1978 F250 400 Dual Fuel

[Aggie06]

Pssffftt, you’re in Texas now (I’m guessing). Just spray paint it and sell it to someone heading south for $2k.

 

[Provience]

ford 6r80 from 2011+ F150 5.0L on car-part is $350-750 and $500 from LKQ
Quick 6 controller with wiring harness and TPS for edelbrock carb is $1420
Adapter is either $604 or carve one up out of 1/2" alum. plate PA68508 from summit (according to the notes/reviews it won't work on the V8 6r80)
adapter from PATC SKU: BT FO1002501 is $1675

about $3,500


OR

chevy 6L80 is $1500-200 on car-part
TCI Sku 529701 with flexplate is $680
PCS TCM to augment stock TCM/ECU PART NUMBER:TCM-2650 $995

about $3,500

beater commuter car ~$3k upfront cost

could save some money making my own adapter, but it would cost some time.

 

[holdmypocket]

ford 6r80 from 2011+ F150 5.0L on car-part is $350-750 and $500 from LKQ
Quick 6 controller with wiring harness and TPS for edelbrock carb is $1420
Adapter is either $604 or carve one up out of 1/2" alum. plate PA68508 from summit (according to the notes/reviews it won't work on the V8 6r80)
adapter from PATC SKU: BT FO1002501 is $1675

about $3,500


OR

chevy 6L80 is $1500-200 on car-part
TCI Sku 529701 with flexplate is $680
PCS TCM to augment stock TCM/ECU PART NUMBER:TCM-2650 $995

about $3,500

beater commuter car ~$3k upfront cost

could save some money making my own adapter, but it would cost some time.

I selfishly vote for the 6r80 so I can see how well it works and determine if I want to do it on my 400 to replace the c6

With that said, if I didn't live in CA/have to smog it, I'd do an LS swap with OD trans.

 

[Provience]

I selfishly vote for the 6r80 so I can see how well it works and determine if I want to do it on my 400 to replace the c6

With that said, if I didn't live in CA/have to smog it, I'd do an LS swap with OD trans.

that's the way i'm leaning. I was surprised at the difference in junk yard prices for the 6l80 vs 6r80. I've got a huge amount of money to spend first on house related things, but once that is done i'd like to get to this sooner rather than later if i can. something about $3-400 per month in gas would be nice to help lower it a little bit

 

[Projectjunkie]

Somebody is gonna stumble in here "Cleveland! never underestimate a 4 inch stroke! Australian parts! Hot rod magazine April 1993 got 349hp on pump gas! " but the 351m/400m was stillborn and never had a chance, don't go throwing thousands at the transmission to save hundreds.
Zf5 swap it, or LS/ matching trans swap it, or cummins/ matching trans swap it, or just keep pouring gas into it as long as it keeps running. It's a low compression emissions choked turd, don't waste money polishing it

 

[arse_sidewards]

Somebody is gonna stumble in here "Cleveland! never underestimate a 4 inch stroke! Australian parts! Hot rod magazine April 1993 got 349hp on pump gas! " but the 351m/400m was stillborn and never had a chance, don't go throwing thousands at the transmission to save hundreds.
Zf5 swap it, or LS/ matching trans swap it, or cummins/ matching trans swap it, or just keep pouring gas into it as long as it keeps running. It's a low compression emissions choked turd, don't waste money polishing it

The only fundamental limitation of those sorts of antiquated engines that don't have aftermarket support is the heads. On some level displacement is displacement and you can make power in proportion to how much you have.

I would personally just keep feeding gas into it but...

 

[Provience]

Somebody is gonna stumble in here "Cleveland! never underestimate a 4 inch stroke! Australian parts! Hot rod magazine April 1993 got 349hp on pump gas! " but the 351m/400m was stillborn and never had a chance, don't go throwing thousands at the transmission to save hundreds.
Zf5 swap it, or LS/ matching trans swap it, or cummins/ matching trans swap it, or just keep pouring gas into it as long as it keeps running. It's a low compression emissions choked turd, don't waste money polishing it

Cheaper to polish than swap and way cheaper to tinker than buy new.

Somebody is me. If I wanted reliable and easy, I'd have just kept the suburban.

