[rampagingsloth]

I've been looking around the TCCoA through various searches and I can't find any central thread that goes over the types and parts (and numbers) involved in the various versions of the Premium Sound option(s) for the Thunderbird (and differences with the Cougar). Specifically related to the JBL trunk-mounted subwoofer but also the trunk-mounted amps. I recently pulled one of those plastic amp racks (and the radio bezel) off a junked Thunderbird but it didn't have the subwoofer. Does that mean some Premium Sound options were only the amps and others were only the subwoofers? From what I've read the brackets are different between Cougars and Thunderbirds, the subwoofer (or Premium Sound completely) stopped with the '94 model, the design of the subwoofer enclosure is different for the earlier ('91-'92?) Thunderbirds, etc. I'm hoping the experts here, and those who actually own cars with these options, can help compile a list of (probably all discontinued) part names and numbers, just so someone can reference it when trying to gather all the parts.

A service manual diagram for each version with the parts listed would be ideal, I suppose, since it would include little crap like bolts, etc., but I only have a '95 service manual and from what I remember, I've never seen any diagrams for those options. If anyone with the older service manuals could scan the pages with the subwoofer option and the trunk amps option, that would also be great.

What I'm looking for is, for me, what parts would absolutely fit a '95 Thunderbird (I assume the '94 option), what parts may not (so I don't bother buying them) but would fit other years, and hopefully actual pictures of them. I assume similar trunk versions from other Ford vehicles wouldn't work? Part numbers would be good, too, since sometimes sellers like on eBay will list the official part numbers. I've seen the post from someone about modifying a subwoofer box to fit a 6.5" speaker, that was helpful. A few posts mention a how-to from MN12Performance about refurbishing a JBL subwoofer but that link is now a blank page? Does anyone have a copy of that that could be posted?

I wonder if anyone has ever 3D scanned the 2 halves of the subwoofer box in order to 3D print replacements. My hope is to locate the subwoofer box + bracket (Thunderbird only needs one?) and then possibly modify it to accept an 8" subwoofer. But it might be better to 3D print a bigger box that maybe is wider or something, I don't know.

 

[89Supercoupe]

Here are part numbers for 95 amplifiers:

You can access dead links with wayback machine: Internet Archive: Wayback Machine

 

[theterminator93]

I documented rebuilding a factory box with an 8" sub in this thread, looks like the pictures still work.

Jbl factory sub

I want to keep my new cougar interior factory looking. I have premium sound CD player. I am planing on changing out the four speakers with some pioneers I have. I don't want to put my subwoofer box in. I would like to find that factory jbl subwoofer. What all will I need to connect it to my...

www.tccoa.com

 

[Grog6]

Screw the factory sub; a 10 or 12" sub will kick its ass.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

2 10’s here.

 

[XR7-4.6]

The MN12performance article is safe and sound here on the forum archive

89-93 JBL Sub Woofer Rebuild

1989-1993 JBL Sub Woofer Rebuild 1989-1993 Thunderbirds and Cougars equipped with Premium Sound Systems had 4 speakers 2 amps and a Sub Woofer. Blown Sub Woofer speaker happens to about every OEM system. The coil fails or the cone detaches from the foam either one requires the speaker be...

www.tccoa.com

Here’s the skinny.

ALL JBL cars had the subwoofer, premium sound 89-93 models had the subwoofer ONLY if the slave CD player was optioned with it. Then it was essentially the JBL system without the JBL speakers - the subwoofer itself isn’t actually made by JBL

JBL remained an option up through 1994, my Cougar is a factory JBL car, in fact it even had the factory trunk mounted 10 disc CD changer!

94-97 Premium sound no longer had the subwoofer, nor was the slave CD player available any longer, if you wanted CDs in 94 you had to spring for JBL with the CD changer and in 95 the CD head became an option for premium sound.

Premium sound and JBL both had a separate amps, but the same amps if the aeformentioned 89-93 had the slave CD. Hence the package tray being present with both systems(97s eliminated the tray and put the amp in the dash)

Cougars and Tbirds indeed used different mounting brackets, for obvious reasons. But there are also two different enclosures. 89-93 and 94(actually it might be 89-92 and 93-94) the early ones used a universal housing where if the JBL option was ordered a plastic trim cover with a JBL emblem was velcrod onto it, while premium sound cars with it didn’t have it, leaving the subwoofer’s amplifier visible. Later JBL ones had this trim molded into the enclosure

 

[rampagingsloth]

I documented rebuilding a factory box with an 8" sub in this thread, looks like the pictures still work.

