-waste.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/2 - Wires In Relay Compartment.jpg
Everything was wired up to the JVC harness directly. Each connection was joined with a Western Union splice (as I have always used), soldered, de-fluxed and then insulated with double walled adhesive lined heat shrink. No wires in this harness connect to the car. Power goes back to the relay compartment as well as accessory, speakers go out to the front on my new wiring and out to the back on the PO's wires. I did not connect the illumination wire as the KD-BT1 seems to auto adjust just fine to ambient light levels and in older vehicles (like my RX-7) I have found the illumination control to be far too aggressive; too dim during the day. Best to leave that wire floating and let the screen take care of itself.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/3 - New Stereo Harness In Dash.jpg
I ran a few other wires (thin red, etc.) from front to back as well since I had the console off. I may decide later to investigate whether my power antenna works so I wanted an antenna trigger wire if needed. For now I don't care about the antenna because I rarely listen to the radio and when I do, the KD-BT1 seems to work fine without an extended antenna which breaks up the clean lines of the car. The PO had also installed an electric trunk lock actuator which are the blue/black wires. Sigh, if I had been thinking I would have run a nice fat 4 AWG ground wire for the dash circuits to supplement the undersized factory grounds but I just didn't think of it. On my list next time I have the center console out.
Years of experience have tought me this hard learned lesson: rely on the OEM wiring as little as possible when adding vehicle accessories. Whether it be a new sound system, lighting or a full EFI/standalone installation, it is best to keep connections to the stock wiring minimized. I try very hard to keep it limited only to accessory and ignition power signals, making other connections only when absolutely necessary. Why rely on 44+ year old OEM wiring? You're just going to cause pain.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/4 - 150A Breaker At Battery With 4AWG Cables.jpg
A 150A Bussmann breaker was installed in the battery compartment on that little shelf which seems to be molded into the fiberglass specifically for that purpose. Used stainless M6 bolts with nuts on the underside of the car. I considered rivnuts but then thought to myself "Do I really want to deal with spinning those things after they rust in 10 years?" and decided against it. 4AWG cables were made by soldering on copper welding lugs, removing the considerable flux needed, then insulating with dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink. One cable to the battery to the "Batt" side of the breaker, and another from the output (aux) though a hole drilled in the battery compartment leading up to the relay compartment. A matching ground cable from the negative side of the battery was also run.
Eventually when I have time, the stock battery positive cable will get a new lug and be connected to this breaker as well. I am not a fan of long battery cables snaking around the car without some form of protection and would prefer a central way to cut power to the car without having to mess around with disconnecting the battery.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/5 - Aux Fuse Panel On Relay Bracket.jpg
I've used these small Bussmann fuse panels for decades in EFI installations so always have some in stock. Actually it was not my first choice for this job because I purchased a combo fuse/relay panel (Aliexpress) (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008670370034.html) I wanted to try out however sadly it didn't fit in the available space as it was too tall. There was plenty of space for a less vertical fuse panel on the OEM relay bracket because my lock module was long gone due to PO changes. Secured it with some stainless M5 internal socket bolts. Man, those nuts were a pain to get onto the other side of the relay bracket. This fuse panel provides a convenient place to acquire power and provide ground for any future accessories I will be adding to the car without having to worry about OEM wiring or creating a million battery taps.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/6 - Accessory Tap, Relay and Terminal Strip.jpg
Accessory power was next. Naturally, the stock accessory relay was the most convenient place to pull an accessory signal so I made a small tap lead that connects inline with the white/blue wire from the key switch to the relay, branching off to my added accessory relay to power the coil. My accessory relay operates in parallel with the stock relay. The common contact connects to the fuse panel with the NO contact going to a terminal strip mounted on the relay bracket. This terminal strip has all terminals bonded together and will serve as a convenient place to pull accessory signals. Most of the EFI systems I install are set up this way and I've found it keeps wiring neat and sane. Definitely better than the OEM method of one massive wiring harness splice.
I'm not thrilled with the relay position however it was dictated by available space. There was no room to mount it underneath the relay panel, nor between panel and the wheel well. Honestly it looks more inconvenient than it is because the connections covered by the relay are the fuse connection to the relay itself, and the relay connection to the terminal strip. So nothing which needs to be accessed is being made inaccessible.
