Well today while hooking up my seats with the speekers in the headrests into my 87 GT, It made me remember about the times me and my this very good friend of mine would go out in my old fiero when they were hooked up. This girl likes to complaine about everything and shes not the 1st one to complain to me about it. I like to blast my music, Some of my friends wouldent know good music even when its blasting into there ears. So today I decided to eleminate the complaints.


I did this all with stock fiero parts some connectors and some extra wires.
you will need the following

(30FT of wire)
(2 fiero dimmer switches)
(2 bottom half trim pieces to the dimmer switches)
(4 blue female wire connectors)
(4 small T15 screws)


Ok this is the hard part of doing this. You have to cut into the stock fiero center console skeleton. Mine was a perfect one



Next you will need to cut a hole in your center console so that the switch and the trim plate can fit into it. (mine was about 1 inch high and 4 1/4 wide)
Make your own mesurments remember measure twice cut once.


Next is simple. slide the dimmer switches in and, On the fiero dimmer switches you need to remove the inner prongs just bend them off they will serve no purpose in what they will be
being used for


Next I dont have pics of this and mine were all done in an 87 GT so it will be diffrent in an 84 and 85. Both of my power and ground wires for each speeker were tapped into each other.
you run your main power wire for the headrest speekers through the switch while in the center console.

Next install your center console back in and try it out. It acts as a sepret volume switch for each side where mine will always be on full but I have the option to turn mine down as does my passenger.






What you all think?

Pretty neat, but I'm a little confused.

On a stock setup the speakers in the headrest are right and left. So you have 2 +'s. I'm assuming yours aren't that way? Either way, what you did can be done on a stock setup, just with a different control. You'd want a stereo L-pad.

The only problem I see that you might encounter, is the wattage the dimmers will handle. If they are only rated for a couple of watts, eventually you will burn them up. Basically all the dimmer is is a potentiometer ( variable resistor ). It has a bunch of small wires wound up on a core and as a contact slides across the core it varies the resistance based on how many coils it goes through to complete the circuit. Those wires are small, and can get hot and burn if you push to much power through them. If they do burn up, check a local electronics store ( I mean the kind with capacitors, ic's and resistors hanging on the wall ) for a L-pad that handles 15 watts or so depending on the wattage your pushing to the speakers.

Thumbs up on the idea, It's a nice one!

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[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 10-08-2009).]

Great idea,kudo's on originality.

I have to mention that you butchered that dash though.
More precise measurements or a better cutting tool would have been worth waiting for.

Yea i used a dremmel to cut it. It dosent look as bad as it does in the pics. I have a pretty steady hand but i havent used a dremmel in a few months. It dosent look at bad in person.


The dimmers seem to be holding up. im not pushing to much power through them. Basicley a duel head unit and stock speekers but if it does go I will be upgrading it.
And yes there are 2 + and 2- what i did was take the + from each speeker and used tap in clamps to tap the 2 + from each seat together i also did the same with the same with the -'s and tapped them into the b piller speeker wires that are exposed right near the ECM.

[This message has been edited by pontiackid86 (edited 10-08-2009).]

Ahh, okay so you only have 1 channel playing in each seat. Probably right channel in the right seat and left in the left. Not a big deal... Until you listen to something like the Chipmunks Christmas CD I have LOL. There voice comes out of the right speakers while the music comes from the left...

[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 10-08-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Khw: Ahh, okay so you only have 1 channel playing in each seat.Probably right channel in the right seat and left in the left. Not a big deal... Until you listen to something like the Chipmunks Christmas CD I have LOL. There voice comes out of the right speakers while the music comes from the left...

Lol you should see me talking over the blue tooth on my head unit the sound comes out of the passenger side for some reason so im always like yelling at the passenger side so they can hear me..... Its pretty funny to watch actuley.

...Could you not have just adjusted the fade and balance on your stereo to prevent sound from coming out on the passenger side of the car? Or have I misunderstood what you were trying to achieve?

