Meet Ol Smokey! I’m relatively new to this forum, but not new to car audio fomokey

I'm John!


I’m relatively new to this forum, but not new to car audio forums or the car audio scene at all. I’ve been lurking in various car audio forums since 1998, and spent a few years installing professionally. Over the years I’ve collected a bunch of gear, but haven’t been able to install squat because of scope creep and time. Several years ago I gave up on my main project and sold it, but kept the audio gear.


Not long after selling my project car I bought an old Bronco because the price was right and I just needed something reliable. Here it is on the day I bought it:

http://i.imgur.com/bb4CrUll.jpg

I named it “Ol Smokey” after the drunk horse from Cat Ballau.


Not long after I slid it off a dirt road and over and embankment, the impact destroyed the hardtop. I replaced the hardtop with a soft top and that one simple change transformed the bronco from just another cheap car I owned, to my favorite ever. It’s even more fun than the turbocharged Mustangs I’ve owned, even though it’s MUCH slower.


Here it is on the OuterBanks on NC.

http://i.imgur.com/qZZywC6l.jpg

I’ve since moved to Texas and still travel almost as much as I used to. But now I make much more money, and when I’m home I have lots of time to tinker.


Here it is while moving from Virginia to Texas, with a new set of shoes:

http://i.imgur.com/ihTHsoSl.jpg
Don’t mind the flat tire on the trailer…


Shortly after moving to Texas I started in on improvements. I got tired of fighting Ford’s shitty choke design and the carb in general. So I ripped out all the stupid vacuum lines, emissions equipment and factory carb. I replaced it with a Holley Terminator EFI kit and Ford EFI distributor, it took about 4 days to install.


Here is the factory intake and distributor stripped of that terrible 80's tech:


http://i.imgur.com/XERdC3Kl.jpg


The factory Carb spacer with EGR block off plate:

http://i.imgur.com/D708fKnl.jpg


The Holley EFI throttle body and Ford EFI distributor:

http://i.imgur.com/1B6zEBRl.jpg


The ECU mounted in the glovebox:

http://i.imgur.com/9zjtOChl.jpg
It will eventually move somewhere else.


Below isn’t an easy picture to make out. But when going from carb to EFI, you have to add a fuel return line. I would up using a kit from Moroso that goes in the gas tank filler neck. I reads lots of reviews about it, and many people had issues with the returning fuel creating air bubbles in the tank. I took and chance anyway any it is working wonderfully.


http://i.imgur.com/BO5520Tl.jpg


My next biggest problem was mounting a wideband O2 sensor. I wound up using a set of ceramic coated Bassani shorty headers and Y-pipe. The headers are some the most expensive on the market for the 80-96 Ford trucks, but have a great reputation. So far they’ve been trouble free for me. The Y-pipe has a bung for the O2 sensor. I backed it up with a catback exhaust from Gibson. It took a few random parts from Amazon, but I was able to mate the two brands together without a trip to an exhaust shop or a welder.


Here is a header:

http://i.imgur.com/ymfIYr5l.jpg


Along with the engine upgrades, I upgraded from a factory direct drive starter to a newer Ford gear reduction starter. At the same time I upgraded from a factory spec battery to dual Optimas Yellow Tops. I also upgraded from the stock 65 amp first generation alternator to a 130 amp third generation alternator. At the same time I did the big three.


Here are the batteries:

http://i.imgur.com/18wPKpYl.jpg

To finish out the underhood mods, I topped the throttle body with a Spectre Performance ram air kit. It’s a fairly standard carb round air filter hat but with a sealed housing and two 4” inlets that hoses attach to it. I ran these hoses to the radiator core support.


Engine bay with air filter housing:

http://i.imgur.com/e0J6QT8l.jpg


Inlet hose in core support:

http://i.imgur.com/luyccpel.jpg
There is one on each side of the radiator.


So lets talk audio stuff!


Currently I run an iPhone with a Lightning to HDMI dongle and an HDMI audio de-embedder. I run a digital coax from the de-embedder to a PPI DEQ.8. From there it’s going to a Zapco AG200 powering Image Dynamics CD2 Comp mylar compression drivers on full size bodies. I have an old MTX RT2400 powering a pair of Audax 7” mids. I also have a black JL 300/4v1 that’ll be running the mid bass drivers when I get them installed. For the subs I have a Zapco ST-1500x powering a pair of JBL W15GTI subs in prefab box.