While making the final connections I tried to tidy up the electrical compartment somewhat. There is still more work to do, but it is much better than when I started. I re-mounted the OEM relays, the Dave McKeen RPM relay, and moved the old-school Fanzilla into a better location. Is that white Dave McKeen solid state dome light dimmer as well? Need to figure out how to mount that (or at least tie it up into the harness). And yeah, that OEM fuel panel needs to be replaced.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/7 - Final Stereo Connections To Power, Tidied Up Relay Compartment.jpg
The red 12AWG constant power to the stereo connects to the new fuse panel via a 15A fuse, the black 12AWG to the ground block, and the green accessory wire to a terminal on the accessory strip. I should mention that every connection I make gets a coating of dielectric grease. It is also used in terminals before crimping. This is something I've done since the late '90s and even 20+ years after finishing the build of my RX-7 (https://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/projecttina/index.html) every connection is corrosion free and as bright as the day it was assembled.
After re-assembling the center console and putting everything back together, I fired it up.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/8 - Stereo Working.jpg
Woo hoo! Sound for the first time since I've owned the car. And holy crap, these speakers suck. Tinny, rattling, buzzing. Yikes. I was hoping to use them for a little while but that was clearly not an option. So I put up with them for a few days then ordered new speakers for the front and rear. As an aside, it is very disappointing to not be able to walk into a local car audio retailer and walk out with boxes of stuff. Online ordering (thanks Amazon) has destroyed the local retail market for things like this.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/9 - TS-A878 Front Speakers With 3D Printed Adapter Rings.jpg
For the fronts, I chose the Pioneer TS-A878 simply because they were the only 3.5" speaker I could find that had a frequency response down to 60Hz. All the others bottomed out at 80Hz. I also knew they would fit without having re-drill or bend the mounting ears. How did I know? They looked exactly the same as the old PO installed Pioneer speakers already installed in the car.
Of course the tall tweeter pressed up against the dash during my test fit. Kind of expected as almost all modern speakers extend the tweeter past the frame. They needed to be spaced down about 8MM. To do so, I designed some spacer rings then rapid prototyped ("3D printed") them in ABS.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/10 - 3D Printed DeLorean TS-A878 Adapter Spacer Rings.jpg
If you are facing the same dilemma, you can download and print the rings from here:
[IMG]https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/DeLorean Pioneer TS-A878 Speaker Adapter Spacers.zip
The spacers fit and grip the existing studs enough that they don't fall into my face when I am installing the speakers.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/11 - Adapter Spacer Rings Fitted.jpg
I know a lot of people have various techniques to tighten the fasteners when installing DeLorean front speakers. Some people use longer nuts, some use magnets, some have their children with tiny hands to do the job. My technique is to just hot glue the washer to the nut then set it inside socket on a long extension. The washer keeps the nut from falling into the socket. One hand holds the speaker in place (I have small hands with long fingers) while the other screws on the nut. Easily done.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/12 - TS-A898 Front Speaker Installed In Dash.jpg
And now the rears. Sigh. Who's bright idea was it to use the vinyl cover of the rear sail panels to secure the panel to the underbody? Were a few fir trees too expensive or complicated? 20 minutes with a heat gun (the only heat gun I have is the wand of my hot air SMD soldering station) and some burned fingertips and I had the door side vinyl released from the adhesive.
As I was replacing the horrid 6 x 9 speakers with proper round speakers, the speaker brackets needed some adjustment. To fit the Pioneer TS-A1372R 5.25" speakers, first the bracket needed to move down a little. It was just a matter of using the existing top mounting hole then pivoting the bracket down a little. I then drilled a new bottom mounting hole and made a small notch at the rear of the bracket.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/13 - Rear Bracket Mounting Holes Modified.jpg
Some slight bending and the magnet clamps were now holding the new speaker securely. This is a really dumb way of mounting a speaker. It is an easy way of mounting a speaker. If the sail panel was a little more secure then it would have made far more sense to mount the speaker to the panel via the mounting tabs.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/14 - DeLorean Bracket Modified For TS-A1372R.jpg
The modified assembly was then bolted back into the car and the speaker connected to the PO's existing wiring. Interestingly it would only fit against the wheel well and under the sail panel with the speaker in that exact orientation. Otherwise the tweeter assembly would hit the underside of the panel.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/15 - Rear Speaker Installed With Modified Bracket.jpg
Once the driver side was completed in the same way I went about re-gluing the vinyl, and reinstalling the seatbelts, door trim and rear bulkhead panel.
