96 ECSB stereo system build

[puresw]

I'm new to the site but not new to chevy trucks and car audio so naturally the first part of my build for this truck will be the stereo. I picked up a 96 ecsb as a work/project truck that I'm planning to use as a demo vehicle for the shop that I'm managing so it's finally time to get going on it. Recently I've found myself taking great joy in the simple systems I've been doing lately and it got me thinking about the older systems I've owned that weren't so strict on staging and speaker placement, just a good sounding system to enjoy. I've decided to take that approach and build this system with that in mind. I'll still be using some form of time correction and eq but I'll just be using passive crossovers up front with some modification to speaker placement but nothing outrageous.

So far I've decided to use
two sets of Hybrid Audio Clarus 6.5's up front
possibly Imagine 5.25's as rear fill
Image Dynamics Q amps 750.2 for fronts and 1200.1 for subs
four 8 inch subs ported under the rear seat ( either Hybrid Audio Imagines or Image Dynamics ID8's)
and probably a Pioneer deh-80prs

I originally wanted to put both midbass drivers in the doors but upon further inspection I realized that the power window motor is directly behind the area I wanted to put the second driver. I kicked around a few ideas and I just wasn't willing to sacrifice driver performance by building out a door panel and mounting it to that. So to the kick panel we go. One driver will be door mounted in the factory location with some modification to the door and door panel. The second will be mounted in the kick panel and tweeters will be mounted in the A pillar. I started on the kick panels first and noticed there was a decent amount of room in there once I trimmed back the metal to create a larger opening for the driver to fit in. Once that was cut I made a 3/4 inch MDF baffle that will bolt to the metal and be sealed and decoupled with butyl rope and sound deadener.

Factory kick panel

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Metal trimmed to open up the area. Dont mind the rough cut it's not final yet

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MDF baffle set in place. Once I had that set I cut the opening in the plastic panel and used that as a guide for the baffle hole.

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Once the hole was cut I drilled and countersunk the holes for the bolts. I used washer on the inside of the holes so the bolts wouldn't tear through the MDF when being bolted down. I also set in t nuts that are used for the speaker bolts and chamfered the rear of the baffle for more air clearance.

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I cut one more ring out of 5/8 MDF that will be molded to the plastic panel along with the plastic grill piece that comes with the component set. I drilled through those to line up with the speaker bolt holes in the baffle. That will allow me to slide the finished panel in place and use the speaker bolts to not only secure the speaker but the panel itself. Pics of the driver side mounted

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Clearance check for the parking brake

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The drivers side panel has an opening for the hood latch so I had to relocate that and fill in the opening. Instead of pulling cloth over it and laying fiberglass resin or laying fiberglass mat to fill in the hole I decided to take a different approach. I cut up some 1/8 inch ABS an got out my butane soldering iron and started plastic welding it in to fill the gaps. It's rough but thats before sanding and body filler.

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Started the body work and got a few good coats of body filler to get the shape I wanted.

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Test fitting the grill back in place. I'm not sure if I want to use this piece or make a new one that fits in there. A few more coats and then I just have to decide if I want to texture and paint it or wrap it in vinyl.

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[T DOG]

Very cool!

 

[TruckinAin4Sissies]

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Would ya be interested in some trade work? Huh huh




-Truckin'-

 

[Mik3]

That's nice n all but... why lol? There's a speaker in the door not even 2 inches from the kick panel..

 

[radical7]

great job and looks very clean

 

[puresw]

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Would ya be interested in some trade work? Huh huh




-Truckin'-

i'm always down for trade work but being in Hawaii might make that hard lol unless its something I can ship to you

 

[puresw]

That's nice n all but... why lol? There's a speaker in the door not even 2 inches from the kick panel..

i'm actually doing 2 sets of components up front and because the power window motor is right behind the area I wanted to put the second speaker I had to use a different location for it. Kick panels were the next obvious choice. Aside from that IF I decided I wanted to just run one set of components and use only the kick panels I would get better stage depth and width in my sound because the kick panels are farther forward and slightly wider outward than the doors. Plus its nice to know that it can be done for the older interior guys that had no door location at all.

 

[TruckinAin4Sissies]

i'm always down for trade work but being in Hawaii might make that hard lol unless its something I can ship to you

Ah, come on now, take the bridge

It seems everybody lives in the mid-west or farther.

So yeah, we'd have to ship.



-Truckin'-

 

[puresw]

A little bit of an update. I did a little more work to the kick panels, put a few more coats of filler and a few coats of high build primer to see how it looks before I decide to either texture and paint it or wrap it in vinyl. Also started the a pillar tweeter mounts.

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I took the front pieces of the tweeter flush mount cups and used them as my speaker rings. I cut the holes in the pillar and mounted them in place, scuffed the pillar good and laid my filler on. I did a few quick coats and a coat or two of high build primer to get an idea of how they are looking.

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[T DOG]

Nice! Top notch work! Subscribed.