Speaking of buying new, the tires made the drive down here, which was nice of them. Now trying to find some 16.5 during the great socialism shortages of the early 20s has jumped up the list.

 

[Provience]

 

[arse_sidewards]

Grab some 16s off an E series van

 

[Provience]

Grab some 16s off an E series van

Almost did it, there a set of steelie 16s for 300 with junk tires an hour away, turns out firestone can source 4 from various stores and will get me mounted and running this afternoon for $750 , so I'm doing that route instead.

Transforce ht 9.5-16.5 erated so next time I'm near 6k lbs rear axle weight they won't be overloaded. good for another decade or so

 

[Projectjunkie]

Cheaper to polish than swap and way cheaper to tinker than buy new.

Somebody is me. If I wanted reliable and easy, I'd have just kept the suburban.

Speaking of buying new, the tires made the drive down here, which was nice of them. Now trying to find some 16.5 during the great socialism shortages of the early 20s has jumped up the list.

I gotta disagree there, you can still score a hammered but solid 2nd gen 2wd auto dodge for 3k, or a 6.0 4l80 Chevy for 2500, sell off the leftovers to cover the swap expenses, get a solid power train for cheap, but you do you, and post pics

 

[Levigarrett76]

Theres couple guys on ford460 forum that have done the 6r80 swap. Theres couple companies with kit and one seems to stand above the rest.

I also seen a dude with a highboy on youtube that did it with an efi390 successfully.

 

[Provience]

Theres couple guys on ford460 forum that have done the 6r80 swap. Theres couple companies with kit and one seems to stand above the rest.

I also seen a dude with a highboy on youtube that did it with an efi390 successfully.

If you have a decent link, ill take it. I've seen lots of stuff on ford460 and it's a good source, but damn are there a bunch of threads

 

[Levigarrett76]

taken from this thread on another lower quality kit that has some wonky shit going on

460 6R80 Transmission Swap

www.460ford.com

"Bendtsen Speed Gems sells an adapter for the 6r80 out of a 5.0-5.4 engine. It is a complete kit included the starter and all bolts and washers etc.
Part number FO1002501. $1675.00
The advantage of using the V8 trans is the eco boost has fewer clutches then the Mustang GT and the F-150 has more clutches then the GT."



read page 5 also, some relevant input from Bendsten

 

[Provience]

Impco Fuel Mixtures

Raso Enterprises - Automotive Products and Information

rasoenterprises.com

Impco Fuel Mixtures​

Impco makes a wide variety of mixers to suit just about any engine size imaginable. Impco's Model 425 mixer is used quite extensively on carbureted propane vehicles. This is probably due to the fact that propane is very commonly used on fleet vehicles which typically have large engines requiring this mixer. As a result, it is relatively easy to find in junk yards.
The main factor that controls the fuel mixture in an Impco mixer is the shape of the gas valve. Impco designed their gas valves such that the valve profile provides a richer fuel mixture as air flow increases. This is mentioned in Jay Storer's book "Economy or Performance Propane Fuel Conversions for Automotive Engines (1986-01-24)

" but he didn't discuss it in any detail. Impco describes their gas valves in their carburetor theory as follows:

Mixtures between idle and full-load conditions are controlled by the gas metering valve shape. The gas metering valve is shaped to produce lean mixtures at light loads and increasingly rich mixtures at heavier loads and higher engine speeds.
The shape of the gas valve is designed for optimum mixtures for the mid-size engine between the largest and the smallest cubic inch displacement upon which the carburetor will be installed.

Impco's technical department confirmed that their gas valves do not necessarily keep a stoichiometric fuel/air ratio across the entire flow range. The airflow remains constant with each air/gas valve assembly based on the lift of the assembly at different load points. The difference in the assemblies is the gas valve portion that is cone shaped. Each gas valve has it's own unique contour and length thus resulting in different gas flow at the same air flow or lift point of the diaphragm assembly. In other words, the flow curves are fairly linear and the rate at which the fuel mixture becomes richer with increasing airflow is different for each gas valve.

