SQ_MGB's 2002 Chevy Reg cab build

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

Looks like you are riding in style now that you got everything in. Knowing you though I am sure you already have plans to change some things around. The progress looks good anyways. (for shitty pics)

[sq_mgb 21]

J-road....there are some things I need to change around, but they aren't what I had hoped they would be! My alternator decided to take a crap yesterday and my charging voltage is now a whopping ZERO volts! I'm supposed to go to the show Saturday and I don't see how I can get a HO alternator for it before I leave. I talked to mechman today and he has an alt. in stock, but it would cost an arm and a leg to ship it. I'm going to try and get a remanufactured one from the parts house down the street and see if they will let me use it just for a couple of days. If not, I don't know what I'll do. I guess miss the show as bad as I hate to. It sux not to get to go after working my butt off to get it finished in time. I'll figure something out, I just don't know what that will be. Keep your fingers crossed!

[///M5 2,833]

That blows

[sq_mgb 21]

Great news! Our parts guy for my company had an alternator on the shelf, new in box! I have to take it back on Monday, but he sure saved my ass! Wasn't the easiest thing to change, but not that bad either.

I called Mechman today and I'm looking at a 200 amp alternator from him, which should be way more than I'll ever use. I figure that alternator and a S1200 XS Power battery under the hood and I should be good to go. I won't have them for this weekend, but I should have them for the next one!

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement everyone....it really helped to keep me going when things weren't working exactly as I planned.

I'll have more pics after the show!

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

As usaul you are a man with a plan. Good Luck at the show.

[sq_mgb 21]

As usaul you are a man with a plan. Good Luck at the show.

Thanks for the well wishes J-road....I had no plan and had all but given up hope that I would be able to make it down for the show. It was just LOTS of luck that he had one and was willing to let me use it for the weekend. I would have liked to have the a-pillars finished, but I want to get the tweets angled right before I finish that up. The truck still has a ways to go, but at least she's playing!!!! When I get back I have to pull the box back out and the carpet up to move a wire that goes back behind the dash about 6". I put a rocker switch in the area next to the airbag switch for lights or whatever, and when I re-ran all the wires I pulled the slack out of the wire to the switch. I went to take the panel off the other day and since there was no slack in the wire, I couldn't get it out. The new radio has a usb port with an adapter for mounting to a panel and I'm thinking about putting it above the airbag switch. That way, I can just plug in a thumbdrive or my phone directly into the dash and don't have to go to the glovebox or have a cable just hanging somewhere. It's just the little nit-picky things that I want to do now, nothing major.

I can't wait to see how you put those 10's in your doors! Are you worried at all about the weight on the hinges? Good luck with the build, I'm sure it will look great when you're finished!

[Randal Johnson 544]

hey man .... drive carefully ... I'm looking forward for the competition !!!! ... ... give me a hollar when you get in town.

[j-roadtatts 1,129]

I am not to worried about the wieght (famous last words) on the door. I think the hindges will handle the extra 20lbs fine. Most of the wieght is at the front of the door. We will see!!! Worst case senerio is I have to replace the hindges once a year, But I honestly think the hinges can handle more than they have on them now.

I am sure MANY a ppl are waiting to see how I do it.

[sq_mgb 21]

I am not to worried about the wieght (famous last words) on the door. I think the hindges will handle the extra 20lbs fine. Most of the wieght is at the front of the door. We will see!!! Worst case senerio is I have to replace the hindges once a year, But I honestly think the hinges can handle more than they have on them now.

I am sure MANY a ppl are waiting to see how I do it.

With the work you have done so far, I know you'll get them in there AND they'll look good doing it. I just wish I could be there when you turn them on for the first time!

[///M5 2,833]

Good luck!!

[sq_mgb 21]

Thanks guys, I'll do my best. Been practicing my speech.... Blah, blah...cosmetic integration...blah, blah, attention to detail....blah, blah...

God...how do these guys do that stuff???

[sq_mgb 21]

Well, went to the show today. The judge scored the truck well, and said she was pleased with how it sounded. However, I don't know how it compares to anyone else because I was the only one in the class. The judge complimented me on how it sounded which gives me hope that I can do well at future shows. I still have work to do on the a-pillars to get them right, but the angles are close now. Once I get the tweeter position finalized, I'll glass them in place permanently. As I was told today, the day you stop working on a system is the day you sell the car, so I will always find something to tweak.

More pics to follow on the a-pillar build......stay tuned!

[///M5 2,833]

I don't know how it compares to anyone else because I was the only one in the class.

Didn't Randal come?

