[Kilgore]

(formerly grampsoldcaprice)

audio log for the new car... slowly acquiring new equipment and planning everything out...

start this out with the sub box. first i was going to keep my old 13w6 in a big ass box taking up my whole trunk. then i figured i'd do a nice box to fit under the rear deck like lots have.... was going to go with the ebay box but decided to build my own to get one with more volume.

box plans and build:

ever drop a box of screws? put a magnet in a grocery bag and hover over it

 

[Kilgore]

getting rid of the old side panels and amps. i had a jl audio 300/4 on the driver side and a jl audio 500/1 on the passenger side. im making new side panels with a little storage compartment to hold **** in and mounting new amps on the floor panel ima do.

old side panels with amps:

new jl audio 1000/1 for sub. waiting for a 450/4 to pop up to grab

 

[Kilgore]

as for subwoofer stage... first i had a jl 13w6 which i sold. i then bought a dc audio lvl 4 15.

but then i kind of changed my mind when i bought two 10w7s with intention of flipping. made a box and was really impressed with them. loudest ive had i think

also bought an 8w7 and built a box for that as well. for sale locally

 

[Kilgore]

rear stage is going to be my old jl audio c2 650 that will mount in a little custom rear speaker grille thing.

front stage is a nice set of hertz hsk 165 that will be behind the door panel in stock location. no more door pods for me. going to mount the tweeters in a custom a pillar i made. actually redoing it

 

[Kilgore]

thats all for now, but more to come!

 

[ejschultz]

Looking pretty good. I've been wanting to do something like that for my amps for quite a while now. I just don't have the craftsmanship skills to pull it off while making it look good.

 

[SStreetking94]

Love the a pillars. Im thinkin of doing the same thing with four sv8's.

 

[Kilgore]

tyty. i redid it and am on my second set. I decided to wrap them in vinyl from Joann's which is a close match instead of sanding which I now know I hate to do.

going in a different direction now. sold the jl 1000 because I decided to go with sundown audio amps. 1500w for the dc lvl 4 15 that I decided I'm keeping and a 125.4 for cabin speakers.

also selling that box I built. decided to go band pass through the rear deck. undecided if I want to make a plexiglass cutout so you can see the sub do its thing from the trunk.

on the hunt for an alpine 9887 head unit. other than that, been busy and haven't worked on this car. however, I AM contemplating putting matching rear roadmaster door panels in so they have the courtesy lights. maybe rear door pods on those door panels. who knows

 

[Kilgore]

got some new stuff. i think all i need is one more amp and then i can start wiring and creating the trunk layout

- garys wires
- 1/0 gauge wire kit
- side post to top post battery adapter. was in a hurry when i bought my battery a while ago and didn't notice it didn't have both post. pissed off about that.
- alpine 9887 with remote and ipod cable and wiring harness all soldered and heat shrink wrapped
- knukonceptz rca cables 2 channel and 4 channel
- metra install kit

 

[Kilgore]

wow those pictures are terrible

 

[ejschultz]

Gary's wires are top notch quality wise. You made a good choice with them. Along with my HO alternator, they've pretty much helped me minimize my voltage drops down to almost nothing.

 

[Kilgore]

which alternator did you go with?

im not getting email notifications since my name change! this is pissing me off.

 

[Kilgore]

forgot to add i got a sundown 1500d (in shipping now) and im hunting for a sundown 100.4

 

[ejschultz]

which alternator did you go with?

im not getting email notifications since my name change! this is pissing me off.

I actually had a small case CS130 alternator on my car originally. I went to a junk yard, pulled a CS144 and the rear bracket for it. I pulled apart the alternator, cleaned it all up, then ordered all new internals for it. I got a 200 amp stator, a 200 amp rectifier, a 14.8 V voltage regulator, new bearings, new brushes, a new capacitor (internal to the alternator), and whatever else I'm not thinking of that makes an alternator complete. I used the stock rotor though. I also put a slightly smaller pulley on it but I can't remember what size exactly. It was a great learning experience.

 

[Wlogg]

What's the charging voltage on a 96 impala ss?