Propane Carburetor Fuel Mixtures​

Impco has the following explanation for fuel mixture adjustments:

There are three carburetor adjustments. The idle speed adjustment controls the degree of opening of the butterfly valve at idle, the same as the adjustment on a gasoline carburetor. The idle mixture adjustment controls the mixtures at idle and slightly above, while the power mixture adjustment controls full power/high RPM mixtures.
Light load or cruise mixtures are controlled by the contour of the gas metering valve. These are not adjustable at the carburetor. Power mixture adjustment must be set under full load. This adjustment has no effect at idle or in the light-load range. A CO meter or exhaust analyzer is highly desirable for making the power mixture adjustment. If an exhaust analyzer of the Wheatstone Bridge type must be used, care should be exercised to limit exhaust pressure into the instrument as it can give a false rich reading. The analyzer must be kept reasonably dry with a water trap as well. An infra-red CO analyzer is a more accurate instrument; however most of these operate on 110 AC voltage and require an inverter to 12 volts if they are to be used in a moving vehicle.

Proper CO reading for the power adjustment depends on the type of vehicle and and its use. A heavy-duty truck operating under continuous full-load conditions should be adjusted no leaner than 1.5% to 2.0% CO for safety. A light-duty vehicle can operate safely as lean as 1.0% to 1.5% CO, since it will not be operating "flat out" for long periods of time. The slightly richer mixture for trucks will help avoid detonation, without being rich enough to elevate exhaust gas temperature unreasonably.
Extremely lean mixtures during acceleration, possibly caused by a restricted balance line from the carburetor to the converter, or lean mixtures under load, place a high voltage requirement on the ignition system which may cause missing or crossfire with resultant backfires.
Maximum richness of optimum performance is close to 3.0% CO. Horsepower will begin to drop as the mixture is richened beyond this point. there is not much change in power from 1.0% CO to 3.0% CO.
If the engine does fall off in power with a power mixture leaner than 3.5% CO, it is a sign of poor fuel distribution in the air stream to the intake manifold. In an eight-cylinder engine, for example, four may be rich and four lean. Mileage would be poor.

It is unclear why Impco recommends using a slightly richer fuel mixture to help avoid detonation for trucks. Propane responds to rich fuel mixtures opposite to gasoline. Full-throttle rich mixtures in gasoline engines allow atomized liquid gasoline to evaporate in the combustion chamber. Because propane is already vaporized before it reaches the combustion chamber, there is no way for it to provide internal cooling from the latent heat of evaporation.

Idle Fuel Mixture​

Once the engine is fully warm, set the idle mixture to provide the highest and steadiest idle speed at the vehicle's recommended idle speed.

Part-Throttle Fuel Mixture​

The only practical way of changing the part-throttle fuel mixture is to change the profile of the gas valve. Normally, this is done to improve fuel economy with leaner fuel mixtures. For most of Impco's mixers, lean gas valves are available. Some mixers also use spacers or shims to lean the fuel mixture.

Power Fuel Mixture​

• Since this only really makes a difference at full throttle, your vehicle can run with any setting of the power mixture until you can go to a dynamometer or a emissions-testing shop.
• Alternatively, you can take your vehicle to a drag-strip for test & tune day and, while starting with a lean mixture, richen the mixture until the 1/4 mile times stop decreasing. Keep the power setting on the lean side of that which give the fastest 1/4 mile time.
• The power mixture does have a small effect at cruising speeds. For the best fuel economy, you may want to try turning the screw in (clockwise) to lean the fuel mixture. If you find that this lowers your full-throttle power unacceptably, turn it out (counter-clockwise) until it becomes satisfactory.

​

 

[Provience]

Model 425 Fuel Mixtures​

While I was driving both of my 425 mixer-equipped propane vehicles, it seemed to me that the fuel economy for both cars was lower than I was expecting. I was expecting propane gas mileage to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 75%-80% of gasoline gas mileage. The driving I was doing at the time was highway commuting with steady speeds of 60 mph.
It seemed to me that my first propane vehicle, a 1978 Chrysler New Yorker with the 440 engine, would be cruising with a richer than necessary mixture just because its airflow would be at the upper end of the range for the 425 mixer. I believe that the 425 mixer with the stock gas valve is better sized for the 350 CID engine. Interestingly, I found that supplying cooler fuel to second propane vehicle, a '77 Pontiac Parisienne, by throttling back on the water to the evaporator did not help and actually hurt my fuel economy.