That is very helpful. I think I read that before, weeks ago (couldn't remember the title of course), but I was wondering about the white goo you used to seal the speaker to that styrofoam(?) ring and to the enclosure, is that a glue or a specific sealant? And what is that green batting called that's inside the box? There's also an outer foam mentioned (I think in a different post) that is used to seal the enclosure to the underside of the package tray in the trunk so that there's no rattling. I assume I would re-use that but if it was brittle or missing, is there a preferred audio acoustic type foam or just any hardware store stuff would do?

The MN12performance article is safe and sound here on the forum archive

Oh good. I should have known based on the title of the sub-forum but I think I scrolled right past all that to get to the Audio/Electronics sub-forum and then only had those old links within the posts. Which answers my question while I was reading those posts, "Why hasn't someone updated these links in this thread/preserved the articles?" Duh, they did already.

Here’s the skinny.

...

Cougars and Tbirds indeed used different mounting brackets, for obvious reasons. But there are also two different enclosures. 89-93 and 94(actually it might be 89-92 and 93-94) the early ones used a universal housing where if the JBL option was ordered a plastic trim cover with a JBL emblem was velcrod onto it, while premium sound cars with it didn’t have it, leaving the subwoofer’s amplifier visible. Later JBL ones had this trim molded into the enclosure

Thank you for that info, that also helps for when I'm at the junkyard (I should be so lucky as to run into one of those optioned cars). Were the two different enclosures the same shape? Meaning they would both use the same bracket(s)?

I guess now my only question would be what are the part numbers for the subwoofer enclosure, the Thunderbird (and Cougar for those owners) brackets, and other related trunk parts. Is that stuff even diagrammed in older service manuals? I assume so but of course I can't seem to find any PDFs of those manuals (everybody wants full price for them like they're physical books and I'm not in the mood to buy whole service manuals for what amounts to probably 1 or 2 pages though I would also want the page that diagrams the fold-down rear seat option) or even of the separate pages.

It might be something worth pinning in the Audio/Electronics sub-forum since the option wasn't available consistently and so some years service manuals wouldn't even mention them.

Actually that might be something worth pinning in general: any weird options that a few cars had but the majority of cars didn't, or only a couple years had. From my limited knowledge I would suggest (so far) the service manual diagrams and part numbers of the fold-down rear seat option, the Premium Sound subwoofer and/or trunk amps option, the fog lamps option, and the cornering lights option. Just a general "this is everything you need to add this option to your car" thread. And some actual pictures as well, if available, that really augments the drawings.

 

[XR7-4.6]

The shape of the enclosure never changed, the brackets are the same from 89-94(I actually have the Tbird bracket if you need one)

A lot of that stuff you mention isn’t really weird or rare, cornering lights were very common on 89-92s, standard on the LX in fact, it’s just that there aren’t a lot of 89-92s left, all SCs and all 92-93 LXs had fog lights standard, and every 89-95 SC made with leather seats had the fold down rear seat included as part of the option.

Truly rare items were the car phone and the factory installed trunk CD changer, which as far as I can tell was 1994 only with the fabric covered cover panel. 89-90s had auto dimming lights in addition to autolamp as well which is pretty seldom seen, but I’m not sure it was rare as much as I never see those year cars anymore.

 

[rampagingsloth]

The shape of the enclosure never changed, the brackets are the same from 89-94(I actually have the Tbird bracket if you need one)

Well, I need to track down the enclosure first but I would certainly take you up on that offer if I find one without the bracket. Actually, have you or anyone else ever scanned/measured that bracket's dimensions in order to reproduce it? I wonder if it would be worth making in small batches, similar to the brackets that are made to reposition the stock rear calipers to work with Cobra rotors when switching to Cobra rear hubs. Probably not, most people want to put large subwoofers in their trunks. I have a 12" Alpine, works great, but it takes up a lot of room.

A lot of that stuff you mention isn’t really weird or rare, cornering lights were very common on 89-92s, standard on the LX in fact, it’s just that there aren’t a lot of 89-92s left, all SCs and all 92-93 LXs had fog lights standard, and every 89-95 SC made with leather seats had the fold down rear seat included as part of the option.

I agree, I guess I worded that wrong. I was looking at it only from my point of view, meaning from owning a '95 Thunderbird and only seeing some Thunderbirds on the road. Of course back when I bought it new there were probably loads of them on the road and I just never paid attention to how many had fog lamps or cornering lights (in fact I think at the time that I thought those cornering lights were actually big reflectors like on old '70s cars). But now, when I go to the junkyard, I almost never run into those options. I only ever found the one Thunderbird with the Premium Sound bezel (and the amp tray and amps in the trunk). I will pay more attention now, of course. I may have seen one SC (can't remember the year) at Pick-Your-Part in the last 10 years or so.

