altoncustomtech

Finally! It feels as though it's taken a year to get this far. I'm so damn glad it's sitting in the truck. All I gotta do it get it put back together and I'm done, I hope. You've never seen craziness like this thing. It's an American built Chinese puzzle box! Everything has to come apart/go together in a very specific order and you need hands like a child to reach quite a few things in it. For example the upper bell housing bolts on the sides are SO close to the firewall that I had to stick a pry bar up in there and push the firewall away from it to even be able to get a socket on the bolt. That was even after taking the rear transmission mount out and lowering the transmission down until it was resting on the cross member. Damn do I wish I had a body lift on it, LOL. So do I. I need all the help I can get! Though I would imagine if you've never worked on one of these before, it would be the last. The co-worker and friend that's been helping me is a great mechanic that has completely rebuilt his own '67 & '68 Mustangs, a '55 Chevy truck, a 1940 something Willy's Jeep and is working on a '62 Plymouth just in the six years I've known him said he will NEVER work on one of these trucks again! LOL

Put my order in!!

Well, with all the necessary parts in hand finally, the last of the reusable parts cleaned up and installed on the engine, and the vacuum lines finally replaced in the truck, the process of installing the new engine can actually begin. And has. I don't know how anyone could possibly replace the vacuum lines with the engine and transmission bolted into place. I had a tough enough time doing it with the engine out and the front of the transmission lowered down. I managed to get it done, every rubber vacuum and vent line under that hood has been replaced with a brand new one. My 4WD and heater/AC controls should work wonderfully well now that the vacuum can actually reach the locations it was supposed to. I could see them collapsing under the vacuum before, shouldn't be a problem now. I also tested the 4WD actuator under the battery tray as well with a vacuum pump here at work to verify it was in good shape. On to a few pictures for the fun of it. Here's the reman engine on my dad's old engine stand he built himself when he was doing all his engine/transmission work. It's pretty damn sturdy, though this V6 wasn't any sort of load for it really. Here's that engine dropped down into the truck. At this point it has 6 of the 9 bolts that connect the trans to the engine on the bell housing along with the motor mount bolts in it. There's still a lot to do but I think I can call this making some progress!!!!

SMH & facepalm.... That is actually par for the course around here. You wouldn't believe how many kids are running around here with their vehicles in much the same shape. It's an absolute miracle vehicles don't burn to the ground everyday.

The last of the parts it needs (ancillary equipment wise) should be in today. Got the impossible to find bolts I needed to get the harmonic balancer installed today, and the last of the hose I needed to replace all the vacuum lines. The new engine isn't in yet, it's been waiting on these other things to be done, bought, etc. before I could drop it in, but as long as the last parts get here today as they're reported to be I could have it in this weekend barring any more unforeseen issues.

I'm throwing in my order tomorrow!!

Another thing the OP needs to understand is that EVERY sub is different, not just from one brand or model to another but from one to the next off the assembly line. The Thiele/Small parameters of every speaker will pretty much tell you exactly how it's going to work and what kind of response you can expect from it. While any reputable brand has manufacturing tolerances that are EXTREMELY tight and every one that's built in the same model has T/S specs that are extremely close, they're not perfect and there can even be a "measured" difference from one to the next. Will it be audible? Not in the majority of cases, but it can be measured. For example the Mms or the mass of the moving assembly (coil, cone, etc.) is measured in grams. Have you ever held a single gram weight in your hand? A little too much glue on a joint, an imperfection in the materials the cone is built with is all it takes to change it. The Cms is the compliance or stiffness of the suspension. That specification tells you how stiff or easy the moving mass is to move. Le, Bl, Re, Sd, Fs, Qts, Qes, Qms, Vas, and Xmax round out the rest of the more common paramters and with devices this simple and "small" on the scale of their measurements it doesn't take much to change how they are going to work. There are formula's that use these numbers to figure out the response of the driver, the way it's going to act in a given environment and can tell a person the kind of environment to put it in. There's A LOT of multiplication and division that goes on with these formula's and some of the parameters have a much larger effect on the overall outcome than others. The point is, while two different drivers, such as the SP4 and EVIL, may have similar physical properties ultimately they're going to work and respond in different ways. Sure, they could even be similar enough in their measurements and parameters that their response could be graphed out quite close, in free air as they're measured. As soon as you put them in an enclosure that could change drastically as that enclosure changes the environment they're working in and those tiny differences in the parameters can make big differences in the response from one enclosure to the other. Maybe this is more of the explanation you're looking for?

Sub is SOLD!!