 

[Kilgore]

got the sundown 1500 but it got damaged in shipping. currently in repair shop. also got a sundown 100.4 which is good. decided to keep the box i built instead of making another one 4th order through the rear deck.

was looking up aero ports and they were pretty expensive, then i came across a diy port out of pvc on youtube so i decided to make some. i need two 4 inch tube ports 12 inches in length.


- 4 inch pvc from lowes. 2ft sections about $7 each
- metal dog bowl from walmart about $3 dollars
- heat gun
- water

screwed the metal bowl to the wood so it wouldnt move. laid the heat gun down pointing towards the pvc thats slowly rotating over the bowl

after a few minutes the pvc will start to flare out

push down to flatten so you can screw it to your box. pour water down to shock the pvc into keeping its form

cut the other side of the pvc to length and repeat

 

[Kilgore]

I actually had a small case CS130 alternator on my car originally. I went to a junk yard, pulled a CS144 and the rear bracket for it. I pulled apart the alternator, cleaned it all up, then ordered all new internals for it. I got a 200 amp stator, a 200 amp rectifier, a 14.8 V voltage regulator, new bearings, new brushes, a new capacitor (internal to the alternator), and whatever else I'm not thinking of that makes an alternator complete. I used the stock rotor though. I also put a slightly smaller pulley on it but I can't remember what size exactly. It was a great learning experience.

sounds like fun. was that a kit you ordered or did you research and order each part individually? also, what was the cost to do that as opposed to ordering a high output alternator?

What's the charging voltage on a 96 impala ss?

don't know off the top of my head

 

[ejschultz]

I ordered the parts individually. Including the cost of the junk yard alternator, I want to say I spent roughly $160-$180 on the project. It was a pricey project but remained cheaper than a 200 amp HO alternator. I also got to keep the Delco case which is something I wanted. I wish I took pictures during the build process but I didn't. CS144s are really easy alternators to work on though. Seeing the work you've done, I'd say you're more than capable of it.

 

[Kilgore]

got the sundown 1500 but it got damaged in shipping. currently in repair shop. also got a sundown 100.4 which is good. decided to keep the box i built instead of making another one 4th order through the rear deck.

was looking up aero ports and they were pretty expensive, then i came across a diy port out of pvc on youtube so i decided to make some. i need two 4 inch tube ports 12 inches in length.


- 4 inch pvc from lowes. 2ft sections about $7 each
- metal dog bowl from walmart about $3 dollars
- heat gun
- water

screwed the metal bowl to the wood so it wouldnt move. laid the heat gun down pointing towards the pvc thats slowly rotating over the bowl

after a few minutes the pvc will start to flare out

push down to flatten so you can screw it to your box. pour water down to shock the pvc into keeping its form

cut the other side of the pvc to length and repeat

few days after this right as i was about to fall asleep... i realized i had to cut this in half and add a coupling because you cant install this as it is with the flared ends. derrrr

 

[Kilgore]

got both of my amps now. sundown 1500d and sundown 100.4

also started on the install.

first i started on the passenger side where i ran the 1/0 gauge power wire and 14g new speaker wire for passenger side door speaker .ziptied the wires about every 6 inches. used a stinger pg34 1/0 gauge grommet which i liked on the passenger firewall to get the 1/0 gauge in the cabin. once installed, you tighten one of the ends which crimps down on the wire for a tight seal.

then i worked on the stereo. used an alpine 9887 deck with an ipod cable going to my ipod in the glove box. ipod cable has a scosche ipod charger on it so it'll just stay in the glove box and will only be removed to add music from my computer. bought a remote for it too. installed in a metra 99-4000 install kit. this time i wanted a nice clean install so i took my time and soldered and heat shrink tubed the factory harness adapter to the alpine wire harness. then i forgot about the overhead console wires so i had to redo everything but when its all said and done its nice and clean. finished it off with wire loom wrap so theres no wire mess

did the "moment of electrical truth" test and the overhead powered up. it says OC because the temp sensor isn't hooked up so its getting an open circuit error.

once the radio was good and in, i ziptied the wires up under the dash and had them come down by the driver side kick panel. from the radio came both sets of knukonceptz rca cables and remote wire. it then met with a bass remote wire and 14g speaker wire for driver door speaker. tied ever 6 inch, ran to the trunk, good to go