85 GMC Sierra "Scarlett"

[N2TRUX]

Last night my work in the shop was limited but I had just enough time to mock up the www.7387chevytrucks.com kick panel pods.
These pods will house @kickeraudio #ksc650 6.5" #coaxial speakers. They were designed by Chris Lucas of ensure precise fit and clearance for the E brake.
I attached them to the kick panels first using the factory mounting holes. That allowed my to mark the correct location for the speakers. With the alignment dialed in I mounted the retainer rings and marked for the speaker hole.
I drilled and large pilot hole and cut the opening with a small air saw. I cleaned the cut with coarse paper and slipped the speaker in place. I reinstalled the assembly to ensure everything cleared
Once the passenger side is completed I will line the pods with Silent Coat sound deadner to seal the enclosure and prevent any rattles.
Eventually these will be dyed Napa red to match.

[LT7A]

Congratulations on a successful showing at LST! And I am enjoying the next evolution of Scarlett+Kicker.

Per this:

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Through research I was able to determine hat the motor is an 85 305 HO L69 with the factory mid rise aluminum intake.

When you have a chance, would you mind shooting me the casting number off of your manifold? I am keeping an eye out for an aluminum one. Thanks

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Congratulations on a successful showing at LST! And I am enjoying the next evolution of Scarlett+Kicker.
Per this: When you have a chance, would you mind shooting me the casting number off of your manifold? I am keeping an eye out for an aluminum one. Thanks

Lets see if this shows up. Its a #14057053.
Per the Admin at Nasty Z-28

According to my book, 14057053 is from 80-85 Caprice and Impala. It also may have been used on 82-85 Camaro and Monte Carlo of the same era along with any other GM car using the Chevy 305 engine.
I have owned 3 different 85 Caprices and they had that intake on the 305s. Also, my Brothers have parted out another 6 or so of the 83-85 Caprices with this intake.
The 81 Z28 used a similar aluminum intake 14014432,The 80 Z28 used a cast iron intake but I don't have the number for that one.

[N2TRUX]

Last night i put the the finishing touches on the www.7387chevytrucks.computer kick panel pods install. These pods were redesigned by Chris Lucas to ensure clearance of the E brake. They are very well designed but did require minor trimming on one to fit to my satisfaction.
The pods are injection molded and come with a nice textured finish. To improve sound projection I added a layer of @silentcoat sound deadner to the back side of the pods and front of the kick panel. The Silent Coat was very effective at eliminating any chance of resonance from the panels or pods and will greatly improve the performance of the @kickeraudio 6.5" coaxials.

Once I was happy with the fit, I dyed everything with several coats of SEM Napa red. I am very pleased with the pods and can confidently say they are the best I have used to date

[N2TRUX]

Chris and I worked on the @kickeraudio install this weekend. He focused on wiring while I built a mounting plate for the @kickeraudio 3.5" #coaxial speakers for the center channel.
We decided to inspect the factory audio harness so Chris pulled it from the dash. It was in good condition so he wrapped it up and routed to fit our needs.
The Kicker component system will incorporate 2 sets of 3.5" coaxials in the dash. One on each corner, and a pair in the center to emulate a center channel.
To accommodate the center speakers I had to make a mounting plate. I started the design by creating a template. Once the template was fine tuned for fit, I transferred the dimensions to 1/4" Lexan.

Cutting the Lexan with a table saw is easy, but the speaker holes are a bit of a challenge. I couldn't find a hole saw the right size so I used an air saw. It's a slow process that required clean up with a die grinder but I managed a fairly clean opening.

The center plate is mounted and the dash speakers are in and wired up.

[MMcMasters]

Very nice!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by MMcMasters

Very nice!

Thanks.

[N2TRUX]

While Chris was working on the dash he replaced the corner speakers too. We had previously replaced the stock speakers, but ran out of time to finish the original install. Fortunately Kicker stepped in and supplied us with premium quality components to build the system.

[LT7A]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

Lets see if this shows up. Its a #14057053.
Per the Admin at Nasty Z-28

Thanks! That's good info. I'd like to get ahold of one of those intake manifolds for the weight savings. I have the not very common 14057055. It's cast iron though. Doesn't show up on the NastyZ casting list, but shows up in some threads.

Thanks again, back to trackin with your Scarlett improvements. I like how you are fitting the sound system to the truck, rather than cutting up the truck to fit the system. No disrespect to those that cut the truck to fit. I just like to preserve factory provisions where possible and then update the components where technology has advanced, or the factory had to compromise to be cost-competitive.

[Desert1957]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

While Chris was working on the dash he replaced the corner speakers too. We had previously replaced the stock speakers, but ran out of time to finish the original install. Fortunately Kicker stepped in and supplied us with premium quality components to build the system.

Ken,
I had a problem with my corners speakers rubbing the dash pad, had to trim the ears a little and remount them from the bottom edge of the brackets.
Dash pad was actually limiting the speaker cone movement, sound was much improved after the relocation.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by LT7A

Thanks! That's good info. I'd like to get ahold of one of those intake manifolds for the weight savings. I have the not very common 14057055. It's cast iron though. Doesn't show up on the NastyZ casting list, but shows up in some threads.

I'm not sure how much weight it saves over cast iron, but I do like that it has mid rise runners. I feel it gives a bit more low end pull.

Originally Posted by LT7A

Thanks again, back to trackin with your Scarlett improvements. I like how you are fitting the sound system to the truck, rather than cutting up the truck to fit the system. No disrespect to those that cut the truck to fit. I just like to preserve factory provisions where possible and then update the components where technology has advanced, or the factory had to compromise to be cost-competitive.

