vettfixr

Well I finally got the stereo install completed and I have some pics that will show the details. I included as many pics as the forum software will allow but the last few are links that you will have to click in order to see them.
First, in order to use more modern technology I purchased a gauge bezel with the conversion kit installed from Vette Specialties. This is a good deal because the price of the bezel and conversion kit is only about $10 less than getting a bezel and cutting it your self and installing the conversion kit. It's well worth the savings in time and effort. I went with an Alpine CDA-9847 for the head unit. This unit offers 18 watts RMS x 4 channels and plays CDs, CDRs MP3 and WMA files. It's also set up for use with Satellite radio, an IPOD and CD changers and numerous other devices through it's Ai-NET connection. The unit also features 3 pairs of RCA output jacks for front rear and subwoofer outputs. All in all it's a very versitile head unit and at $200 reasonably priced. Here are a few pics that show the front, back and side view of the receiver mounted to the bezel.




I then went with a Profile California amplifier which produces 80 watts x 4 channels and includes high and low pass adjustable filters along with bass and treble boost controls. It also features a pass through which allows you to hook up more amps later without running new cables to the rear. I used the amp to power the front kick panel speakers and the rear speakers. For rear speakers I went with Rockford Fosgate 6 1/2 inch which sound pretty good, handle a lot of power and produce good bass. These components were mounted to a board that fits under the rear deck. The panel rests on the back ledge of the rear compartment and is held up at the front by 3 screws through the rear header panel support brackets. This setup allows maximum use of the rear compartment and hides the amp. Now I've tried many different ways to mount speakers in the rear and they've all been a compromise. What I did this time has worked out very well producing very clear sound. I made the speaker boxes from particle board and mounted them to the panel in the rear corners. This gets them off the floor and into the corners which are dead space. As you can see in the pictures in order to get them into the corner the bottom of the boxes have to be mitered. I made the boxes just big enough to fit the speakers which means they are about 7 1/2 inches square by about 2 1/2 inches deep. I finished off the speakers by filling in any imperfections with wood filler and spackling, sanded them and then painting them with vinyl paint to match the interior trim. I tried them out on my home theater system as a test and my wife asked if I could make another pair to leave in the house. I declined but who knows what the future will bring. Anyway, heres some pics of the rear.




Moving on to the front I used Pioneer 4x6 speakers for the top dash units and powered these through the head unit. This gives good imaging and allows the use of 6 speakers with this setup. I've used a few different speakers in the front but the Pioneer seem to offer the best packaging and sound for the money. They also don't bump into the speedo and tach housings. For the kickpanel speakers I went with 5 1/4 inch Pioneers which again make the most of packaging and sound. To mount 5 1/4 inch speakers in the kicks you will have to grind a relief in the birdcage. A carbide grinder can be used which makes the job go quickly. Here's a pic of the modified birdcage.

To mount the speakers there are a few considerations. First the speaker must be mounted rigidly so you don't get any vibrations. Secondly, because of the design of the birdcage, the speaker must have the back isolated from the front or the sound will be thin due to cancellation of the front soundwaves by the back. I solved this by making some baffles that can be mounted to the birdcage and mounted the speakers on them using weatherproof pods which can be purchased through any of the stereo houses. I used some old laminate flooring for the baffles because I had it laying around the house. It's about 3/8 inchers thick but is very ridgid. You can probably use some 1/4 inch masonite and get the same results. Here are the pics of the baffles. Note that the right side has an additional cutout to clear the vacuum motor brackets for the internal/external air door.



Here are the speakers mounted to the baffles and mounted on the birdcage. You can also see the mounting of the top dash speakers.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/phot...ntleftspkr.jpg
Once everything is buttoned back up the installation is surprisingly stock looking. The kickpanel speakers are invisible as are the top dash speakers and the rear speakers give a stock looking appearance. Here are some pics of the completed install.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/phot...6completed.jpg
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/phot...pletedkick.jpg

NHvette

Looks very nice ... like it was meant to be there.

What is the black panel under the rear deck ? aftermarket ?
I don't recall seeing anything like that in the 75 or 70.

danboback

outstanding work!

vettfixr

It's a board that I fabricated out of 3/4 inch exterior plywood. I use it to mount the components. There's enough room for several amps and a CD changer which is what my old setup entailed.

Ganey

Al

Looks great, as expected!



I really like it hidden from an anti-theft viewpoint.

Jughead

You do nice work.

vettfixr

I'm real happy with it too Ganey. The faceplate is also removable which helps the anti-theft part a lot too.

kdf1986

Your system looks well thought out and planned. The photos help me to understand what you did to make everything fit. I am saving this under my favorites for when I get to that part of my rebuild.

I like the way you put the amp under the back deck. That looks to be a pretty good location to keep it out of the way, and still leave room for the cargo space in the rear.

kdf

zwede

I have an older Alpine head unit that I'm real happy with except it doesn't play MP3's. I was looking at Alpine's site today and noticed that it looks like they don't offer RDS anymore on any of their models??? My 6 year old Alpine has it and I love it. Most of the stations here do RDS and scroll the current artist/song title on the display. I was thinking of getting a new Alpine but not if it doesn't have RDS.

Eddie 70

Nice looking install. When you were putting in the kick panel speakers, what did you do about the shavings from the grider? How does it sound? I need to do a little more to my stereo so I can hear it with the top down.

Motor City Vette

Looks Great!

vettfixr

Thanks for all the compliments guys. I ground the kickpanels when I did my last install. At the time I was replacing the carpets so the grindings weren't a problem, just vacuum them up. But if you are doing it with carpets in the car I would either remove the carpets if possible or cover them with plastic sheeting because the shavings are very hard to get out. Right now I haven't done any tuning on the system. It sounds good but I know there are a few things I want to try. First, the top dash speakers ( 4 x 6 ) will not handle a lot of power if you run them full range. Right now they're powered by the head unit and I'll probably experiment with some high pass filters so they act more like tweeters than full range speakers. The kick panel speakers ( 5 1/4 ) will handle more power and will produce more bass but I'll probably experiment with the adjustable crossovers on the amp to kill the lowest frequencies on them. It's no use trying to get a speaker to do what it wasn't designed to do and 5 1/4 speakers were not designed to produce very deep bass. The rear speakers sound fine running full range and I'll probably only play with the bass boost. Right now I feel like it has enough bass to give a full sound but if I think I need it I have some extra amps from my old setup and a Bazooka 6 1/2 inch bass tube that I can try. The big problem with these cars is packaging and the bass tube takes a lot of space. An alternative would be to use the jack compartment as a receiver for a speaker box that could house an 8 or 10 inch sub. Time will tell.

Scudd

It looks like you might have replaced your dash wiring harness? If so how hard was it to do? Looks really clean , nice work!

onaqwst

nice and clean....sort of wish i went that route but hey.... a little interior customizing isn't bad....check my gallery for my pics


b

Frankenvette

I used similar baffles on my speakers. They work very well.

Glassbowtie77

Looks great, you do nice work!

Desertdawg

Very nice work.

1FUNVET

vettfixr - your stereo looks really good!!!

vettfixr

It's the original wiring and I have to tell you that after all these years it's gotten pretty stiff. I had to replace and jury rig some of the dash lights because the sockets were so brittle they cracked. I guess somewhere down the road I'll have to replace the whole harness but that's a project for another day.
Again to all, thanks for the compliments. Now I've got to go nurse this sore back I got trying to fit this old body into the rear compartment.

COMMANDER370

Real nice job. Need to update mine and i got several good ideas from this