I'm not as happy with the result as I thought I would be. Primarily this comes down to the fact that 3.5" speakers which bottom out at 60Hz aren't going to provide very much bass, and 5.25" speakers free floating without any enclosure behind them are lacking in lows as well. I had to set the equalizer to cut any signals below 60Hz from the fronts because otherwise heavy bass would make them start thumping. Fade also requires a big rear bias to avoid blowing one's eardrums out with the highs from the dash speakers before the rear speakers start to contribute bass.
For the first time in any of my cars I'm going to have to install a subwoofer. I'd hate to lose the cargo shelf (I use my car, and use the shelf all the time) so that basically means the hidden compartment behind the driver seat. Probably limiting subwoofer size to 8". I can make an enclosure with a built in amp that slots right into the cubby hole however that is a project for the future. Another future project is to install the handsfree microphone which involves running a wire up the driver side A pillar to the sun visor. Only reason I didn't do that is because not only did I run out of time over the 3 day weekend, but I am also going to remove the driver sun visor so I didn't have anywhere to clip it. The sun visor is in my eyeline and very much annoys me.
My personal opinion is that the JVC KD-BT1 is the peak of early 2000s single DIN car stereos. It plays media files from USB and CD, supports all the relevant radio bands, has Bluetooth connectivity (audio, phone, SMS, etc.) and an excellent RGB backlight transflective display. I cannot stress how good the display is. No silly segmented characters and it is visible in every lighting condition. Plus, the USB port is on a lead from the back of the unit allowing it to be routed into a glove box or similar hidden compartment for out of sight storage as opposed to every other unit which simply has a front port.
I found a KD-BT1 on eBay for a reasonable price. Once it arrived I disassembled the face of the unit, cleaned everything up and polished out 90% of the wear and scratches one would expect on a used part.
Then it was time to install it in the DeLorean, which I did over a 3 day holiday weekend. After all the old stuff was removed, I ran new wires along the harness in the center console.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/1 - New Wiring Along Center Console.jpg
The only wires worth saving from the previous owner installation were the runs to the rear speakers. Everything else were varying levels of terrible. The accessory power wire fell out of the crimp when I tugged on it. The 12V constant wire was simply held together by electrical tape. Two different splices within 6 inches made up the run to the driver side speaker, which fell apart when pulled slightly. Sadly this wiring atrocity was not the reason the Sony stereo didn't work because when I tested it on the bench, it still didn't power on and was thus non-functional e-waste.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/2 - Wires In Relay Compartment.jpg
Everything was wired up to the JVC harness directly. Each connection was joined with a Western Union splice (as I have always used), soldered, de-fluxed and then insulated with double walled adhesive lined heat shrink. No wires in this harness connect to the car. Power goes back to the relay compartment as well as accessory, speakers go out to the front on my new wiring and out to the back on the PO's wires. I did not connect the illumination wire as the KD-BT1 seems to auto adjust just fine to ambient light levels and in older vehicles (like my RX-7) I have found the illumination control to be far too aggressive; too dim during the day. Best to leave that wire floating and let the screen take care of itself.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/3 - New Stereo Harness In Dash.jpg
I ran a few other wires (thin red, etc.) from front to back as well since I had the console off. I may decide later to investigate whether my power antenna works so I wanted an antenna trigger wire if needed. For now I don't care about the antenna because I rarely listen to the radio and when I do, the KD-BT1 seems to work fine without an extended antenna which breaks up the clean lines of the car. The PO had also installed an electric trunk lock actuator which are the blue/black wires. Sigh, if I had been thinking I would have run a nice fat 4 AWG ground wire for the dash circuits to supplement the undersized factory grounds but I just didn't think of it. On my list next time I have the center console out.
