The Insanity Has Begun

As many of you know I will graduate next semester and get out of the car audio business.

But a few people seem to think that I should do one more big system. While I completely disagree, and against my better judgement, I decided I'll do one more.

This is an 80's Olds. The box will take the place of the back seat.

So here goes. My canvas





The Amp rack in the trunk is first









The box is next.



There is a lot more work to do. And I mean alot. But this what we have so far. Currently the headliner is down, so that we can put dynomat in the roof, it will need it

More to come

 

Thats what I want to do.

The box for the car is almost done, its 7.5 cu ft. The port is 2.5-inches by 43.5-inches. The tuning ia around 34-36Hz. A little lower than I normally tune, but this case is a little different. I'll post more pics in the next few days.

The Q-Forms came in today also. I'm out of speaker wire, how can a stereo shop be out of speaker wire?

 

I hate big projects, they take so long to do. Have you ever wondered what it takes to make a set of kick panels look good. Q-Forms look awful. But with a little work they can look like they belong in the car.

One of the other installers that I work (aka Fiberglass) with did the kick panels. First he removes the original and cuts away anything he doesnt need. Then he glues the two parts together with 5-minute epoxy



After the epoxy sets up he applies some bondo and sand it smooth.





After everything looks good and smooth, Fiberglass applies a coat of Duplicolor Truck Bed Liner Paint. This paint will give us the factory textured look we want.



And finally we trial fit.



Perfect.

We also got the radio in the dash



We still have a lot of work to do. The box is finished and I will post more pics later. We still have a lot of work to do.

I wanna add one more thing, look what the painter dude did to my Ranger



Its the same color as my truck. Dammmmmm that looks good

 

Well we got a lot more work done on the Cutlass. First, the kick panels are the right color and they have been installed



We are finishing up in the trunk. To make the panels, I use cardboard, elmers glue and tape to make a template.



I use the template to cut out a piece of 1/8 inch masonite



After everything is cut and covered and in place we begin to put it all together







Now we need to finish up on the inside of the car. This is the box thats taking the place of the back seat



More to come, stay tuned

 

As far as I know there is no class for wiring a car audio system. But there is a lot you need to know. That Planet class D amp is a power hog. It has the ability to draw 160-amps of current when its working hard. It must have a battery near it with a short run of wire, because a voltage drop due to wire length is unacceptable. Current and voltage are directly propotional (math term). If one drops so does the other.

I feel that you need to know ohms law and how to apply it. Everyone where it work can tell you ohms law, other than me, no one can explain it or apply it.

The rest of it is planning. I needed 2 sets of RCA's so I ran 3. I have an extra set just in case. Every wire is run ahead of time, it makes no sense to tyry to run wires around boxes and panels. Wiring, in almost every case should be done first. NO SHORT CUTS, there is no excuse for having to redo something because you was in a hurry or too lazy to do it right the first time.

Everything in this car will work right the first time. It will be test fired Monday.

Yes AZN, PA Big Bangs.

 

And I will

Ohms law says that e = i * r and for now we will assume that r is a constant.

lets make r = 10, and i = 2, then e = 20. If we increase i then e will increase. They are directly proportional. (also remember that any proportion when graphed must pass through the origin and that happens in this case)

So it is directly proportional

Now lets look at P = E * I. In this relationship E and I are indeed inversly proportional. But we have a problem. The cars electrical system can only deliver so much current through the primary power wire. As voltage drops, we won't get the additional current we need through the power wire. Unless the power wire is very short. This will only happen if the battery is located near the amp.

So lets rewrite our power equation to make sense of whats going on in our situation. Solve e = i * r for i and we will get i = e/r. Now substitute e/r in the power equation for I and simplify.
P = (E * E) / R
Watts is equal to voltage squared divided by resistance. Now lets make R a constant. Now as E decreases so does P. (We need to be able to apply ohms law to the situation we are using it in)

That should explain why the headlights dim on a poorly designed high power system.

So AZN, you are NOT wrong. Technically what you said is correct. But in reality we are not getting the additional current necessary to make up for the voltage drop. So power will decrease.

 

The run from the front Battery to the back needs to be 4-gauge. Both batteries need to be on good condition. I go one step further and insist that they are the same and new. Both need to be grounded to the chassis with 4 gauge ( no more than 1 to 1-1/2 foot). Make sure the wire from the alternator to the battery is 8-gauge minimum. (4-gauge if at all possible)

Solder all connectors on the 4-gauge. I use a propane torch.

You can get a simple set up like this cheap at Wal-Mart.

Your amp needs to be connected to the back battery with 4-gauge (short a run as reasonably possible and the amp needs to be grounded at the same place as the rear battery (1/2 to 1 inch apart)

That should solve your problem.

 

I glanced at your thread. I'll get back to your thread and mine in the next couple of days, I have an Analysis Test coming up. So studying just took the Priority thing