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

[scooter99]

Ok, little update.

IT'S PLAYING!!! It's making noise anyway. I got my test bench rearranged to add wire for amps etc, and hooked up the fosgate bluetooth module, reset all the gains, set the gains on the amp, and fired it up.

My first initial feelings, and to be up front, it's too late to really open it up and let it play, but it feels like the enclosure is too big. It's hard to explain. Let me see if I can try.

So my mids and highs amp is set at max volume, much like i'd set anything else. It can get super loud. I set the sub amp up the same way, max volume on track 5 which is supposed to be the compromise track for the dd1. I've used it before without issue. I have the sub wired to a 1ohm load, I've checked this about 20 times to make sure. It's 1ohm.

So I started out with just some pandora music I was listening to, E-40 radio. Not too bad, but it seemed like the mids and highs were severely overpowering the sub. I understand that I'm talking about a 10" sub in a 14 x 12 shop. I get it. But the sub just didn't seem to be putting out what I was expecting. I was a little disappointed to be honest. So, I decided to switch somethings up. I removed the mids and highs from the equation all together.

Now I have it, just the sub amp (Ampere 2000.1) and the sub. I switched from pandora to google play, to Tech9 World Wide Choppers. Started low, and it seemed like it was doing it. I was going up more and more, little bits at a time, and I'm maybe 1/4 up on the knob at this point. It's getting down pretty well, for what I can do quickly at 11:00 at night. I got just a little past 1/4 on the knob and I could hear the coil slap. I'm also noticing this whole time, that there's a lot of excursion going on. It's moving pretty good.

So to me, my first impression is, the enclosure is too big. The other thing I've not done yet, is mess with any settings. I'm not really knowledgible on how to do the subsonic filter, or low pass filter etc. I have the CC1 and I think I'll work with that sometime tomorrow, during the day when I can turn it up and not have to worry about the volume.

So that's my initial impression. Keeping in mind this is supposed to be a mid bass sub, I think it will for sure work for what I want it for. I'd be interested to see what it will do in the cab of the truck, but that's a ways off.

I also started another project for the dash panel with the CTS2. I'll be posting pictures of tonight's progress tomorrow sometime.

For now, good night!

[scooter99]

Sorry guys, I said I'd post pictures today and I never got to it. I have a video uploading now. I doubt I'll get it up before I go to bed. I was a long day. I decided to do something big today. So the lack of pics today will be worth it. Well it will to me anyway. LOL

For sure something tomorrow.

[scooter99]

Good morning everyone. I'm going to post pictures in a minute, but here's the video. Check it out.

[scooter99]

The first thing I did Friday night is get started on the CTS2. I know not everyone agrees with this placement and that's fine. But I've decided it's going here. I pulled the dash panel in the truck and looked back there and it's wide open back there so re-routing the vent wouldn't be at all an issue. However, the biggest issue would be maintaining the body lines and the flow of the dash.

In order to figure out what I can do, I need to make some sort of holder for the monitor. I needed some stuff from the local paint supply place. One of which was Evercoat Kitty Hair. I don't have any fiberglass infused filler, and I knew that I really needed some for this, and would for the doors too. I also picked up some glazing putty as well.

First preference for the monitor is here where the vent is. It puts it up pretty high, and that's good.

However, it does stick past the right body line pretty far if I keep the left side line.

This would be the second spot if the top won't work out. It also is right up against the body line.

I think either way I may loose that right side body line. That really brings in a whole different set of circumstances because I'll have to paint the whole dash pretty much. That is going to come into play with my decision as well.

But, the best way to go about this, is to make a pan for the CTS2 monitor.

But the first thing I need to do is protect it. I used some 2" and 1" blue masking tape to wrap the monitor in.

