Black Beauty Project Build - 06 Ford F-250 Super Duty **1/27/18 - New pics starting on page 41**

[scooter99]

No you're not! Go do it!! You know you want to!! LOL

[Wood]

No you're not! Go do it!! You know you want to!! LOL

LOL Ohhh I want to, but I don't want to

[tboorn]

damn great work man, and awesome detailed explanations of everything make it awesome to read through

[scooter99]

Thanks. I agree. I know sometimes when I go through a thread that has a ton of pics and no explanations, it end up with a bunch of questions. That's why I explain a lot when I do my stuff.

Nothing went down last night. Busy doing family stuff. May not get to it this week. But we'll see what the week holds.

[scooter99]

So nothing picture worthy happened last night. However, I did disassemble the Sack Itchy and found out that i can still utilize the area I want to on the the steering wheel controls. Without the outer ring, it buys me just enough room to make it work and still keep the unit together. Which means no relocating buttons or anything like that.

Now I just need to source a set of new steering wheel controls.

[Broke_Audio_Addict]

So nothing picture worthy happened last night. However, I did disassemble the Sack Itchy and found out that i can still utilize the area I want to on the the steering wheel controls. Without the outer ring, it buys me just enough room to make it work and still keep the unit together. Which means no relocating buttons or anything like that.

Now I just need to source a set of new steering wheel controls.

I can probably help you with that, pm me the vehicle info.

[scooter99]

Dang. Thanks, I just picked some up off of ebay.

[scooter99]

Ok so here's where I'm at. I'm just going to talk for a minute or thirty, so read it or don't read it, it's fine. It's a double purposed post.

We all know how my mind works by now. It never stops. We also know by now that I'm A - Easily distracted and B - Like to plan everything out before I attempt it since I don't have a lot of time to work on things. I have to have it planned out so I know my plans of attack and steps that I have in front of me, so I can know how much time I need for a step or if it'll be worth it to go out to the shop one night for an hour. Stuff like that.

So all that being said, I've pretty much finalized my plans. All same equipment, nothing is changing for those of you rolling your eyes. Just nailing down a final install plan.

Source Unit

Source unit is the Samsung Tablet, which is being worked on. My plan is to get that finished before starting anything else. The only thing that would be an exception, would be the temporary sub enclosure for the center console 10. Recall I started that project with my daughters several months ago. Well it sits still in my shop and not finished. I may work on that with my girls this weekend and get it done, so it can go up and out of the way.

Currently working on that Source unit, you can see from the pics on previous pages, I'm putting it in the dash. I've been doing some thinking about the set up. I'm still planning on all the same stuff, HDMI to Converter (which is now a View HD since the Octava stopped working) and then Optical to the processor. But what I've been thinking about, and researching is the optical toslink cable which has to, under the current plan, snake from the dash all the way to the back seat where the processor will be. So my concern is bends and kinks, which we know is bad. So I'm thinking I will probably put the View HD converter in the back with the rest of the equipment. This way, it's the HDMI cable that snakes back, eliminating the high risk of damage. I'll get back to this later.

Media Button Remote Control.

I have figured out how to take this apart, and figured out that without the outer ring, I can get it to fit in the stock steering wheel controls where I want and keep the HVAC controls. Based on that, I've ordered a second set so that I can work on them and not what's in the truck. Those will be here next week.

HVAC Unit

Speaking of the HVAC Unit, I'll be moving this now that I have the remote thing figured out, up to the roof cubby as originally planned.

Amp Racks

Amp rack, let's talk about that. I recently wanted to tie my seats together and make one bench seat. I still probably will do this for the backs, but the bottoms are not so necessary anymore. So where I'm at is this. on the floor, I'll be cutting out the center seat bracket, which is where the seat splits are. I think, based on pics I've seen, I can do this, and also make it so that the seats are not affected. The plan is then to cut out the hump in the middle of the floor under the seat. Some of you know what I'm talking about, some don't but will eventually. I need a fully flat surface for the amp racks.

Now that we have our flat floor and a blank canvas, here's where things get fun. The plan is to create a fiberglass amp rack, and have it be like an enclosure without a top. Obviously there will be some finer details in there, but you can get an idea of what I'm talking about at least. This bottom amp rack, for now, will house both of the Ampere Audio AA150.4's. There's a lot of space in there, and I have future plans, but for now, this is what is going to be there.