[sq_mgb 21]

I don't know how it compares to anyone else because I was the only one in the class.

Didn't Randal come?

He was there, but ran in a different class than me. I didn't see the scoresheets so I can't directly compare the two trucks. All I know is the judge said she liked what she heard. The best compliment I got from her was after she finished judging my truck, she showed me her arm and said it gave her goosebumps. I guess I'll have to wait for another show to see if I can beat him heads up.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

Goosebumps are a good thing. Sounds like you did well.

I have been following your build as well as Randal's for some ideas. My tweeters are currently in the kick and I am not real happy with them there. I am thinking I may try some of your tricks and put them in the pillars for a listen.

Congrats on finding a way to make it to your show. Hopefully next time you will have some competition to kick ass on.

[6APPEAL 7]

Tons of fun tearing it apart and putting it back together 3 times on Friday to tweak. Completely different system on Friday night than when you showed up at my house Friday morning with lot's o help from the Grand Master. Glad I missed the late Saturday night (after the show!), into the wee hours Sunday morning tweak session. Don't worry, grab your , the Grand Master is already making plans for the experimentation on mine. Let the madness begin!!!

[Randal Johnson 544]

now that you've had a day or 2 to check them out, what do you think about your reinforced doors and the new 6 1/2s ??

sir-lancelot - you would not believe in a million years the difference with the tweeters correctly positioned in the A pillars.

Ask sq_mgb and 6appeal, they will tell you the same thing. A couple of hours at TIPS and sq_mgb practically kicked my ass in SQ.

(my truck was barely working that day, I'll get him next trip) ...

Edited April 1, 2010 by Cablguy184

[sq_mgb 21]

Sorry for the long delay on pics guys (and gals if any are looking at this), but I finally got off my butt and took some. So.....here they are!

This is how the door started....minus the green sheet in the door. That was added after we listened to it with the new drivers. It is a dampening material that is used in aircraft. Don't know if it's any "better" than other stuff, but it worked for what we wanted it to do.

Here's a closeup of the dampener / deadener.....

The new Blues 6.5.....final production drivers will have the Blues logo on the dustcap.

Then it was decided that the big hole in the door had to go.....

Covered with dampener.....all the other holes are for mounting the door panel....I can't do anything about those.

Closeup of the new Blues 6.5....

Compared to the old one.....

Then since the old alternator crapped out, I had to get a new alternator....decided it would be a good time to upgrade.....went with a 200A Mechman unit.......This thing is heavy! Wiring is temporary, until I can get by the welding shop to get some 1/0 welding cable and heatshring to fit.

And the guys who made it happen.......Damn, I need to learn how to smile!

From left to right....Randle Johnson (Cablguy), me (SQ_MGB), Ray Rayfield, TJ Lacharite, and John Neal (6APPEAL).

[6APPEAL 7]

I finally scored the correct console floor bracket.

[Randal Johnson 544]

start you a build log 6appeal ... grats on the brackets ...

[6APPEAL 7]

Shoot me some info on that alt. Looks easier to do that then the dual alt upgrade on my truck. Not sure if it would be any cheaper though.

[sq_mgb 21]

start you a build log 6appeal ... grats on the brackets ...

X2

With the resources you have available down there, you definitely need to start a build log on here......and tell Jimmy to start one too! I have an HHR to do at some point and I'm waiting to see what he does in his so I will know what I'm getting myself into.

The alternator is from Mechman. It's a 200A unit, I didn't need the 270A, I just don't have that much current draw. It was $300 and he has free shipping too. Very good guy to work with. Just be sure to lift some weights before you install the darn thing....it's HEAVY!! Putting it on the truck was a breeze.....unbolt old one, put new one in it's place. Remove old belt, install new one. Run wires. Done. I changed the alternator in about 20-25 minutes, most of which was spent removing plastic panels around the front of the engine bay and over the fan. Once that and the K&N was out of the way, I had plenty of room to work. I thought changing the belt would be a nightmare, but I did it at work in literally 10 minutes....didn't even get my hands dirty!

It charges at a nice 14.55V. I see 14.53V at the battery, so I'm losing there, but not much. Upgrading the charging wire should help prevent loss (I guess??) in the couple of feet to the battery, and I have 14.35-14.41 at the amp unloaded. I have not done a power test to see what happens at full load. It was late, and I was in the driveway and didn't figure the neighbors would appreciate it. I'll try to test this weekend and see what happens under load. I also want to see how many amps it puts out at idle and at 1500 rpm so I will know if I got what I paid for. From the reviews I've read, I'm pretty sure I did, and from my seat of the pants gauge, it seems like my lights don't blink as much and when they do, it's not as noticeable as before.

