The Rotten Mule (AKA: 'Mulo Podrido')

[Boyd]

Notice the Coleman Drink Jugs? Yeah, about those...

[Boyd]

I needed a quick and cheap way to mount the speakers but wasn't having much luck. Ordinarily, I would have built a box, but we recently sold our house and the majority of my tools are in storage until we find a new place.

Anyway, I thought about PVC but the large sizes can get expensive rather quickly. While pondering the "tube" form, I wondered if an insulated water jug might work. To my surprise, the gallon size worked perfectly. And they only cost $5.99/ea on sale!

[Boyd]

After running all of the wiring for the sound system I laid down some jute padding and set the new molded vinyl flooring from Stock Interiors in the cab for trimming.



Speaking of trimming...how many patina paint truck owners here can say they have a matching patina paint Stanley razor knife?



I picked that up for $1 last year at a local flea market. I thought it was a close match when I bought it, but as you can see from the photo, the color is damn near identical.

[VA72C10]

Very cool matching blade

I like the idea with the coolers. Going to be a nice stereo!

What did you do with the wood wheel? And how dark was it? I just got one and not happy with how light it is...thinking of trying to stain it darker...

[Boyd]

Thanks, VA -

The wood wheel was on the truck when I bought it. I sold it on eBay a couple of years ago. I liked the wheel, but didn't like how offset it was. The steering wheel in it now, which is about to get switched out for something else, was one I bought on eBay.

Have you tried lightly sanding yours and applying a coat of stain to darken it up?

[Boyd]

I finished the sound system install this morning, but I've ran into a problem...no sound! I suspect it is either the EQ or the speakers, I noticed both had been opened when I received them (both came from Amazon).

Both amps are getting voltage and the EQ is powered up, but I can't get anything out of the speakers. I've adjusted all of the gain settings on the EQ and the amps, and made sure the volume is up on my iPod, still nothing.

I'll come back to it tonight or tomorrow morning, I'm headed out the door to go pick up my recovered seat.

[mcbassin]

Very cool truck! love the garage too. subscribed....

[CheyenneShop]

cool knife! looks like Coleman just figured out there coolers have multiple uses. Price just went to $12.99 haha. Great idea, way to think outside the (speaker)box!!

[VA72C10]

Originally Posted by Boyd

Thanks, VA -

Have you tried lightly sanding yours and applying a coat of stain to darken it up?

That's what I'm thinking of doing...

[Boyd]

I picked up the seat from the upholsterer this afternoon. He did a great job. He added a top layer of foam, fixed a broken spring on the drivers side, installed new foam backing, added 5" of vinyl to the back of the bottom cover, and sewed matching black vinyl on the upper back to make it fully covered.

The console is from Classic Consoles. I'm not as happy with it, but I'm keeping it for now.

I'll troubleshoot the stereo issue in the morning.

[VA72C10]

Seat looks great!

[bollybib]

Just read thru your thread. I really dig your truck and the way you have been writing about your adventures while fixing it up. As many others have said, your garage is fine indeed and I can't say enough about the utility knife color match!

Thanks for the kind words that you posted in my Project thread. I still do little and not-so-little projects on my truck but I can't seem to find the motivation and/or set aside the time to post them up like I once did.

[Boyd]

VA - Thanks. I'm very happy with it.

Since the powered sub is mounted to the floor under the seat I was putting off installing the seat until the sound system problem was fixed. This past Saturday I tracked the problem to a defective EQ. The unit is supposed to put out 7v signals to the amps, but I was only able to measure 4 milli-volts on any of the outputs, regardless of the gain settings. I didn't want to wait another week for a replacement to arrive before being able to drive the truck, so I went ahead and installed the seat.




For temporary tunes I disconnected the EQ and sub and plugged the iPod directly into the amp, not expecting much, but it actually worked well. My wife joined me (her first ride in the truck!) for a cruise down to the local Sonic...my 1972 playlist playing in the cab. We had a good time.

Unfortunately, while we were out I received a call from my brother that my father had passed unexpectedly, so what little work I have left to do for the interior is on hold.

I'll update as soon as possible.

[Boyd]

Jim - Thank you for checking in here. I really dig your truck, and the work you've done to it, as well...Keep Trucking!

[Boyd]

VA - I just realized we could have swapped steering wheels! I replaced my wood wheel and have ready to install the very same billet wheel that you replaced with a wood wheel.

Anyway, I really like your truck, too. It's in the same vein as Jim's...a nice, driveable, useable, classic truck. You two have planted a seed for my next project!

[Low Elco]

Really diggin' your truck.

Condolences on your Dad.

[nlped]

Truck looks great! Love the garage, but if you moved, did you move out of it??? If so, somebody got themselves a helluva nice shop.

Sorry about your Dad!!

[flashed]

Wow ,what a cool build .

[Boyd]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Really diggin' your truck.

Condolences on your Dad.

Thanks, and thanks. He was a good man that worked entirely too hard for someone his age (64).

Originally Posted by nlped

Truck looks great! Love the garage, but if you moved, did you move out of it??? If so, somebody got themselves a helluva nice shop.

Sorry about your Dad!!

Thanks. Yeah, I hated leaving that garage behind, but the plan is to buy or build a place with a 40x60 shop. Unfortunately, our place sold immediately and we haven't been able to find anything that ticks most of our boxes.

Originally Posted by flashed

Wow ,what a cool build .

Thanks, although I wouldn't consider this a "build"...more like a "refresh", minus paint.

[Boyd]

The sound system problem has been remedied...it turned out to be a bad fuse in the factory fuse block. So everything is now hooked up and working properly. It sounds great!

I mounted the EQ to the bottom of the seat, under the driver's side. This keeps everything out of sight but also allows me to easily adjust the volume and/or sound settings.



The iPod is inside the console on the seat. I also installed the new steering wheel and painted the door panels black.

[nlped]

Looks really good. Really like the steering wheel, auto shift handle and blinker/tilt arms.

[Xeen]

I notice you are running a powered 8" sub.
What most people don't know is while amplifiers have internal capacitors unfortunately they aren't nearly adequate to fully power the amplifier under high demand and subsequently fail to produce sound at their maximum potential.
What this means in layman's terms is your sub isn't hitting nearly as hard as it would be if you added a Capacitor because your amp is starving for power.
I wouldn't worry about using a Cap for your mid/tweet amp because with your set up it's simply not necessary.
If you are interested in knowing more here is a link.
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-xzJ7h4V...itors/faq.html