Nice idea, in a sense, the job probably could've been done better, but points for thinking outside the box.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: The dimmers seem to be holding up. im not pushing to much power through them. Basicley a duel head unit and stock speekers but if it does go I will be upgrading it. And yes there are 2 + and 2- what i did was take the + from each speeker and used tap in clamps to tap the 2 + from each seat together i also did the same with the same with the -'s and tapped them into the b piller speeker wires that are exposed right near the ECM.

A clever use of existing hardware but it needs to be tweaked.

The later model dimmers have heatsinks built-in to handle the full power of the lights. They would be better suited than the Fiero dimmers that only control a transistor.

Also the idea of making the speakers mono is a deal breaker for me. The best part of seat speakers is the stereo effect, it's almost like wearing headphones. You might be able to get away with a two wire control if you keep separate positives and just run the common negative through the dimmer. I'm not positive that will work, but it's worth a try.

quote Originally posted by Valkyrie: ...Could you not have just adjusted the fade and balance on your stereo to prevent sound from coming out on the passenger side of the car? Or have I misunderstood what you were trying to achieve? Nice idea, in a sense, the job probably could've been done better, but points for thinking outside the box.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: This won't work because each seat contains both a left and a right, so you either get both seats with sound or no seats with sound. The stock setup doesn't allow the driver to be rocking tunes and not the passenger.

And also on top of that these are older model fiero seats in a newer model fiero. in 84 and 85 Insted of speekers in the B pillers they put them in the headrests. 86 and up the speekers were in the B piller. I have an 87. So I basicley tapped the 2 speekers in each headrest into the side B piller speekers. So if i used the balancer i would be shutting off the whole left or right side of the car. The pont of these switches were to shut down just the headrest speekers. I put these switches in just so that say if me or my passenger dosent want music blasting right in there ears we can shut off or turn down the music comming from them.

[This message has been edited by pontiackid86 (edited 10-09-2009).]

Okay, I see what you're getting at. But the fade control would still do basically the same thing, just without the left-right individual volume control, right?

quote Originally posted by Valkyrie: Okay, I see what you're getting at. But the fade control would still do basically the same thing, just without the left-right individual volume control, right?

Yup just for the head rests. To many of my friends b*tch and moan about the music blasting in there ears. Most of them i just tell them to shut up and enjoy the ride but theres a select few people I cant say that to.

Hmm... you almost should've just installed a James Bond "Seat Eject".

quote Originally posted by Valkyrie: Hmm... you almost should've just installed a James Bond "Seat Eject".

Lol im still working on that. Stick of dynomite dosent seem to work to well .

Turn it up then you can't hear any complaints. I can't hear people talking even when the radio is off over the motor.

quote Originally posted by Australian: Turn it up then you can't hear any complaints. I can't hear people talking even when the radio is off over the motor.

Lol when yu move fast enough you dont hear it. like I said 9 times out of 10 I just tell them to shut up and enjoy the ride, but
I cant say that to 1 my dad for ovious reasons and 2 my friend julia because I will get smacked in the head.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: And also on top of that these are older model fiero seats in a newer model fiero. in 84 and 85 Insted of speekers in the B pillers they put them in the headrests. 86 and up the speekers were in the B piller. I have an 87. So I basicley tapped the 2 speekers in each headrest into the side B piller speekers.

Okay I see. My car is an 88 but when I added the seat speakers I put in a harness from an 84 so I have the real stereo action in the seats. That separate volume control is a good idea. I just need to keep the stereo separation.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: And also on top of that these are older model fiero seats in a newer model fiero. in 84 and 85 Insted of speekers in the B pillers they put them in the headrests. 86 and up the speekers were in the B piller. I have an 87.