Rear Seat Bottom Amp Racks

Seat bottom. So we have the floor figured out, we have to figure out the seat bottoms. I'm no longer going to combine them, as I said before, so I have a little more work to do in creating separate amp racks for these instead of one big amp rack, but I just couldn't see me being able to successfully weld this seat together, and then have it reupholstered and still look good. This way, at least, it will still look semi stock, until you lift them up that is. LOL

The 60 portion of the seat is where I'll start. The Ampere Audio AA2000.1 fits pretty comfortably centered in that seat. That is where it will go. Again, like the bottom, I'll be taking the seat bottom out, and making a fiberglass pan to put in it for a nice amp rack that will integrate into the seat bottom. Again no cover will be added. Covering the amps just introduces problems with heat.

The 40 portion of the seat will get the same treatment. However, this side will house the Ampere Audio JM-1 Processor. Same fiberglass pan as the 60 seat and the floor rack. My hope is, and this is where things get tricky so this is not a for sure placement yet, that there is enough room depth wise, so I can make a false floor in here. The bottom will house the DC to DC converter, and the View HD Converter. Then a panel, and the JM-1 on top of it. But this all depends on the size of the JM-1. The future also depends on the size as well. I'll touch on that at the end.

Rear Seat Back Amp Rack

Now that we have all that done, that's all for mids, highs, and mid bass, but what about the big bass?! Well that's where the Rear Seat Back comes into play. Again, i'm not feeling warm and fuzzy about welding the two together, but this is not out of the question for sure yet. But right now the plan is to somehow get an amp rack in there that will house both of the Ampere Audio AA3800.1's. Ive had this seat cover off, and I believe I can do this in a similar fashion as the other amp racks, with a fiberglass pan, and not have to cut the the steel frame of the seat. I think it's just barely deep enough. If not, I may be able to do it where I just have a slight transition in the level of the amp rack vs. the seat back.

Another issue I'll deal with is the separate mechanisms for folding the seat forward. The current idea, is to connect them with a long rod, so that when you move one, you move both. I'm not sure this will work out that way, but I'm also not sure i want to eliminate one and only have one mechanism holding the seat from folding forward. That would not be good if I had to hit the brakes hard.

If I cannot feasibly make that work out, I will probably change up and build an amp rack on the floor in front of the seat that will tie into the under seat floor amp rack.

Mids/Doors

Let's talk sound finally. Each door, front and rear, will house a set of Ampere Audio Dream Components. That means 2 mids per door. For now, that's it for the front, but the rears will house both the tweets and the mids. I'll be doing a set of rings, and then fibergalssing them to the door. The plan is for a counter sunk look, with a mesh grill over the top of it, and then to make a nicer look, a panel that covers the mid frames. This way the frames are hidden along with the ugly holes and screws. I'll also be incorporating some details and some ability for future upgrades. These components will be powered by the Ampere Audio AA150.4's.

Front Tweets

The front component tweeters will be going in the sail panels right next to the dash. I've seen several people use this method in these trucks and it seems like the best way to do it. I though about putting them in the doors, like in the rears, but I think these sail panels will produce better results.

Center Console Mid Bass / Sub

This is still in the air as far as which enclosure will be used. I'm going to test both a sealed and a ported enclosure. As I said earlier, I've already started the ported enclosure, and I'll be finishing that this weekend hopefully. Won't be pretty but it'll be done.

So the center console will house an Ampere Audio AA3.0v2 10. This will be powered with the Ampere Audio AA2000.1. The amp is a bit much for the sub, however, this is an after thought, since I changed up a bit. But I have it, so I'll be using it. The sub will be firing at a downward angle below the dash for up front effects.

I'll be making the enclosure, once I decide which one, in a bit of a different method. It's been going around a bit and i like it. It'll be more wood, and more work, but I think it'll be cool in the end. I'll also be incorporating some plexi on the sides to view the sub from the sides. They'll have a cover as well.

The top of the console will house quite a few things. First thing that is going in there will be the Denon DVS-1 volume meter. I'll need to make a panel, probably an aluminum panel, or a fiberglass panel, that will be removable for ease in wiring, troubleshooting, whatever. This panel will have switches, knobs for the AA2000.1 and AA3800.1's, and more. It will also house a 7" monitor for back up cameras on the truck and for the trailer when it's hooked up. I'm also going to be deciding on gauges as well. I am trying to decide if I want round individual gauges, or if I want an Edge CTS Insight 2. That's another screen to have in there. But monitors essentially EVERYTHING!! So I may go that route. I'll also need to make a phone mount or pocket for my phone to go in. Nothing too fancy, since I'm hooked up on cell service with the tablet, i can get all texts etc on the tablet. So the only thing I'd need the phone for is calls, which I don't normally do anyway.

