1968 GMC - Ol' Blue

[MDPotter]

I got a few little things done this weekend - mirrors, locks, door handles, and VIN tag are on. I had to file on the driver side lock hole in the door to get the lock in; that was painful. Also have most of the front lights wiring done, just don't have lights to hookup yet.

I buffed my old front bumper a little bit, but decided it would look bad next to the fresh paint and compared to the new rear bumper so I'll have to order one.

We finished out the day and took it for another short drive. I like to take it for a spin whenever I can to get the bugs out. The tach isn't working right though, it seems to be reading low and it has quite a delay so I need to figure that out eventually. I don't know what the tuner set it for but I might be able to fix it through programming the gauges.

Progress is going to be a little slow for the next couple months with Christmas and having to buy a bed soon. Next steps will be the sound system and some lighting, maybe a new front bumper and glass.

[TA_C10]

Looking good man. How did you clean up your vin tag?

[Camaroguy]

Looking good. You got a lot done since last time I checked.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Looking good man. How did you clean up your vin tag?

I just sprayed some glass cleaner on it and wiped it off, it was in pretty good shape already. I might hit it with some metal polish one of these days if I really want it to shine.

[sprint_9]

Looking good, you gotta love that blue in the sun.

[1971Stepside]

Truck looks hot on a chilly day in Western Colorado! You have came a long ways in what seems like a short time. Hoping to get back on mine after the first of the year. Wife decided she needed new windows for the house....

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by Camaroguy

Looking good. You got a lot done since last time I checked.

Originally Posted by sprint_9

Looking good, you gotta love that blue in the sun.

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

Truck looks hot on a chilly day in Western Colorado! You have came a long ways in what seems like a short time. Hoping to get back on mine after the first of the year. Wife decided she needed new windows for the house....

Thanks guys. That day, the sun came out for about 10 minutes just as I was finishing up a couple things to take it for a spin. I have to get it done before I get married because it won't be as easy to spend time and money on projects after that. At least that's what I'm told!

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

I have to get it done before I get married because it won't be as easy to spend time and money on projects after that. At least that's what I'm told!

Congratulations! That's not always the case. There are a lot of variables. A lot of it depends if children are in the picture.
Brian

[Leonard1]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

...I have to get it done before I get married because it won't be as easy to spend time and money on projects after that. At least that's what I'm told!

Not entirely true, you can work on the ones you have, acquiring new ones is the challenge!

Looking great, you have come a long way this year...

[MDPotter]

Happy New Year everyone!

My dad and I had the day off yesterday and we got a lot done on the sound system. We built an enclosure to take place of the stock fuel tank (using the fuel tank mounting holes) to house two subs and two speakers and the amp, wrapped in vinyl. The subs are shallow 10" driven by a 1000W amp and the speakers are 6" components. I have slightly smaller speakers to install in the front kick panel vents next and the system will be complete. The specs on the subs indicate a minimum box volume of .35 cu ft and I'm at .44 so it worked pretty well. The system (even without front speakers) sounds great. They are slim subs with small boxes, but I'm not looking to shake the truck apart, just get some good bass.

When we modified the dash, we used a double din sleeve from an Alpine double din unit we had laying around. What I found while looking for a head unit was that Alpine seems to be consistent with their chassis size, so the head unit I bought fit perfect in the sleeve. I like this iLX-W650 because it's so shallow, light, and affordable. The only trick with it is that it's got a safety feature in which a lot of the functions and settings are unavailable unless the parking brake is on. However, "parking brake engaged" is a relative term - it just means that the unit needs to see a ground on the parking brake wire in order to unlock those functions. But it can't be a constant ground, the unit needs to see the ground appear after it's turned on. So I just ran it to my ground buss bar under the dash and installed a toggle switch in line so I can fool it whenever I need to. No relay or microbypass needed.

My console also arrived - it was pulled out of a 14-18 GM pickup/SUV before it went into service for law enforcement so it's basically brand new and fits perfect between the seats. They robbed the USB and charging ports out of it, but my head unit came with a USB cable that I ran under the carpet so I can plug my phone in from the console and charge or use Apple CarPlay.

I know some guys are cringing at the quantity of speakers and the modified dash, but I value a good sound system and I love the double din receiver.

[1971Stepside]

Speaker box looks good. Giving me ideas...

[TA_C10]

Yeah I like the speaker box too. But those look like coax speakers not components... Components normally have the crossover box and tweeters mounted outside the mid-woofer? I'm no expert, just been doing a lot of research for my truck. I'm really happy to hear your details having .44 cu ft. Makes sizing subs easier for me now

I plan to do something similar. I like the idea of the new speaker mounts in the cab corners from brotherstrucks but not sure about that yet. I plan to do components in my doors and remote mount the tweeters somewhere higher in the door. Or maybe put them in kick panels only. I dunno. P.O. cut holes in the door for 6x9's so.....

Sweet man

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by TA_C10

Yeah I like the speaker box too. But those look like coax speakers not components... Components normally have the crossover box and tweeters mounted outside the mid-woofer? I'm no expert, just been doing a lot of research for my truck. I'm really happy to hear your details having .44 cu ft. Makes sizing subs easier for me now

I plan to do something similar. I like the idea of the new speaker mounts in the cab corners from brotherstrucks but not sure about that yet. I plan to do components in my doors and remote mount the tweeters somewhere higher in the door. Or maybe put them in kick panels only. I dunno. P.O. cut holes in the door for 6x9's so.....