The 425 mixer may have been designed with a 350 CID engine in mind under normal conditions. This would explain why my 440 CID engine with the same mixer (and gas valve) had higher than expected fuel consumption because it was getting a richer mixture than necessary due to the profile of the gas valve.
There were four gas valves originally available for the Impco 425 mixer. The AV1-16 is the standard valve that comes with the 425 mixer. The AV1-1637 valve supplies a rich mixture and is used with the EC1 system, which is now obsolete. The AV1-1644 valve supplies a lean mixture and is used with 370 CID engines and above. The AV1-1651 gas valve is required for the feed back carburetor.
Some people have also experimented with different valve profiles but there is very little information available about this. Water flow to the evaporator has been discussed in any detail only with regard to converter temperature. Impco's service manual is not overly helpful nor is Impco. Impco does not provide specific profile information beyond the above explanation, as they feel that this is proprietary intellectual information.
The 425 mixer has adjustability at both idle and full flow. The AV1-16 is fairly linear in the flow curve. The AV1-1637 is also linear but is richer throughout its flow curve than the AV1-16. As far as use with the EC1 system, Impco’s technical department does NOT recommend this option. The EC1 was quite complicated to adjust and was used to provide a lean cruise mixture. This was achieved mechanically via the use of vacuum source on the atmospheric side of the regulator. The AV1-1644 is also linear but is leaner throughout its flow curve than the AV1-16. The AV1-1651 is richer throughout it's flow curve, relying upon a processor to evaluate the air/fuel ratio via an oxygen sensor signal and thus adjusting the output from the regulator by varying the atmospheric pressure through a fuel control valve. Although Impco did not say it, I believe that the AV1-1651 valve must maintain a constant ratio of fuel to air so that the feedback pressure regulator in the converter could regulate the fuel mixture by adjusting the fuel pressure (and thus density) supplied to the mixer.
Although it does not state this in the Impco catalogue, the 425 mixer will bolt directly to most all Holley 4 barrel throttle bodies without the need of an adapter. You can order a mixer with the standard or feedback air/gas valves already installed. As the EC1 valve is obsolete and as you would would only want to install a feedback valve in a feedback system, the only real option available for changing gas valves is to install the AV1-1644 lean valve in the standard mixer.
Even if you were to find an AV1-1637 valve, there is no reason to install it because engines respond to richer gaseous fuels opposite to the way they respond to liquid fuels. Richer mixtures burn slower and result in burned exhaust valves. They also cause the engine to be more susceptible to detonation or pinging due to a hotter than necessary exhaust valve.

Impco Carburetor Flow Ratings​

There is a characteristic pressure drop for every flow across the mixer. At a flow of 460 CFM, the 425 mixer will have a pressure drop of 1.5” Hg. At higher flows, the pressure drop will be higher and at lower flows, the pressure drop will be lower. However, the important thing is that the gas valve is fully open at 460 CFM.
The 1.5" Hg is manifold vacuum that is very close to wide-open throttle on any engine and 460 CFM is the maximum air that the 425 can flow at that manifold depression. Since the air/gas valve is variable, if the engine does not require 460 CFM of air, the air/gas valve will not open all the way. If the application requires more then 460 CFM's of air, then the air/gas valve will be all the way open and the engine will begin to starve for fuel above 460 CFM and the 425 would not be the carburetor of choice.

According to Impco, because these are Air / Gas valve assemblies, the amount of air and fuel are both controlled by the movement of the diaphragm. The capacity of any carburetor is defined by its ability to flow air. The maximum amount of air that the 425 can flow on a normally aspirated engine is 460 CFM. Generally you can adjust the high flow fuel adjustment to be very rich even when the air/gas valve is at the full open position unless the regulator being used has also reached it's full flow capacity. Even if you have a 600 CID engine capable of 10,000 RPM and if you had the 425 carburetor on it you would only be able to flow a maximum of 460 CFM's of air, thus starving the engine for air
I disagree somewhat on this point, as a 600 CID engine capable of 10,000 RPM will flow more than 460 CFM with a 425 mixer. My disagreement is that that engine will continue to draw more air with increasing RPM but the pressure drop across the mixer will become larger than the rated 1.5"Hg for the air flow. The engine will become starved for air because the density of air filling the cylinders will become less due to the increasing pressure drop. That is, the large pressure drop across the mixer will dramatically reduce the volumetric efficiency of the engine. The more important problem will be that the fuel mixture will be uncontrolled at excessive airflows because the gas valve reaches the limit of its travel at 460 CFM.

