Build log for 1996 Chevy Lumina- The Blue Fury

[blue fury 3]

The thing that made me switch the mid and tweeter was the little heater vent:

Here is the clearance obviously not including the thickness of the mount:

Straight forward with magnet touching windshield

Angled upward with ring and magnet touching windshield

[Julian 641]

i "think" its hollow below there you "maybe" could cut down a little bit so you could fit it in there then fiberglass it all back? it sounds hollow on mine, although mines a 95

Edited February 5, 2009 by Julian

[blue fury 3]

That would be fine with me and it would be pretty easy to do on the drivers side, but on the passenger side the airbag gets in the way iirc.

[Julian 641]

hmm true to that..

not sure couldnt you put it in the door? thats hollow too

[blue fury 3]

Small update:

Installed the 880 and boxed up the 490 to install in my other car at a much later time. After fiddling with it and learning how to use some of the options, (not yet even applying all of them) I love it! The iPod adapter is kinda slow, but its definitely tolerable. It's not as bad as the people that write terrible reviews make it seem. Also the built in volt meter reads .3 volts higher than my DMM reads so I'll have to remember that in case it ever becomes necessary.

No time to work on mounting the speakers last week, its not looking good this week either thanks to school.

[blue fury 3]

School has been a bitch and sleep has been out of reach because of it. That's why no progress in almost a month except for today.

In case I forgot to say, the sub and the sub amp has been out for a WHILE now, I think even before I put the 800 in. In that time, I sold both RF T1k's and bought a SAZ-3kd. All 3 of the sundown amps are sitting in my room on my sub box because I have yet to build the rack for them.

I was really wanting to built a sweet looking one where they all have their back against the sub box and angle down on each other but I don't see a point since the box for the next subs will allow NO room for it. It will look kinda plain, just to serve as a rack and nothing to look at. Either way, it'll take time I don't really have.

So in the meantime, I'm trying to take care of the little things. Today I relocated the ground from the panel connecting the trunk floor to the back seat to the frame. It was more of a bitch than I thought it would be but it's in and it's super secure. I didn't think it was worthy of pictures since it's not much of anything... so maybe next time.

[blue fury 3]

I can't really do a whole lot until I get the 2nd trunk battery from the seller and relocate them both, make the fuse holders and terminals once I get the lexan from the other seller to put the all wiring in. Then once that's done, make the amp rack and put all the amps in and finally hook up the speakers. The thing I can work on is the temporary mounts for the speakers. So with that said...

About an hour on the jigsaw got me these:

I'm treading in unsure waters now, I couldn't think of an easier way to make a mount just a hair bigger than the speaker itself. I hope this clay idea works out. I used a rolling pin to flatten out some play clay to <1/4". Saran wrap of the speaker to protect it was about the only precaution I could think of.

Damn it's ugly but looks weren't a concern of mine since a) it's the 1st layer and b) the are temporary.

I figure one more layer of mat on the outside, then I'll remove the clay. After that, 2 layers on the inside to keep the outside thickness down. We'll see how it goes from there.

[dwright27 0]

nice.

i went away from putting 6.5's in my A-pillar after my fittings were NEVER right and how i wanted them so im gonna do some nice 4"ers or 5.25's. Not sure yet. need MOOLAH FIRST lol.

[dragonboy412002@yahoo.com 1]

So far so good

The screen is held in place with a few staples for now, but I'm done for the night. Its 2am and I've got school tomorrow.

A couple more pictures of the car itself. The project is on hold for a couple hours because I gotta start working on my Halloween costume.

The dirty blue fury. Living in the country on a grapevine ranch makes for a never ending battle. I gave up cleaning my car because it would get this dirty less than a week later.

Flames make it faster.

My hu/iPod holder

It was really easy to make.

i know this is a lil late but how the heck did u make that ipod holder

[blue fury 3]

piece of wood and a router

[dragonboy412002@yahoo.com 1]

did u just trace around the ipod and cord on the wood and then cut it out?

[blue fury 3]

In a nutshell ya

[blue fury 3]

For the past couple of weeks, I've been working on finishing the electrical in my car- one of the most major steps to this is mounting the second battery.

Taped off ( no foil ), first layer and second layers

The few pics below are of the anchors to keep the battery mold securely in place.

6 in total, only used 4.

Since I used tape for the FG, it was a huge pain in the butt to get out. I tried delicately at first with just my hands and backing off when I heard little cracks, but it never budged for about 45 minutes. It took a crowbar to get it out with really small damage to one area and negligible damage a few inches to the side. And after I got it out, it took about 2 HOURS to get maybe 85% of the adhesive left from the masking tape off of the metal. I was NOT happy.

It looks bad but I call it minor since it wont affect anything and that part is hidden.

Anchors bolted in from the bottom

Actual batteries in the bags. What you can't see is a 1/2" wood platform on the bottom of the common side for the batteries to share and rubber supports on each corner where battery meets FG. For some reason, I thought 1 can of expanding foam would be enough. I emptied it and ran to home depot for another 2 cans.

Batteries out, now you can see the platform and rubber supports.

Top is cut to almost flat

I had some 1/2" mdf laying around.. perfect for an aesthetic top.

Yes it's on concrete, but only for like 15 minutes to hold the material until the glue got tacky.

2.5 bottles of silicone to bond the top to the mold

0.5 bottle for the low spots

It's still drying in my car.. fumes from the silicone and all!

While that was drying, I started making some terminals. The cheapest price online was like 1.80 for 1. There were bulk deals, but I don't need 100 of them. I made 31 in all- +9/16" inner diameter, 1 7/8" length, flared end. I was bored so I made like 4 kinds. The one on the very right is a mix of the left and middle one. Haha again, I was bored.

Test shows it fits like a glove!

I forgot to mention that I plan on rounding off those corners on the terminals when I drill the holes, but I'm tired now.

Edited April 18, 2009 by blue fury

[blue fury 3]

Done... For now.

[Jay-C76 333]

That turned out looking pretty dang good!!

Really nice!!

[- Nickelz N Dimez - 0]

Great work!

[indytrucks 1]

I may just steal that battery idea. Looks good and sturdy.

[blue fury 3]

Finally got the fuse blocks going. Now I just have to make their covers.

[XxedgarxX 2]

im impress with those fuse blocks you saved tons of money

thanks for the idea

[blue fury 3]

Theyre pretty much finished. All I have to to is drill the pilot hole in the 4 corners of each for the anchor screws. Once that is done, 2 more magnets right above the screws to attrack each other for a total of 16 magnets per block.

Next on the list is to replace most of the 0g wire with 4/0. Then put in the other 2 amps and test locations for the front speakers. Here is what Im thinking but not absolute.

(middle seat perspective)

[Jay-C76 333]

I like the fab work on the fuse blocks!

Nice idea.

[Estsound 7]

Just great job, by the way i like that sandwich, makes me hungry lol. I also like the battery idea.

[blue fury 3]

These are pics of all main power and ground wires replaced with 4/0g.

Ok remember that cup I made for the midrange? I couple months ago I got a hold of the company to see what they recommend for airspace in a sealed enclosure for my frequency range. They did not tell me displacement tho . So I had to find it myself using the water method.

With that, I'll be using these temporary boxes to make sure of the positioning. They are 1.5L net, 1.8L total with internal dimensions of 5.25"l x 5.25"w x 4"h. btw, the top wasn't glued on in this pic.. that's why it looks crooked in the top right corner haha

[porkchop 304]

lots to see here, your all over that car, looking good. will be watching for more progress,where will he be next? lol

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Love the battery bucket.