First of all, just because a car has a place for a speaker from the factory doesn't mean it HAS to be filled. Second, if you install a subwoofer into the trunk of your car and the trunk is sealed from the cabin of the car (i.e. no place for the pressurized air to go) the forces the sub creates will be wrought on whatever surface it comes in contact with. With 6x9 speakers mounted in the rear deck of a car it's the cones and because the sub is larger, moves more air and has a good deal more force in doing so than the speakers it will move the cones of the 6x9's. That leads to damaged and destroyed 6x9 speakers. Installation is the key in that case. If you can build the sub and it's enclosure to seal up to the cabin of the car at the back seat so that it never pressurizes the trunk then the previous point is moot. No matter what the 6x9's should still only be used for rear fill, or in other words only to play the ambient background reflections that are picked up by the microphone when the music is recorded. There's no good reason to spend money on an amplifier for them to perform that role. Use that money in other places it will be needed such as to buy better front speakers, sound deadening, etc. Capacitors don't work because they don't CREATE power, they leach it. A capacitor has to be charged by the vehicles charging system and it then stores that power inside it. When the voltage drops a little the capacitor will discharge slightly which in turn "stiffens" the voltage or doesn't let it drop but the help stops right there. That little added help lasts for an instant, a split second, that's all. It's voltage will drop with the rest of the system and then when the current demand is over the charging system has to charge the capacitor along with the batteries and everything else. Do that over, and over, and over again and all of a sudden it's no longer doing ANYTHING to help and is hurting because of the load it's creating on the charging system. IF you truly need to upgrade something in your electrical system it's NOT with a capacitor. Start with a GOOD strong starting battery, BIG 3, and clean every ground connection between the engine, frame and body that you can reach. Then if you're still having voltage problems typically it's cheaper to add a second battery than it is to upgrade to a HO alternator. The second battery will help provide additional current during the big demands, but considerably more so than the capacitor but it too is still a load on the system. If you're at the point that your current alternator is unable to keep up with the large demands, especially for prolonged periods then you'll have to look into upgrading it. This is a rough and crude explanation of how all this works but I think it's easy enough to understand. You've not mentioned what kind of power you're looking at running total. Most people are okay with up to 1,500 watts of power on the stock electrical with no extra batteries and sometimes no extra upgrades at all. It's completely dependent on the vehicle, the amps being used and the listening habits of the person. Every combination is different and has different results so it's best to throw a voltage meter on it from the start. Then monitor it and upgrade your electrical as necessary. Going active is when each and every speaker set, usually separates like components, are connected to their own amplifier and each has it's own crossover controlling the frequencies they play. An example would be a pair of tweeters on one amp, the mids on another amp and the sub on another. It takes a processor of some sort to control the crossovers for each set of speakers and a great deal of time listening, adjusting, and tweaking these setups. They're not for beginners and not what you were thinking before this. The idea is to give the user control over every aspect of each set of speakers that cover a specific range of frequencies so that they can be utilized correctly and blend together for a more harmonious response. Your speaker and sub wiring size is fine, unless you're looking to run 3kw or better to your subs, lol. Unless you're looking at running really high power there's no need to worry that much about the wiring size to the subs or speakers. In most daily listening applications those two sizes are fine for those applications. Try to find a substantial piece of steel to connect your ground to. The heavier the steel the better it can flow current. Locations like the tops of the rear shock towers are heavier steel and make a better location to ground to. When it comes to amplifiers in a car it's all about current flow. The better the current flow the better the voltage stays up and the cooler everything operates. Bad grounds and other connections have resistance, resistance leads to voltage drops which in turn increases the current flow and creates heat. Ever seen pictures where people have had a fuse holder melt? That's due to a bad connection and the resistance it causes.

pm sent

That's kewl. You hadn't made mention of the idea so I thought I'd toss it out there. Still loving the build though. All those wire hold downs, loom, etc. make it look absolutely amazing. If it sounds half as good as it looks it'll be a win for sure!

I love the build. It's coming along beautifully! On the rivets thing, do you know how to airbrush or know someone who does? With the right airbrush work you can make the car look like the riveted panels of a plane with little to no trouble. I have a friend who does some amazing airbrush work. For example he debadged and removed the little strips of trim from his '69 Camaro then went back and painted the badges on the sides of the front fender with his airbrush. Everyone who looks at them always walks up and touches it because it looks 3-D and so good it's like the badges are still there. Here's some of his airbrush work. I figure if you or someone else can do airbrush work as well the plane look should be a breeze.

Wow, that was a complete 180, lol. Any chance you can give a more detailed review of the differences you're hearing and what you like/dislike about the two sets? It would be a far more helpful review for those reading on this than the one liners you've given so far. Glad to hear you're liking the Fi's!

Up for sale is a used when I bought it single 4 ohm 15" SSA DCON sub. It's in great condition showing the usual signs of having been mounted before. I bought this from Sean (W140) awhile back with no real intentions except that it was a good price at the time. I'm getting nickeled and dimed to death at the moment so I need it sold. $120 shipped to anywhere in the CONUS.