Gas Valve Comparison​

When we say that the fuel mixture is governed by the shape of the gas valve profile, it can be hard to visualize the difference between the different gas valves. Have a look at the following photos to see the difference between the standard gas valve and the lean gas valve:
The two gas valves side by side. The AV1-16 standard gas valve is the one marked "19" and has the black hydrin diaphragm. The AV1-1644-2 lean gas valve is marked "4X4" and has the yellow silicone diaphragm. The blackness on the standard gas valve is due to propane residuals from over 90,000 miles of service.

darn 10k character limit anyways, propane all around me seem to be ~10% or more expensive than 87 oct gas out here. which, naturally, lead me to wondering about what it would take to run Natural Gas from the house then i came across this article and needed to tag it for later....on the note of getting enough flow, i've got 2 full propane setups, once that came with this truck and another that i bought for my crawler and never did anything with. it either needs to get sold or used for this, i dunno. not that far yet with the thoughts.

 

[arse_sidewards]

Keep in mind that you're gonna spend money on electricity to compress that NG to a level suitable for vehicular use.

While an off the shelf compresser head could do propane pressures I'm sure there's a reason nobody does that...

 

[[486]]

Keep in mind that you're gonna spend money on electricity to compress that NG to a level suitable for vehicular use.

While an off the shelf compresser head could do propane pressures I'm sure there's a reason nobody does that...

methane does not condense

so you go to 3500psi or more instead
meaning, real fancy shit

 

[Provience]

methane does not condense

so you go to 3500psi or more instead
meaning, real fancy shit

turns out, to make my own a houshold grade used machine runs about $2k. it's an entertaining thought, but if i can't find anybody local who sells CNG it would be tough to justify.

Buut, i did learn that IMPCO doesn't seem to care if you are runing LPG or CNG out of their regulartors and such, and that there is more tuning available to the 'pane carbs than i had thought originally.

 

[Provience]

RV Coach Battery Box Mount

Working on my ~1994 E350 motorhome. Several years ago it had a battery failure and there was a massive amount of rust on the old box, so when I needed a new battery, I got rid of the old and made a quick baseplate branching off the stuff that was already there. It worked for a couple years...

irate4x4.com

tossing this link in here so that I can find it later. In the interest of adding "tech" to the board, I'm going to try to actually make separate threads when actually doing something, then collect them into the main thread and also use the main thread for storing all the other random thoughts that run through my head

 

[Provience]

Motorhome/RV Carbon Monoxide and Propane Detector with Cutoff Solenoid Replacement

At some point in the past 30 years, the motorhome RV and camper industry went away from CO & Propane detector alarms which controlled a propane shutoff solenoid valve. Replacements don't seem to be available according to a few internet searches as everybody is out of stock, plus they are nearly...

irate4x4.com

not the pickup, the motorhome again. link to more pictures at top of post.

 

[Provience]

RV Onan Generator Wont Stay Running without Start Depressed

Need some help with my generator. It DID work a couple years ago, then the start switch inside quit working, then it quit staying running altogether :homer: yes, it has sat for a while without running and that likely caused it to fail initially. I have found several threads on various forums...

irate4x4.com

and if anybody knows anything about early 90's onan gas 4k generators, let me know

 

[Provience]

TrikeKid put up his headliner the other day and it inspired me to attempt mine i've been gathering stuff for a while and uh, it went about as expected

second skin damplifier, i've always wanted to try this stuff out and never have messed with any of this kind of stuff.