Sweet man

You're right, they're coax. The boxes could have been slightly deeper by decreasing the angle of the front panel and making the box longer, but I'm happy with it and it sounds good.

[cornerstone]

I have the same speaker in a 10 inch version, only one of them, in my daily driver... a single cab Sierra. It rocks flat out in such a small space. With those 2 subs, you’re liable to shake the fillings out of your teeth. Looks great, as usual.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

I have the same speaker in a 10 inch version, only one of them, in my daily driver... a single cab Sierra. It rocks flat out in such a small space. With those 2 subs, you’re liable to shake the fillings out of your teeth. Looks great, as usual.

Thanks. I'm not going for a bumping system so it's a little overkill, but I wanted it to be symmetrical and have plenty of adjustment.

[MDPotter]

The front end lighting is done. I bought the halogen upgrade headlights from LMC and I'm pretty pleased with them. They use a modern 9007 lamp and I opted for the blue-coated lamps for whiter light. Working with 4 headlights makes me jealous of you Chevy guys - it's twice the struggle and there's barely enough room in front of the core support for the housing and lamp pigtail so the wires are almost stressed on the inners. Also, I couldn't remember how the spring hooked on the buckets so I fought that for awhile.

But the LED sidemarker lights from SOKY were easy to install and look great too.

I need to figure out how to reset the glass in the channels though. I haven't been able to find much info on this task yet. It seems from the factory they were just pressed in with some rubber without any adhesive. I ordered the "glass setting rubber" from LMC and it's basically just strips of rubber. The passenger glass fell out of the channel during door disassembly so I took the driver side apart and sandblasted and painted the channels while I was at it. If anyone has any tips on this, let me know please.

[TA_C10]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

The front end lighting is done. I bought the halogen upgrade headlights from LMC and I'm pretty pleased with them. They use a modern 9007 lamp and I opted for the blue-coated lamps for whiter light. Working with 4 headlights makes me jealous of you Chevy guys - it's twice the struggle and there's barely enough room in front of the core support for the housing and lamp pigtail so the wires are almost stressed on the inners. Also, I couldn't remember how the spring hooked on the buckets so I fought that for awhile.

But the LED sidemarker lights from SOKY were easy to install and look great too.

I need to figure out how to reset the glass in the channels though. I haven't been able to find much info on this task yet. It seems from the factory they were just pressed in with some rubber without any adhesive. I ordered the "glass setting rubber" from LMC and it's basically just strips of rubber. The passenger glass fell out of the channel during door disassembly so I took the driver side apart and sandblasted and painted the channels while I was at it. If anyone has any tips on this, let me know please.

I noticed my door glass was set in the channels using butyl rubber. Not sure if that was factory....

[1971Stepside]

Potter, I'm trying to change out the fittings on my Astro Hydro unit. Do you have any idea what size the fittings are? I'm thinking I need the RUS-648060 for the Input and the RUS-648080 for the output, but don't know for sure. I also can't find what the size of the low pressure return fitting is.

I want to put new fittings that will 90 out and give me more control over where my lines run. Thanks

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by 1971Stepside

Potter, I'm trying to change out the fittings on my Astro Hydro unit. Do you have any idea what size the fittings are? I'm thinking I need the RUS-648060 for the Input and the RUS-648080 for the output, but don't know for sure. I also can't find what the size of the low pressure return fitting is.

I want to put new fittings that will 90 out and give me more control over where my lines run. Thanks

Those should be correct - (1) 16MM and (1) 18MM (not sure which is input and output though). I don't know what the return fitting is, mine had a 3/8" barb fitting on it already. But from some internet searching, I would guess it to be 1/8" NPT (same as 5/16"-24). Here's a link I came across that has a whole bunch of fittings - I found the Hydratech HBS9100 and HBS9101 about 3/4 of the way down the page.

http://www.hydratechbraking.com/hose_fittings.html

[Leonard1]

Originally Posted by MDPotter

...I need to figure out how to reset the glass in the channels though. I haven't been able to find much info on this task yet. It seems from the factory they were just pressed in with some rubber without any adhesive. I ordered the "glass setting rubber" from LMC and it's basically just strips of rubber. The passenger glass fell out of the channel during door disassembly so I took the driver side apart and sandblasted and painted the channels while I was at it. If anyone has any tips on this, let me know please.

When I did mine, I asked a buddy that works for a mobile windshield repair company, and he gave me a partial tube (leftover from another job) of windshield adhesive. It was black, kinda thick and in a caulk type tube.

[MDPotter]

Originally Posted by Leonard1

When I did mine, I asked a buddy that works for a mobile windshield repair company, and he gave me a partial tube (leftover from another job) of windshield adhesive. It was black, kinda thick and in a caulk type tube.

So you didn't use any rubber? Just glued it to the channel?

[Leonard1]

Yep

[MDPotter]

I just ordered a tube of 3M windshield adhesive, wish me luck!

[clay68c10]

The truck's looking good!
What seats are you going to use with that console?

[MDPotter]

Thanks!

I'm using the 04 Escalade buckets. They're graphite so they won't match everything else, but they're fine for now since I'm going to recover them eventually.