So that’s how things sit today, but now how things end…


I travel a LOT and while I’m traveling I have nothing to do but order new toys. And while I’m home, I have nothing to do buy tinker with Ol Smokey. I have a bunch of toys sitting on the shelf. When I got home yesterday I unboxed a bunch of new stuff:


3 in - 1 out TOSLINK switcher
Acoustic Power lab APL-1 processor
JL TwK D8
American Autowire 22 circuit kit
400 piece weatherpak kit
22 circuit weatherpak firewall bulkhead
New plugs and pigtails for ALL the exterior lights and a few interior components.
New crank and water pump pulleys so I can run two belts to the alternator
New A/C condenser
New 4 core radiator
Electric radiator fan from a mid-90’s Thunderbird(controlled by theEFI)
New backlit switches from OTRATTW to replace all the interior switches
Template for a new dash panel to mount all the switches and knobs.


I’m home for a week, then I travel for a week and I’ll be home for two weeks again. I’m hopeful that i can get most of this installed in the next month. Right now Ol smokey is at a shop where they are checking out a stupid oil leak. Hopefully it’s not a main seal…

Nice toy ya got there. We're looking forward to your progress...and welcome aboard!

Thanks Al!

The thread title was supposed to say, "Met Ol Smokey" and somehow I screwed that up. Can you fix it?

Here are some pictures of the audio install.

I bought some plastic cutting boards from Target and used them to make a mounting surface for the 7" mids in the doors. I had to cut the door quite a bit to get them to fit. Here they are:

http://i.imgur.com/JWI2Ftol.jpg

The cuts are rough and getting the t-nuts to bite in was a wild pain in the ass. But here they are mounted to the doors with the mids mounted to the back side:

http://i.imgur.com/F6GV0Vol.jpg

The door panel just barely fits over them and the extra bracing I added to the doors:

http://i.imgur.com/U6XUgVPl.jpg

A DIYMA member made this faceplate for me. It contains the DEQ.8 remote and eventually bass knob from my Zapco amp

http://i.imgur.com/pffNfGol.jpg

Here it is mounted in the factory dash panel:

http://i.imgur.com/DrGdGyxl.jpg

At the bottom you can see the USB port that goes to my 4-port 12-volt USB hub. I'll be replacing that hub with a 10-port unit I already have. Here is the 4-port unit with my EFI, DEQ.8, iPhone and HDMI Audio De-Embedder plugged into it:

http://i.imgur.com/im87ftkl.jpg

The new USB hub will have the TwK D8, APL-1, EFI, HDMI De-Embedder, optical switcher and a few other things plugged into it. Here is the APL-1:

http://i.imgur.com/AxvswDgl.jpg

I had this aluminum piece made up to mount the new switches and whatnot in place of the center dash piece. Unfortunately, I just can't bend it to the dash without damaging it. Instead I'll use it as a template to router a piece of ABS and mount that. It'll hold me over until I do more drastic things to the dash.

http://i.imgur.com/WpyohSWl.jpg

When I got home yesterday I had all these fun toys waiting for me at home:

http://i.imgur.com/umfxxKXl.jpg

Loving the equipment you have...
Wondering if the Audax driver does what you want... Midbass & Midrange.

Is it the PR170M0?

Kelvin

I fixed the thread title. Where did you get the custom switches and mounting plate?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by subwoofery

Loving the equipment you have...
Wondering if the Audax driver does what you want... Midbass & Midrange.

Is it the PR170M0?

Kelvin

---

Yes, they are the PR170MO. They are a true HE midrange, and with only .5mm of xmax, they don't play low at all. Right now they are crossed over at 200hz @48db. Where they really shine is how well they blend with the horns. It's like these speakers were made for each other. You almost can't go wrong when getting them to match up, you can cross them over anywhere from 800hz all the way up to 2000hz and it still sounds great.

For midbass I have a pair of Image Dynamics IDQ8's that'll go in the kicks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BigAl205

I fixed the thread title. Where did you get the custom switches and mounting plate?

---

Thanks!

The switches are from http://www.otrattw.net It stands for Over The River and Through The Woods. They have a few different style of rockers for the switches and you can have then say whatever you want, you can even do custom logos. And the switch styes can be customized as well. I choose green for all the 'always on' backlighting and orange for the 'on' indicator. Most people order just the switches and use spade connectors to wire them up, but I ordered the actual connectors for the back as well so it's easier to work with.

Awesome thread here! Welcome to the fray!

Thanks!

Here is a picture of one side of the bed:

http://i.imgur.com/7jyY7OOh.jpg

I built a cargo cover to hide this stuff until I can build new panels and sub enclosures. I have a plan to hide the amps better, but I want to wait until I get new amps.

I've also done the typical sound deadening things, and I also measured each step of the way.

http://i.imgur.com/j9hL91Lh.png

The Off and Idle measurements are a little suspect. All measurements were taken with an iMM-6 with the phone in the same mount for each test.

I still need to do the firewall and tailgate.