SUBS

This will be a blowthru 4th order enclosure to house 1 DC Audio M2 XL 15's with D1.4 ohm Coils and AR Surrounds. They will take 1 of the Ampere Audio AA3800.1's each at a .7 ohm load. Not much more I can say about that. The back wall where the port will come through will be dressed up but not much more than that. I'm thinking about dressing up the interior of the enclosure, but not sure how yet, and how much. No plexi going in, so the only place to see through will be the port which may not be much to see since the seat will be there. So this may be a decide on the fly type of thing.

Power

Already have my Singer Alternator installed. A 370a hairpin. Behind the seats will go a pair of XS Power XP3000's for now. I also have a pair of XP950's which I don't know if I'll put those in or not. Up front I have a pair of D65000's.

All Sky High Wire and Cables.

2/0ga OFC from front to back, probably 2 runs (1 from each battery which are on each side of the truck.) This is what I had in the civic too.

1/0ga OFC from the rear batteries to the sub amps

4ga OFC from the rear batteries to the mids and highs amps and a distribution block for the processor and components.

12ga OFC speaker wire for the mids and highs.

8ga OFC speaker wire for the subs

All Sky High Machined Parts

Deadener

I'll be adding Ampere Audio Vibraflex 160mil to the floors, walls, roof, etc.

For the doors I'll be adding Ampere Audio Vibraflex 80mil.

I have thought about MLV, but not sure if I will actually do that or not.

FUTURE

So the future may hold a few extras. I'm always a guy of too much. Always have been. Here are the future plans, unless I come into some funds and just pull the trigger between now and then.

I want to add smaller more mid range speakers in the doors. I'd like a pair of 4" or 3" mids. Ampere Audio doesn't make a mid range at this point, so I'll have to go away from that and get something that sounds good, but also doesn't break the bank. I'm still looking for these. Those are what I was talking about in the door section about the ability for future upgrades. I'll be running wiring for those when I do the doors.

To power the mid ranges, again Ampere Audio doesn't make a small 2 channel yet. So depending on what I decide to get as far as midrange, and the power demands, I'll either be getting a third Ampere Audio 150.4, or I'll be getting an Ampere Audio 75.4. That amp will go in the middle of the floor amp rack between the two 150.4's that are already there.

Now to tune all this, one processor won't do the job. I need more signal. You guessed it, I've almost given up on the SDU. It's on hold for now, but I still may finish it for fun and see what i can do with it. It's just a ton of work and now things are going to become more difficult as far as signal running etc.

So, that means a second JM-1 will enter the scene. This is why I was talking about the 40 seat rack and room. Hopefully both of these units will fit next to each other. Along with the JM-1 being added in, I'll need to add in another input signal. After a few conversations, the best way to do this, will be to add in a second toslink cable. So I'll be adding in a ViewHD Optical Audio Splitter. This will need power as well. This gives me the single optical input and dual optical outputs which will go to each processor.

Processor one will handle the signals for the front stage. Everything is active.

1 - Driver Tweeters

2 - Passenger Tweeters

3 - Driver Mid Range

4 - Passenger Mid Range

5 - Driver Mids

6 - Passenger Mids

7 & 8 - Center Console Mid bass/sub

Processor 2 will handle the rears and 15's

1 - Driver Tweeters

2 - Passenger Tweeters

3 - Driver Mids

4 - Passenger Mids

5 - Sub Amps (May have to use 7 & 8 on these but I wont' know until I play with the GUI)

Lastly, all the RCA signal cables will be built by me.

So there it is. I'm going to refer back to this a lot. I'm excited to get this going. I'm sure I missed something, but that's ok. It won't get missed when it happens.

If you read all that, thank you. If not, I understand. it's out of my head now, and that's what I was going for.

So, the next post will hopefully be picture packed from the weekend. This should be a fun ride!!!

[scooter99]

Well, I'll tell you all this much. This may be my most productive, best weekend I've had in customization. I'm sure everyone's seen better, but I'm ecstatic with how things are turning out.

I'm uploading pics tonight, about 100 of them. Then tomorrow I'll see about getting some more work done.

I have some decisions to make on the dash as far as finishing. There are two finishes on the dash of these trucks. One is a glass smooth finish that's painted, which is where the head unit and vents etc are at in the middle, and then on the left side end where another vent and the light switches etc are at. Those are going to be painted black. I decided black because of the tablet and I think the picture will be that much better when the dash is all black. Then there's the textured part of the dash, the upper side, the gauge trim, and a couple of other places. I'm not sure how to go about finishing that, which it almost needs it due to a few scuffs, my bad. I don't want to loose the texture of the panel, it really looks good. I really don't like the thought of a fully smooth dash panel. So i'm not 100% sure what I'm going to do. I'll show more when I get pics up, and you all will see what I'm talking about.

[ToNasty]

I might be finally.buying those 2 950s off you. It all depends this week if my buddy can find me a stock silverado center console