Batboard

Does anyone have any advice about installs on a 1989 Toyota Camry? Im getting ready to install a GM300 Vhf 45w, red and clear strobes in headlights, clear in brake and back-up lights, and possibly a Whelen HFSA1 200w siren..? All I really need to know is firewall access points, and places to mount radio or siren inside vehicle. The car comes with 2 factory knock-outs for switches I can order that I will use for strobes. Thanks for any help!!!

All I can tell you is that most of the imports aren't too "install friendly" for our type of install. I just did an '02 Acura TL with strobes (SHO-ME), hideaway siren (also SHO-ME) and an M1225 with a glass mount "decal" antenna. These antennas usually suck, but when you have a good system in town, they work okay. The speaker was a Dynamax and wqs placed in the LF inner bumper/fender area.

Beware: most Japanese cars don't use shielding on critical OEM circuits such as ABS, SRS, vehicle speed. Make sure you use a good coax and tune the antenna.

ok...thanks...i have heard stories of people keying-up their radio and increasing speed, or individual alert lights on dash light up while in tx....thanks again!!

I think it would be better if you did this on a newer vehicle in all honesty. But it would look cool in a way...

Your post inspired me to register on this website, so thank you. As a fellow tech-head and professional govt. agent I must offer you the following advice:

It is recommended that you first purchase a vehicle that such equipment will be taken seriously in.

Some examples of things I have shaken my head at:

MX7000 on 1995 Nissan Sentra (think WINGS)
Ford Tempo with complete LED and Strobe kits to the front and rear
1/2 of Streethawk lightbar on rusted mini-van.
Anything owned or operated by Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad

I clearly understand the expense of vehicles these days, but for the sake of your own humiliation, save up and get yourself a domestic car or at least something more "service vehicle" in appearance.

I still want to see pictures when you're done!

If its anything like the '92... fire wall access points are very hard to come by. Everything I do for my brothers car is run through the fender and through the door area to the area under the steering wheel.

One of the local VFD guys as a full set of lights on top, and in the grill of his old Geo metro...

BAHAHAHAHAHA

familo77 wrote:Your post inspired me to register on this website, so thank you. As a fellow tech-head and professional govt. agent I must offer you the following advice:

It is recommended that you first purchase a vehicle that such equipment will be taken seriously in.

Some examples of things I have shaken my head at:

MX7000 on 1995 Nissan Sentra (think WINGS)
Ford Tempo with complete LED and Strobe kits to the front and rear
1/2 of Streethawk lightbar on rusted mini-van.
Anything owned or operated by Potsdam Volunteer Rescue Squad

I clearly understand the expense of vehicles these days, but for the sake of your own humiliation, save up and get yourself a domestic car or at least something more "service vehicle" in appearance.

Wow a "professional govt. agent". Cool LOL
I think I would take a Camry over a domestic any way.

Jap cars should stay in Japan!

But we only have ourselves to blame since we took pity on Japan and rebuilt their entire country from the ground up.

I think we should start a thread with photos of cars that people *shouldn't* have lights on, but do. With a requirement that the photo be present in the thread....

it would be a good lounge topic....



-Alex

Some that come to mind:

Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon, used in the 70's by Philly as marked patrol cars in the Center City area. Needless to say, they didn't last long. Had Whelen bars on them, IIRC.

Cadillac DeVille, 70's vintage. This was red, with a white vinyl top, and sported a red TwinSonic. Seen at a fire expo in the mid-80's. I believe it had an NJ tag.

I'm not a big fan of personal vehicles with lightbars, mini's or full sized. They just look stupid to me. I stick to dash/grill/deck lights.

TomSlick wrote:Some that come to mind:

Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon, used in the 70's by Philly as marked patrol cars in the Center City area. Needless to say, they didn't last long. Had Whelen bars on them, IIRC.

Cadillac DeVille, 70's vintage. This was red, with a white vinyl top, and sported a red TwinSonic. Seen at a fire expo in the mid-80's. I believe it had an NJ tag.

They had the "Dodge Omni experiment" in NYC in 1980 also. I know, I was putting MT 500 MVAs in those cars then. I'm 6'4", trust me, upside down inside a Dodge Omni was no fun. But it was good practice, as I ended up with my own Dodge Omni on 1987 and installed radios in it too.

I can remember when I was a kid, the town I grew up in went from Vista Crusiers to Ford Fairmonts (Manual tranny, manual steering and no AC) to save money. Needless to say, they looked rediculous, nobody respected them, everyone could outrun them and the cops hated them. In fact one of the larger cops could not even get in it to drive it! They lasted 2 years and were scrapped in favor of LTD's.

My personal favorite is an 80's-era minivan with a 52" lightbar on it...hanging off the edges. And a close second is the Suzuki Sidekick with two halves of an MX7000 on it with the center section removed. I have also seen some foreign riceburner with tires sticking out, lowered, with a full size bar on it. Almost as funny as the fart cans and wings kids put on their ricers nowadays.

How about a silver Volvo 240... single green dashmiser suction-cupped to the windshield. VHF MaxTrac connected to an aucilliary cigarette-lighter plug via 18ga wire and a jones plug. Code3 SlickStick zip-tied to the headrests in the rear, with the control box in between the front passenger seat and the e-brake.