Years of experience have tought me this hard learned lesson: rely on the OEM wiring as little as possible when adding vehicle accessories. Whether it be a new sound system, lighting or a full EFI/standalone installation, it is best to keep connections to the stock wiring minimized. I try very hard to keep it limited only to accessory and ignition power signals, making other connections only when absolutely necessary. Why rely on 44+ year old OEM wiring? You're just going to cause pain.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/4 - 150A Breaker At Battery With 4AWG Cables.jpg
A 150A Bussmann breaker was installed in the battery compartment on that little shelf which seems to be molded into the fiberglass specifically for that purpose. Used stainless M6 bolts with nuts on the underside of the car. I considered rivnuts but then thought to myself "Do I really want to deal with spinning those things after they rust in 10 years?" and decided against it. 4AWG cables were made by soldering on copper welding lugs, removing the considerable flux needed, then insulating with dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink. One cable to the battery to the "Batt" side of the breaker, and another from the output (aux) though a hole drilled in the battery compartment leading up to the relay compartment. A matching ground cable from the negative side of the battery was also run.
Eventually when I have time, the stock battery positive cable will get a new lug and be connected to this breaker as well. I am not a fan of long battery cables snaking around the car without some form of protection and would prefer a central way to cut power to the car without having to mess around with disconnecting the battery.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/5 - Aux Fuse Panel On Relay Bracket.jpg
I've used these small Bussmann fuse panels for decades in EFI installations so always have some in stock. Actually it was not my first choice for this job because I purchased a combo fuse/relay panel (Aliexpress) (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008670370034.html) I wanted to try out however sadly it didn't fit in the available space as it was too tall. There was plenty of space for a less vertical fuse panel on the OEM relay bracket because my lock module was long gone due to PO changes. Secured it with some stainless M5 internal socket bolts. Man, those nuts were a pain to get onto the other side of the relay bracket. This fuse panel provides a convenient place to acquire power and provide ground for any future accessories I will be adding to the car without having to worry about OEM wiring or creating a million battery taps.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/6 - Accessory Tap, Relay and Terminal Strip.jpg
Accessory power was next. Naturally, the stock accessory relay was the most convenient place to pull an accessory signal so I made a small tap lead that connects inline with the white/blue wire from the key switch to the relay, branching off to my added accessory relay to power the coil. My accessory relay operates in parallel with the stock relay. The common contact connects to the fuse panel with the NO contact going to a terminal strip mounted on the relay bracket. This terminal strip has all terminals bonded together and will serve as a convenient place to pull accessory signals. Most of the EFI systems I install are set up this way and I've found it keeps wiring neat and sane. Definitely better than the OEM method of one massive wiring harness splice.
I'm not thrilled with the relay position however it was dictated by available space. There was no room to mount it underneath the relay panel, nor between panel and the wheel well. Honestly it looks more inconvenient than it is because the connections covered by the relay are the fuse connection to the relay itself, and the relay connection to the terminal strip. So nothing which needs to be accessed is being made inaccessible.
While making the final connections I tried to tidy up the electrical compartment somewhat. There is still more work to do, but it is much better than when I started. I re-mounted the OEM relays, the Dave McKeen RPM relay, and moved the old-school Fanzilla into a better location. Is that white Dave McKeen solid state dome light dimmer as well? Need to figure out how to mount that (or at least tie it up into the harness). And yeah, that OEM fuel panel needs to be replaced.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/7 - Final Stereo Connections To Power, Tidied Up Relay Compartment.jpg
The red 12AWG constant power to the stereo connects to the new fuse panel via a 15A fuse, the black 12AWG to the ground block, and the green accessory wire to a terminal on the accessory strip. I should mention that every connection I make gets a coating of dielectric grease. It is also used in terminals before crimping. This is something I've done since the late '90s and even 20+ years after finishing the build of my RX-7 (https://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/projecttina/index.html) every connection is corrosion free and as bright as the day it was assembled.
After re-assembling the center console and putting everything back together, I fired it up.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/8 - Stereo Working.jpg
Woo hoo! Sound for the first time since I've owned the car. And holy crap, these speakers suck. Tinny, rattling, buzzing. Yikes. I was hoping to use them for a little while but that was clearly not an option. So I put up with them for a few days then ordered new speakers for the front and rear. As an aside, it is very disappointing to not be able to walk into a local car audio retailer and walk out with boxes of stuff. Online ordering (thanks Amazon) has destroyed the local retail market for things like this.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/9 - TS-A878 Front Speakers With 3D Printed Adapter Rings.jpg
For the fronts, I chose the Pioneer TS-A878 simply because they were the only 3.5" speaker I could find that had a frequency response down to 60Hz. All the others bottomed out at 80Hz. I also knew they would fit without having re-drill or bend the mounting ears. How did I know? They looked exactly the same as the old PO installed Pioneer speakers already installed in the car.