I am going to upgrade my main power wire to the amps from the battery with 1/0....never thought I would see the day when I used wire that big, but I guess it's time to step up and do it right. The 4 gauge I have now just isn't going to cut it. Ray told me I need to have 4 gauge going to EACH AMP, instead of to my fuse block and going down to 8 gauge for the amps. If I can get the wire size increased, maybe I won't have as much loss from the alt. to the amps and I'm sure that would make those 2.2's happy.

Let me know if you need any more info on the alternator, and I'll get what I can for you.

[whodat 0]

Sorry for the long delay on pics guys (and gals if any are looking at this), but I finally got off my butt and took some. So.....here they are!

This is how the door started....minus the green sheet in the door. That was added after we listened to it with the new drivers. It is a dampening material that is used in aircraft. Don't know if it's any "better" than other stuff, but it worked for what we wanted it to do.

Here's a closeup of the dampener / deadener.....

The new Blues 6.5.....final production drivers will have the Blues logo on the dustcap.

Then it was decided that the big hole in the door had to go.....

Covered with dampener.....all the other holes are for mounting the door panel....I can't do anything about those.

Closeup of the new Blues 6.5....

Compared to the old one.....

Then since the old alternator crapped out, I had to get a new alternator....decided it would be a good time to upgrade.....went with a 200A Mechman unit.......This thing is heavy! Wiring is temporary, until I can get by the welding shop to get some 1/0 welding cable and heatshring to fit.

And the guys who made it happen.......Damn, I need to learn how to smile!

From left to right....Randle Johnson (Cablguy), me (SQ_MGB), Ray Rayfield, TJ Lacharite, and John Neal (6APPEAL).

(my truck was barely working that day, I'll get him next trip)

From what I have heard from the NEW Blues equipment, you don't have much to worry about MG, cable guy don't have a chance without the new stuff. One of my buddies from north Miss. called me and said he went to the show and I really needed to hear the new Blues stuff. He said it kicked ass over anything he ever heard PERIOD! He also said that there was a Ford SUV of some kind there and he listened to all the Blues vehicles, and the SUV was the best sounding he ever heard.,but it was just for demo. He said yours smoked everyone there in the contest. I don't hink you could have much problem from the other guy unless he updates his stuff, and does a lot of work, heard the install was needing some 911.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

I want to hear these drivers.

Sounds like you did quite well with them.

[sq_mgb 21]

Whodat....

I had the old Blues drivers in my truck on the way down from Springfield, MO and when I got to TIPS, Ray himself installed the NEW Blues drivers in my doors. 6APPEAL (John) worked his @$$ off helping me do my doors, as did Ray. I sort of felt like a bump on a log while the work was being done, and I don't know how to express the gratitude I have for what they did. (THANKS GUYS!!!) Ray spend a couple of hours aiming the tweeters and listening to them to help me get the stage and image right and it's close, but he's not satisfied with it yet. Since John has the same basic truck as I do, they are going to play with his since he's local, and when they get it dialed in, I'm heading back down for them to do mine.

The truck is night and day different from when I came down to when I went back, it's CRAZY at the difference the new drivers made. I didn't like them at first running passive, but Ray checked my amp out and said it had an occillation (whatever that is) and reset the bias (again, whatever that is) in the amp and the harshness I heard coming down disappeared and they were as smooth as silk. I had them running active on a DPS Q50, and before the 2.2HV was brought back to spec, I liked the active setup better. Once the 2.2HV was tweaked, it blew the Q50 away in volume, dynamics, staging, everything. I don't know what he put in that passive crossover network he built for me, but I've NEVER heard a passive setup that can do what these can.

It's easily the best sounding system I've ever had, and I've run Blues drivers since I had my 89 Probe with the original 6.5's and tweets in the doors and Blues Triso in the hatch. That may not be saying much to some of these guys, as I'm sure some of them have TONS more experience at designing SQ systems than I have, but I trust what Ray tells me. He has tons more experience at what it takes to build a good sounding system than I'll ever have and if he says to do something, I'm going to do it, especially after hearing what it sounds like after one weekend of him and John working on it. I can't take ANY of the credit for the sound, that's all Ray. I can take credit for the install, but that's it.

By the way, who's your buddy? Rusty? I don't know who all Ray showed the truck to, but I know he kept asking me for my keys! Thanks for the kind words, there's still work to do, but I hope to get it dialed in soon. With Ray and the rest of the gang's help, I'm sure it won't take too long.