When I bought my original Thunderbird in '95 I ordered it (because I wanted Traction-Lok and no traction control which didn't exist at any dealership) and so I had to go through an options list with a bunch of check boxes. I remember the manual transmission as an option. I wonder if there was a way to get a 5-speed in my 4.6 LX if I checked things the right way. I'm sure they would have said that checking that would have forced the switch to a Super Coupe or something. I remember seeing the folding rear seat option as well but I think that was in the brochure and probably in the SC portion. It was so long ago now, hahaahaa. But it I could have gotten it in my LX then that's another reason to kick my younger self.

Truly rare items were the car phone and the factory installed trunk CD changer, which as far as I can tell was 1994 only with the fabric covered cover panel. 89-90s had auto dimming lights in addition to autolamp as well which is pretty seldom seen, but I’m not sure it was rare as much as I never see those year cars anymore.

Huh, I don't think I've run across any cars with those options, either. But I've looked through 2 or 3 Mark VIIIs so maybe I saw their versions of the same thing and didn't consider what I was looking at. I still sort of want to try the illuminated light switch mod from those cars when I'm feeling adventurous (as in hacking up the left side of my dash).

 

[theterminator93]

I just used polystyrene adhesive from Home Depot and a spare styrofoam insulation sheet I had laying around I bought a few years prior. I used a dremel to open up the maw, and re-used the batting inside.

It's nowhere near as earth rattling as some may want, but it fills out the lower end of the spectrum enough to sound as good as or better than any factory system I've heard in any car I've ever been in.

On an unrelated note, the 96 Mark I had, had the JBL system with in-dash cassette, 10-disc trunk changer, and cell phone. Oh well...

 

[Grog6]

One of the rules in life is that you never know what you had till it's gone.

 

[XR7-4.6]

Well, I need to track down the enclosure first but I would certainly take you up on that offer if I find one without the bracket. Actually, have you or anyone else ever scanned/measured that bracket's dimensions in order to reproduce it? I wonder if it would be worth making in small batches, similar to the brackets that are made to reposition the stock rear calipers to work with Cobra rotors when switching to Cobra rear hubs. Probably not, most people want to put large subwoofers in their trunks. I have a 12" Alpine, works great, but it takes up a lot of room.

The Tbird one would be pretty easy to make, take a stock one and flatten the bends and trace it onto same thickness sheetmetal, and cut/bend a batch out. The Cougar one is a little more complicated since it’s two pieces with captured nuts stamped in

I agree, I guess I worded that wrong. I was looking at it only from my point of view, meaning from owning a '95 Thunderbird and only seeing some Thunderbirds on the road. Of course back when I bought it new there were probably loads of them on the road and I just never paid attention to how many had fog lamps or cornering lights (in fact I think at the time that I thought those cornering lights were actually big reflectors like on old '70s cars). But now, when I go to the junkyard, I almost never run into those options. I only ever found the one Thunderbird with the Premium Sound bezel (and the amp tray and amps in the trunk). I will pay more attention now, of course. I may have seen one SC (can't remember the year) at Pick-Your-Part in the last 10 years or so.

When I bought my original Thunderbird in '95 I ordered it (because I wanted Traction-Lok and no traction control which didn't exist at any dealership) and so I had to go through an options list with a bunch of check boxes. I remember the manual transmission as an option. I wonder if there was a way to get a 5-speed in my 4.6 LX if I checked things the right way. I'm sure they would have said that checking that would have forced the switch to a Super Coupe or something. I remember seeing the folding rear seat option as well but I think that was in the brochure and probably in the SC portion. It was so long ago now, hahaahaa. But it I could have gotten it in my LX then that's another reason to kick my younger self.




Huh, I don't think I've run across any cars with those options, either. But I've looked through 2 or 3 Mark VIIIs so maybe I saw their versions of the same thing and didn't consider what I was looking at. I still sort of want to try the illuminated light switch mod from those cars when I'm feeling adventurous (as in hacking up the left side of my dash).

Nah you had to get the SC to get those, so no need for regrets. The options for 95s were pretty pared down from earlier years, most were grouped into equipment packages. A truly loaded V8 95 LX would have only given you the option to choose ABS, Trac Lok or Trac control, autolamps, keyless, premium+CD and car phone, the VMM, Moonroof and leather. 94-95 Cougars had the VMM standard but didn’t have SATC tethered to the V8 group - mine was born with with manual climate control, despite being pretty loaded. 89-92s had a ton of option freedom, you still couldn’t get the automatic or fold down seats without spring for a SC but you could option a base to the hilt as far as comfort and convenience features if so desired. Actually weirdly 96s untethered a few options from packages as well.