Of course the tall tweeter pressed up against the dash during my test fit. Kind of expected as almost all modern speakers extend the tweeter past the frame. They needed to be spaced down about 8MM. To do so, I designed some spacer rings then rapid prototyped ("3D printed") them in ABS.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/10 - 3D Printed DeLorean TS-A878 Adapter Spacer Rings.jpg
If you are facing the same dilemma, you can download and print the rings from here:
[IMG]https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/DeLorean Pioneer TS-A878 Speaker Adapter Spacers.zip
The spacers fit and grip the existing studs enough that they don't fall into my face when I am installing the speakers.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/11 - Adapter Spacer Rings Fitted.jpg
I know a lot of people have various techniques to tighten the fasteners when installing DeLorean front speakers. Some people use longer nuts, some use magnets, some have their children with tiny hands to do the job. My technique is to just hot glue the washer to the nut then set it inside socket on a long extension. The washer keeps the nut from falling into the socket. One hand holds the speaker in place (I have small hands with long fingers) while the other screws on the nut. Easily done.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/12 - TS-A898 Front Speaker Installed In Dash.jpg
And now the rears. Sigh. Who's bright idea was it to use the vinyl cover of the rear sail panels to secure the panel to the underbody? Were a few fir trees too expensive or complicated? 20 minutes with a heat gun (the only heat gun I have is the wand of my hot air SMD soldering station) and some burned fingertips and I had the door side vinyl released from the adhesive.
As I was replacing the horrid 6 x 9 speakers with proper round speakers, the speaker brackets needed some adjustment. To fit the Pioneer TS-A1372R 5.25" speakers, first the bracket needed to move down a little. It was just a matter of using the existing top mounting hole then pivoting the bracket down a little. I then drilled a new bottom mounting hole and made a small notch at the rear of the bracket.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/13 - Rear Bracket Mounting Holes Modified.jpg
Some slight bending and the magnet clamps were now holding the new speaker securely. This is a really dumb way of mounting a speaker. It is an easy way of mounting a speaker. If the sail panel was a little more secure then it would have made far more sense to mount the speaker to the panel via the mounting tabs.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/14 - DeLorean Bracket Modified For TS-A1372R.jpg
The modified assembly was then bolted back into the car and the speaker connected to the PO's existing wiring. Interestingly it would only fit against the wheel well and under the sail panel with the speaker in that exact orientation. Otherwise the tweeter assembly would hit the underside of the panel.
https://www.aaroncake.net/delorean/5637/stereo/15 - Rear Speaker Installed With Modified Bracket.jpg
Once the driver side was completed in the same way I went about re-gluing the vinyl, and reinstalling the seatbelts, door trim and rear bulkhead panel.
I'm not as happy with the result as I thought I would be. Primarily this comes down to the fact that 3.5" speakers which bottom out at 60Hz aren't going to provide very much bass, and 5.25" speakers free floating without any enclosure behind them are lacking in lows as well. I had to set the equalizer to cut any signals below 60Hz from the fronts because otherwise heavy bass would make them start thumping. Fade also requires a big rear bias to avoid blowing one's eardrums out with the highs from the dash speakers before the rear speakers start to contribute bass.
For the first time in any of my cars I'm going to have to install a subwoofer. I'd hate to lose the cargo shelf (I use my car, and use the shelf all the time) so that basically means the hidden compartment behind the driver seat. Probably limiting subwoofer size to 8". I can make an enclosure with a built in amp that slots right into the cubby hole however that is a project for the future. Another future project is to install the handsfree microphone which involves running a wire up the driver side A pillar to the sun visor. Only reason I didn't do that is because not only did I run out of time over the 3 day weekend, but I am also going to remove the driver sun visor so I didn't have anywhere to clip it. The sun visor is in my eyeline and very much annoys me.