the $10,000 dash speaker

[rauto13]

or another title could be "If I am going to do this, I need to do this first"

Ok, so I may be exagerating about the price, but I just want to blow off some steam. Seems like everything I do takes three to four times as long as it should and leads to a lot more expense then was originally planned.

For instance, a while back I wanted some music in the truck, I made a bracket to put in two 4 1/2 inch speakers (about $60 from Walmart) in the original dash opening. It was okay, but sounded a little tinny and needed a little bass, so I found a complete system at a wrecker yard, CD player, couple amps, 2 - 12 inch subs, box, wiring... (200.00). So I buy a box speaker box for the truck ($100.00) and put it all in, sounds great, but the seat is too far forward. Therefore another seat 40/60 split bench ($75.00) and no speaker on the driver's side. Truck is more comfortable to drive, but I still need the box cut down a little more for my legroom (yet to be done). But my amp is a four channel amp running in three way mode, so I add two 6x9s ($100.) in boxes I built and put under the seat. Stereo sounds much better, but there is still a gap in the midrange due to the seat insulation, so I start building custom kickpanels for the 6x9s (in progress). I also have some vibration in the cab due to the sub, so the easy answer is dynamat all the interior panels, but....

I need rocker panels, cab corners, minor floor repair and some light work done on the trucks kickpanels due to rust. So now I have a stereo with real good highs & lows, decent midrange, if I pull the boxes out and lay them in the floor, a truck that vibrates really badly, and the solution is a complete rust repair job. I also need to take almost all the stereo wiring out and rewire it due to an engine whine.

To make a long story even longer, my $60.00 dash speakers have already cost me $535.00 and no telling how much more in body work, dynamat, new carpet, replacing any broken pieces in the heater assy, etc, etc, etc.... plus lots of work.

By the way did I mention with the custom kick panels I am making, I need to relocate the E-brake pedal and fab some type of hand E-brake, just one more thing to do before I do something else...

Sorry for the really long post, but I hope I am not the only one with this sickness....