Then I taped it to a piece of wood I had laying around. The monitor has round edges if you hadn't noticed that. That's going to make things a little more difficult to get that flush mounted look. But I also need to be able to get the monitor out so I can update it. Although sitting here thinking about it, I may not need to and I've just come up with another idea that may work better for me. But I'll get back to that later. But I taped it down to the bench so that the tape doesn't go down and under the monitor so I get nice straight edges.

Then laid down some wax to pull it out later easier.

[scooter99]

I taped up the rest of the board so I had some area to mix the kitty hair on. This is some weird stuff. Not really all that easy to mix up. I got some out of the can, and it wasn't particularly easy like doing regular filler. This is long strand too so I imagine it's more difficult to deal with than the short strand stuff.

So after I got all that mixed up I got it put around the edges of the CTS2. Why just the edges? Well, the rear of the monitor has all of the plugs in it. So i figured instead of trying to mould the whole thing, and then drill it all out, I would just make it work around the outside. Then it will leave the middle open for plugging in. The only part that did get covered up was the USB port on the bottom for the updating. That won't be a problem.

I let it all dry, and went and worked on the enclosure. About and hour or so later, I came back to it and peeled it off.

It actually snaps in, well not really a snap in but more of a slight snap, really well just as it is. It won't stay there, if I jiggle it around too much, it'll fall out. The edges aren't as straight as I was hoping they'd be, but I can fix that with some filler.

Finally I cleaned up the edges a little bit. My goal is to actually sand/grind most of the edging off. Maybe leave about a 1/16 - 1/8" of edge. This will give me a better flush mount pocket.

So that was it for the start of the CTS 2. Let's get to it on the enclosure.

[scooter99]

Last I left off, I had painted the rest of the enclosure. So Friday night I started off with getting it wired up. Or starting anyway. In order to do that I decided to wire each coil to the side of the enclosure. Then link them out there. That would make for easier ohm changing etc. So to do that, I taped off the middle bottom side of the enclosure.

Then got some tools out to get started.

Marked my holes and drilled.

To wire it up, I'm going to be using some Sky High 8ga speaker cable.

Got some ring terminals crimped on and then attached some bolts to it. They're long but that's just for now. It's all I had on hand with nuts that would go with them.

Got the sub out to measure the length of the cables.

Once I got the bolts in place, I made up a pair of jumpers. The intention is a 1 ohm load. SO I need to jump from - to - and + to + on the coils. Then one of each out to the amp.

Like so.

[scooter99]

Next I needed to address the bolt lengths. You can see they're pretty long.

after a couple of passes with the air saw, they're not long anymore!

Now that we have the inside and outside done, let's wire this thing up!

Done and screwed in place. Hmmmm. But it's missing something. Looks too plain to me.

NOW THAT'S BETTER!!!

All that's left now is to hear it.

I got the 2000.1 out and was ready to get it hooked up.

But I have to address a couple of things first. I have to get my workbench ready for additional wiring etc. I had the shop amp on the battery but there's no easy way to get other wires on and off of it. So I needed to make that happen, needed to add a ground strip terminal, and then needed to install the new Rockford Fosgate Bluetooth module.

Now we're in business! Let's get the DD-1 going and set the gains.

There we go. Set, just before clipping. Back it off a little.

That was it. The rest of the night, which wasn't much cause it was 11:00 at this point, was spent listening to it a bit. Then the next morning I made the video. You can see that a few posts back.

Yesterday was only about a half day of work. I had other stuff going on in the morning and then in the afternoon I was going to work on the dash panel with the cts install. But, when I started the truck yesterday morning, my head unit didn't work. SO, I had to address that when I got home. Well that morphed into something else. I'll have pictures and maybe even a video tonight.

That's all for now.

[Pasta Prime]

Damn, work blocked Photobucket. WTF am I going to do all night? lol looking good though from the video.

[bsneon98]

Looks great man, I really wish I had some of that ultra cover black laying around, all I had was rustoleum and it takes forever to cure lol

[bsneon98]

Just went back to the beginning because I want to see how you built that box, but the pics arent working