Not disputing your information,but both my 1986 SE 2M6 parts cars in the yard have seats with speakers in them.
I've been debating whether to reupholster a set and put in my beechwood 88.
I've looked at both styles of seat though,and while the speakers in the ears would be nice (I'm hard of hearing anyway) I like the lower
profile of my 88's seats.

yup, 86 was the speakers in the pillars. I can't say I remember the 88 seat being lower in profile than the earlier years.
hmmm

quote Originally posted by DefEddie: Not disputing your information,but both my 1986 SE 2M6 parts cars in the yard have seats with speakers in them. I've been debating whether to reupholster a set and put in my beechwood 88. I've looked at both styles of seat though,and while the speakers in the ears would be nice (I'm hard of hearing anyway) I like the lower profile of my 88's seats.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: And also on top of that these are older model fiero seats in a newer model fiero. in 84 and 85 Insted of speekers in the B pillers they put them in the headrests. 86 and up the speekers were in the B piller. I have an 87. So I basicley tapped the 2 speekers in each headrest into the side B piller speekers.

Geez, no offence, but that's a crummy way of wiring the seat speakers.

I also have older seats in an '87. Not only did I wire the seat speakers properly in regards to L/R, but I also wired the dash/pillar/seat speakers so that they'd all have the correct impedence. Sounds great. Well, it did sound great. That particular Fiero has been off the road for five years.

I like the idea. Gives more volume option.

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Why fight to be accepted by people you don't actually want to be like?

I've not checked actual height,just remember looking at the two incar and from the rear.
Seemed to me the headrest seat was taller,maybe it was because of the separate headrest.
I'll try to remember to stick a tape measure to it when I get home.
I still like the profile of the 88 seat better though.

quote Originally posted by DefEddie: I've not checked actual height,just remember looking at the two incar and from the rear. Seemed to me the headrest seat was taller,maybe it was because of the separate headrest. I'll try to remember to stick a tape measure to it when I get home. I still like the profile of the 88 seat better though.

The seats were all the same (well, minor differences)... they don't have separate headrests

You can take a cover from one seat and put on any other year seat.

J.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Geez, no offence, but that's a crummy way of wiring the seat speakers. I also have older seats in an '87. Not only did I wire the seat speakers properly in regards to L/R, but I also wired the dash/pillar/seat speakers so that they'd all have the correct impedence. Sounds great. Well, it did sound great. That particular Fiero has been off the road for five years.

It dosent sound bad at all. I still have the speekers in the pillers running also so the ones in the headrests are more to get that extra sound right by you.

quote Originally posted by pontiackid86: It dosent sound bad at all. I still have the speekers in the pillers running also so the ones in the headrests are more to get that extra sound right by you.

Yeah, but "that extra sound right by you" is just the left channel if you're the driver and just the right channel if you're the passenger. Not the way I'd want my sound system wired.

quote Originally posted by jaskispyder: The seats were all the same (well, minor differences)... they don't have separate headrests You can take a cover from one seat and put on any other year seat. J.

weird,but shows you how much I paid attention to the seats.
Not sure where I got the perception of them being different then.
Good to know,cause I would like to have the speakers in the headrest at least for the driver.
I'm storing all the stock beechwood parts from my 88 as I build custom replacements,i'll just toss the seats with the other stuff and replace with a set of parts car seats with new covers/speakers.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Geez, no offence, but that's a crummy way of wiring the seat speakers.

If you are listening to a mono source it might sound decent but the lack of stereo imaging is going to make it sound less appealing than it would otherwise. Adding the extra wires to give proper stereo imaging would be easier than the volume control upgrade.

quote Originally posted by jscott1: If you are listening to a mono source it might sound decent...

Ah ha, that's it! Maybe the pontiackid just listens to AM radio!

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Ah ha, that's it! Maybe the pontiackid just listens to AM radio!

Lol ill take some pic of how i wired it next time i take out the console. It dosent sound that bad at all. My buddy thinks it sounds great for a stock sound system. ill make ajustments to the wiring at a later time.

I like how you say measure twice and cut once when in the pictures there is obviously massive, gaping holes where you cut too much. I think you just lowered the value of your car.

quote Originally posted by brandon87gt: I like how you say measure twice and cut once when in the pictures there is obviously massive, gaping holes where you cut too much. I think you just lowered the value of your car.

It was done with a dremmel and an extra center console I have. If its that bad down the line i can always switch out the center console back to my good one and bring that value right back up. The center console skeleton was not cut in points that affect the integraty of the skeleton. We are all well aware of the gapping on it so no need to point out what we all can see.