One of the things that have changed since your involvement in audio is the evolution of HOW deadener is used as opposed to WHAT it's made of. Yes, aluminum/butyl is still the best combination of materials for CLD (compressed layer dampener) but multiple layers of the product is not how you achieve the best results. It's been studied and tested and discovered that a person only needs 25% coverage of CLD in most cases for it to do it's specific job. There are products that accompany the CLD now from most of the reputable manufacturers that compliment the performance of the CLD and do the jobs you/we were trying to do with multiple layers of CLD. The first is called CCF (closed cell foam) and it's job is to be a barrier between the sheet metal and the trim panels/door panels/etc. to stop the rattles you hear when they're contacting each other. The second is called MLV (mass loaded vinyl) and it's the sweet product that goes with the CCF to actually block the unwanted noise and does it FAR better than multiple layers of CLD ever could. You're not going to find 200sqft of deadener for $200 anymore because all the manufacturers who were making their "rubber based compound" or "Butyl mixed compound" etc. crappy products back then finally got called on their BS and people have learned to stay away from that stuff. Yes, even FatMat wasn't or isn't actually using REAL butyl. They could all be that cheap because it was really still an asphalt based product. Reputable companies like Second Skin and SoundDeadenerShowdown for example are making the real products that really work. Sure, you can't get 200sqft for $200 anymore but you don't need to, you shouldn't need that much to get the results from the CLD that you need. Read up on www.SoundDeadenerShowdown.com to get better informed of the landscape that is now sound deadening. Don tells it straight and is one of the few vendors out there who REALLY knows what he's talking about AND will only sell you as much product as you need to do your job right unlike years ago when the manufacturers wanted to convince you that you needed all those layers and all that product so they could make serious money because all they were selling you was the wide rolls of Peel N Seal with a logo on it.

That's kewl. I get my bonus the first week of March and that's my audio play money.

Just in time for my play money!

Yes, I think I shall have one of these when they're finally available. I love the idea of a low inductance, fair excursion and very linear driver.

Too bad you don't live closer, I'd help you make adapters. I look forward to reading your opinion on that set when the time comes.

Yeah the box looks to have came out great. I saw in the list of equipment for the build you had down the Sundown components. Those installed yet?

Awesome progression man! Looking forward to seeing the build done!

Okay, things have been beyond crazy around here lately between work and working on the Jimmy. The guys I work with had me bring the Jimmy to our garage there to pull the engine and swap it out. They've even been helping work on it and for anyone who's ever pulled one of these out you know exactly what I'm saying when I say that no one could do it without help. The engineers at GM really had their heads up their asses when they designed these trucks. It's glaringly obvious the truck was assembled like a Chinese puzzle box on the assembly line with no care given to performing major maintenance later. Enough of that rant I can finally feel like something has been accomplished because the old engine is OUTTA THERE!! Now all I gotta do is swap the necessary items of the old engine to the new reman and shoehorn it back down into that little truck. I have a great deal more respect for the guys out there who put V8's into these little bastards and nothing but pure wonder how the guys do it who keep all the fuel injection and other crap in them as well. My hat is off to you guys, that takes a special kind of patience and determination I know I don't have. Now just for fun here's a couple of pics of the poor old engine and the insanity that is the engine compartment in these little bastards.

As the title states, I'm looking for a new or used amp for a friend that's in that power range to drive a single 15" ICON D2. Budget is of course as inexpensive as possible but would probably max out at about $250. He's considering getting a new PPI BK1300.1 but I think he's a little leary of it since he's not the least bit familiar with it or the brand. Let me know what you got sittin' in the closet guys.

The newer RE stuff isn't on the same level it used to be years ago. I would throw the 15" DCON with S4 coil suggestion out there with something like the Soundqubed Q1-750. You can run it at 4 ohms for 300 watts of power and still have room to upgrade in the future all for a very modest price. Just be sure there's room to fit a proper enclosure for whatever sub you choose to use, even sealed for a 15 can be a decent size. Just my worthless .02 opinion.

Oh dear God, I love those trucks. My first vehicle was a '70 Chevy C10 Heavy Half with the '72 front end. It was lowered, had custom roll pans front and rear, the tail lights were filled in, custom grill, dual working hood scoops, and the interior was all redone with suede and gator skin and it had bucket seats from a Lincoln Continental in it. It had the tailgate with the thin aluminum trim piece on it but the center part where it said Chevrolet was cut out, had a red plastic lens in it and 10 tail/stop/turn lights mounted inside the tailgate. It had the Aluminum Western Wheels on it that fit 295/50/15's all the way around. My dad and I built up a 388 stroker for it, a 350 turbo trans and it had 4.23:1 gears in the ass end. It didn't have much for top end but it could snap your neck on takeoff. I used to have a lot of fun with new people in the truck cuz if I hit it just right their heads would hit the back glass, lol. Not nice but it was fun at the time, dear God the stupid crap we do when we're young. Take care of that truck, I love it!