evan's stereo install

[evan]

This summer I installed a stereo in my truck so I thought I would post up the pictures that I took along the way. It isn't a crazy expensive stereo or anything, just a cd player two 5.25's and a 10" sub all powered by a 4 channel amp.

I pulled out the seat and the damp carpet to find rust.





I sanded down the spots of surface rust on both sides and exposed a hole at about the same spot on both sides of the cab. I cut out and bent some sheet metal to have my buddy weld in place, but he wasn't able to do a weld all the way around because the old sheet metal was too thin (after 27 years of rusting).

He was able to tack it into place





and then I used JB Weld to seal the rest of the way around.





I ground down the mess I made with the JB Weld and then painted it.





Next came the intallation of a roll of Raammat sound deadening material.





It went really well. It was easy to work with, and I'm happy with the results. I definately recommend the product and the company. Rick is great to deal with.

[evan]

I installed the new weather stripping around the door openings and then cut a hole in the dash to accomodate the cd player.


I taped out where it needed to be cut






and then laid into it with the dremmel.





A buddy suggested that I mount my amp on a piece of plywood to keep it that much further away from moisture, so I cut out a piece and painted it flat black to blend in with the new carpet I bought.






I did all the in dash wiring with the help of this:





and this:

http://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/GM-Wiring.pdf



and spliced into the interior light wire for the constant power supply to the deck. You can see the fuse in the bottom left corner of this pic.





I installed the 5.25's in the boxes that I made








and the sub into the pre-fabed box I bought, and started wiring things up for a test. I ended up with a mangled mess of wire, but it actually made music!!! It was so rewarding to finally see and hear some obvious progress.

[evan]

I started the next day by attempting to mount the boxes for the 5.25's. I used some stuff that is meant for holding pipes in place for plumbing.





It was easy enough to cut with tin snips, but the process of mounting the boxes was a giant pain in the A$$!!! It was difficult to get in behind the boxes to get the brackets attached to a place that would keep them from swinging forward so there was a whole lot of swearing going on, but I got it done.





I started organizing the mess of wires buy lining up the speaker and rca wires down the passenger side of the hump in the floor.





The power wire got run along the edge of the drivers side by the door, then I installed the carpet and pulled through the wires and seat belts and stuff.





For my first attempt at a car audio install, I'm pretty happy. Sure beats the heck out of an AM mono radio.

[canadian trucker]

wow nice job

looks real clean, how does it sound ?

[Nolowrider]

Evan-Nice job!! You should be proud of all the hard work you did, looks like it really turned out first class. Looks like you went the extra mile to do it right. I'll bet it sounds great. I am planning on doing an install myself in the next few days. Thanks for the pic, you just gave me some ideas. Great work!!!

[bigarmzz]

geeze man...nice

where'd ya get the carpet at?

[mike nutt]

QUOTE]
evan , every thing looks good , here are a couple of pics of the speaker box i built in my '86, there is a pair of 10's muonted under the seat

[canadian trucker]

wow nice,
how did you get ten's under the seat?

[evan]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Originally Posted by bigarmzz

where'd ya get the carpet at?

I got that at a shop called Tiger Automotive here in Saskatoon. It went in nicely because it was molded to fit the curves of the truck.

[1974gmc]

whats the dimensions on the box? I just bought some cheap sub and amp combo from walmart (2 12's and 340watt amp) but i dont know if there will be enough room with out moving the seat all the way forward.

[84stepper2]

Mike, 2 questions. What is that box made out, fiberglass? And did you have to cut a hole in the floor the 10's?

[69GMC910]

Hey, I just put a stereo in my 82 as well. And boy did I cringe when I cut the dash!!, but the result was worth it!! My question is, Does everyones seat have to sit further forward with 6x9's in boxes behind the seat?? The boxes I bought are pretty standard and I have to have the seat about 3" forward to have them fit. What's the remedy for this???!!!

[82 Silverado 4X]

I really like all of yours but I wanted something a little less understated.
Instead of boxes that sit on the shelf I built corner enclosures for my Kenwwod 6x9's by using pegboard, 1x1 strips and acustical insulation. I covered the enclosures with the left over material from my headliner. I screwed the enclosures into the same location as the factory rear 4x10's. Then I cut another panel to go across the back of the cab between the corner speaker enclosures and covered it with the same headliner material also. Nice and clean but I still have a place for my ratchet straps, bungees, tow strap and the ice scraper. I already had 4" Kenwoods in the dash hooked to my factory AM-FM Cassette. I just added a 6 Disc Pioneer Changer under the seat and am planning on adding a 4 x 50 watt amp under the seat later.