I'm not a purist by any means, but I have reservations about certain mods. I do not like a cut up dash and refuse to do so if possible.
Wait to you see how I am mounting the KMC20 controller. I was able to come up with a method that doesn't require cutting the dash or the stock bezel.

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Desert1957

Ken,
I had a problem with my corners speakers rubbing the dash pad, had to trim the ears a little and remount them from the bottom edge of the brackets.
Dash pad was actually limiting the speaker cone movement, sound was much improved after the relocation.

I'm going to take a look at that. When I removed the other speakers I noted that the cone was a tiny bit distorted. I'm thinking the dash pad might have been touching. It may have happened during the pad install too, but I'm going to verify clearance on the new speakers. Surprisingly, the Kicker speakers are lower profile even though they are coaxial.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

I'm going to take a look at that. When I removed the other speakers I noted that the cone was a tiny bit distorted. I'm thinking the dash pad might have been touching. It may have happened during the pad install too, but I'm going to verify clearance on the new speakers. Surprisingly, the Kicker speakers are lower profile even though they are coaxial.

I had that same issue. I ended up mounting them from the bottom up. Hope that makes sense, of course I did not get a pic of it before putting the dash pad back on.

[LDO]

check out my build thread Ol Blue post #51. I went thru the same thing. Just got done mounting my dash and there was plenty of room. I put a few thin strips of clay to see how close the dash would get to the speakers and it never touched them or the clay!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by LDO

check out my build thread Ol Blue post #51. I went thru the same thing. Just got done mounting my dash and there was plenty of room. I put a few thin strips of clay to see how close the dash would get to the speakers and it never touched them or the clay!

Originally Posted by TKCR

I had that same issue. I ended up mounting them from the bottom up. Hope that makes sense, of course I did not get a pic of it before putting the dash pad back on.

I'm on it. Lets see what I can come up with.

[N2TRUX]

One more piece of the @kickeraudio puzzle fits in place. Last night I finished making the mounting panel for the bass control and usb media port.
The Kicker Hideaway 8" sub includes a remote mount gain control. It's a set it a forget it feature most of the time, but occasionally you might want a bit more bass.
I decided to mount it in the glove box to be accessible yet hidden when not in use. I had some extra space so I added a charging and data port as well.
The port will allow fast charging of any electronic gadget and USB input as well. The USB port will be connected to the KMC20 processor in the event you want to play stored music from a device that does not have Bluetooth. This is perfect for a demo list stored on a thumb drive.

[N2TRUX]

Here's a sneak peak of how I mounted the KMC20 display without cutting he factory bezel.
I will post the finished product later.

[LSSierra]

Love this build. Curious, did you ever finish the tailgate band?? I've been thinking about it every time I look at mine...

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by LSSierra

Love this build. Curious, did you ever finish the tailgate band?? I've been thinking about it every time I look at mine...

Thank you sir. No, I haven't touched the tailgate band. I'm still looking for a good solution besides spending several hours stripping, sanding, and clearing.

[Greenlee]

Originally Posted by TKCR

I had that same issue. I ended up mounting them from the bottom up. Hope that makes sense, of course I did not get a pic of it before putting the dash pad back on.

X2 on mounting the speakers under the bracket. That's how I did mine also.

[gmachinz]

I used some ridiculously strong rare earth magnets to attach my front speakers "under" the metal opening of the speaker areas. I used GM Bose automotive speakers from a CTS. I used (2) center loudspeakers and a tweeter at each dash corner-the sound is incredible when pushing the 1.5 ohm speakers using an old JBL amp pushing the BOSE speakers in series @ 2 ohm load! I've said it before-push the BOSE speakers with a good amplifier and they come alive!

[N2TRUX]

Originally Posted by Greenlee

X2 on mounting the speakers under the bracket. That's how I did mine also.

I'm going to work on remounting the corner speakers tonight. I think that eliminating the factory brackets and mounting directly to the dash will give me plenty of clearance.

Originally Posted by gmachinz

..... I used GM Bose automotive speakers from a CTS. I used (2) center loudspeakers and a tweeter at each dash corner-the sound is incredible when pushing the 1.5 ohm speakers using an old JBL amp pushing the BOSE speakers in series @ 2 ohm load! I've said it before-push the BOSE speakers with a good amplifier and they come alive!

That sounds like a great system. Bose has been an incredible innovator for many years. I had an RCA Home Theater TV with Bose direct reflect speakers. The sound was amazing for a TV 25 years ago.

[LDO]

Originally Posted by N2TRUX

I'm going to work on remounting the corner speakers tonight. I think that eliminating the factory brackets and mounting directly to the dash will give me plenty of clearance.

That's how i did mine and yes, plenty of room.

[TKCR]

Originally Posted by TKCR

I had that same issue. I ended up mounting them from the bottom up. Hope that makes sense, of course I did not get a pic of it before putting the dash pad back on.

This is the only pic I could find, not the best angle. But you can kind of see that the cone of the speaker isn't even seen, because it's below the bracket or flush with the bracket.

[N2TRUX]

Yesterday morning I started early and finished the @kickeraudio #kmc20 display install. After lots of contemplation I designed a way to mount the dusplay without modifications to the bezel or dash.
Previously I had made a template to cut out a piece of 1/16" textured abs to fill the cavity on the bezel. I attached it with thin double sided tape while I marked and drilled a couple of extra holes in the display mounting tab directly over the original radio holes. I made a small backing plate out of 1/8" abs scrap to attach from the backside.

Once I was comfortable that this would be secure I took it all apart once again and repeated the process on the new bezel supplied by Brothers Truck parts.