[piecesparts]

This is some of what I put into my 84 GMC truck. I have an Alpine DVD head unit with a EQ mounted into the dash. There are 10 speakers in the cab; two tweeters in the dash (center crossover), two tweeters and 6" mid h igh range in the upper door pods, two 8" woofers mid low range in the lower door pods, and two 8" tubes Sub woofers behind the seat. The amp for the subs and the amp for the 8" door speakers is under the seat and the amp for the mid high range and the dash tweeters is on the cab back wall. There is an active crossover network and a "Epicenter" bass enhancer in the system also. It is good for 300 DB and has been measured there.

[piecesparts]

Here are a few more pictures of the inside of the 84 GMC. The speakers are Boston Accoustic, with the Subwoofers being "Bazookas". All of the amps are Rockford Fosgate.

[Clos'84TX]

Okay question for anyone that has subs behind your seat, can you recline comfortably?
I have a 10" behind my seat and I feel all crunched up. And I'm not a tall guy, about average height?

[evan]

Originally Posted by Clos'84TX

Okay question for anyone that has subs behind your seat, can you recline comfortably?
I have a 10" behind my seat and I feel all crunched up. And I'm not a tall guy, about average height?

My bench doesn't recline at all, it just moves forward and back. I don't know if it is different for other years. Before I put the sub in, I had the seat set so that it would just touch the back of the cab when I was sitting on it. With the sub in, it is one notch further away from the back of the cab. I notice the lack of reclining room when I go from other vehicles back into my truck, but when I'm just in my truck I get used to it. Even without subs there isn't really any room to lean back.

I plan on eventually putting in buckets and making a custom center console to house subs and amps, but other things have higher priority right now. I've been noticing the different depth of the seats that other guys have been putting in, and so far I think the buckets out of a Dodge Dakota seem to fit the best against the back of the cab.

[evan]

Well, that was unnecessarily hard to find. I guess it was a durango, not a dakota.

Check it out here: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...highlight=seat

[79Silv4x4]

Originally Posted by mike nutt

QUOTE]
evan , every thing looks good , here are a couple of pics of the speaker box i built in my '86, there is a pair of 10's muonted under the seat

Might have been asked/posted earlier but can I get some pics of the install of tens under the seat?

[LOHRTBT]

I would like to see them under the seat too.If 10's will go...then I could raise the seat a smidge and fit 12's hehe.

[piecesparts]

I have two 8" bazooka subs behind my seat firing into each other in an "Isobaric" setup (see pictures above). They set on the ledge behind the seat and the seat back conforms to them pretty well. I am a six foot heavy set guy and I can sit in my truck comfortably. The seat back will shape itself to the rounded tubes and dosn't seem to have problems staying at the angle that is proper for it. A sub box tends to take up a lot of room behind the seat, it if it is not built to fit against the cab back (pre-built boxes, for example). There is really NO ROOM under the seat for the subs, especially if you leave all of the seat springs and control wires under it. I have my amps mounted to the floor under my seat. (sub amp on driver's side and the four channel amp on the other side)

[LOHRTBT]

OH yeah....Piecesparts..not to undershadow your install...but if someone told you that your truck measured 300db, they need to get a new meter or get thiers calibrated. 300db would damn near implode your head haha! And Bazooka's arent gonna hit that hard unfortunately. The IASCA record for 2005 is as follows in the unlimited class
Scott Owens

Tempe, AZ. USA
2002 Ford F-250
*180.3 dB

Anything over 140 is damn hard to acheive and VERY VERY VERY expensive. My old truck hit 143.3 Db and then immediately Blew both subs and the amp lol. Tuned it down after that.
That alone is enough to make you feel woosey after an extended time, not to mention ear damage lol.

[Russell]

something like 102 dB is the threshold of pain, lol

[evan]

To put subs under the seat you would probably have to use fiberglass.

[piecesparts]

You are absolutely right and I am glad that someone actually reads these things. I am old and feeble and I forget the small things from time to time. Three hundred db does take a lot of money and I did not spend that much. I got that entry in the forum at an early moring install and I missed the numbers by about a X 2, because I was tired. Thanks for waking me up. I will say that my truck is strong at what it puts out and the readings (not 300) are actual readings that I got at a competition in my local area. I gave that stuff up because it took to much away from what I wanted to do in the engine build up. I work at a power plant where pain actually starts at 90 db (acorrding to OSHA). I can turn the thing up to where your ears ring for quite awhile and I do actually make some decent power. Oh, by the way---Bazookas in an isobaric formation, set up in a series hookup hit pretty dang hard, especially in a truck cab.