Plastic scraper, acetone and a towel to clean off everything first. acetone is what i had, so it's what i used. probably flashes a little too quick to be ideal but it's not a big cab.

knocked off the loose stuff, everything that remained seem to be pretty well there so i just went over top of it

bought a 10 pack of sheets, without doing any real cutting took about 4 across the roof and 2 in each door

bolts from the trim and mirrors all poke though the door, ended up cutting off a few inches of 1 piece and then just stuck it in the middle there

after the first couple of sheets it goes faster and easier, the small wood roller from second skin does a good job of getting this stuff to lay down flat and tight. only had a couple small bubbles to razor blade open

used 1 and a third sheet for the back wall because why not. still have 2/3 of a sheet for future use. 10 was the correct amount of sheets to get.

put a couple of 26"x28" pieces of this thrift store 3/16ish filler or backing material, it's kind of firm so the roof seemed like the spot for it.

this black not really neoprene foam thing was the old headliner, used it to trace out a very rough shape on this 1/8" stuff which is between cardboard and MDF

 

[Provience]

looks real red for some reason in that picture. about 3 or 5 attempts of trial and error and it mostly fits where it should

if you lean on it plenty hard it will conform to the corners, otherwise it likes to leave some gap there. Really should use some bolts and some riv-nuts or something instead of the plastic clips

Drilled the holes and started laying out fabric, another second hand gem.

used the marker to go about an inch or so and trace around, according to the wife this was about half as much as I needed to leave, more is better it turns out.

guess there isn't a picture, but there is some light weight 3/16" batting spray glued to the board under the fabric, then spray glued and the fabric stuck down, then I ran a bunch of tacks so that I could hold the fabric tight and work it across while trying to keep the pattern close to square, then used the pliers to bend over all the tack ends in an attempt to keep them in place.

gorilla brand spray adhesive seemed to be working pretty well, sprayed a bunch around the edge and pulled hand tight to wrap the corner, secured with binder clips for a few minutes. seemed to stay in place

and the backside and middle are secured, the front side just absolutely did not want to go back together. going to see if I can get some longer 1/4" plastic fasteners or see about getting some sheet metal clamp nuts and screws. almost had a bunch of success, regardless it looks better than it did before. yeah it's flowers, but I like the colors

 

[TrikeKid]

Well it beats the shit out of a bare roof! Anything you can do to make the roof skin not ring/drum makes these trucks so much nicer to drive.

If you ever do the floors you'll probably want another 10 sheets of deadener, I did damn near the whole floor of my cab.

 

[Provience]

Well it beats the shit out of a bare roof! Anything you can do to make the roof skin not ring/drum makes these trucks so much nicer to drive.

If you ever do the floors you'll probably want another 10 sheets of deadener, I did damn near the whole floor of my cab.

yeah I'll need to do up a few patch panels before I can do anything with the floors, not looking forward to that

new window regulator on order, need to align these doors to kill the final bit of gap the wind keeps driving through and it just might be decent. well, it's got a fancy new puddle of transmission fluid under it now but that'll be fine for a bit yet.



edit: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/files/theme/FordC6RebuildProcedures.pdf info on the C6 to read through, need to clean this thing off to see if i can narrow down where the goo is coming out from


Edit: 10 file limit below...

 

[Provience]

Form 1988a attached explains what this mystery yellow box dana 3r does. Apparently cruise control controller.

And spent some time cleaning up wiring finally, addressing some of the hasty repairs and figuring out why there are so many connectors.

Wire nuts are easy to join stuff with, eventually will need to send wires back to actual blocks for battery and keyed 12v

Lots of drama under the dash, removing the cruise control took away a bunch of wires

And still far from good, but better than it was. At least the brake controller is wired to the battery rather than shoved into the fuse block. Still need to figure out what that other Wire shoved in there does

Edit: picked up some u nuts and selection of bolts for the headliner. Much better, need to trim or redrill so that I can be near the edge all the way around

 

[Provience]

alright, time for dinner and to clean up. Overall, very happy with this considering it is pretty well all stuff I had or was about the cheapest chinese option off amazon.

DOVOX single DIN digital media reciever $33
AUDIOTEK AT-EQ700 7 Band Equalizer $38
Rockford Fosgate R400-4D found in boxes, these are still $250-300 2012 date stamp on it
CRUNCH CS5768CX 5x7 speakers $27/pair (only used 1)
6.5" 3 way 50 Watt RMS speakers already in the door, forgot the brand, started with a C i think
did buy $30 worth of RCA cables, had a bunch of the other wire

[edit: update to add, also bought $25 jensen amp, rockford fosgate 10" R2D2 $62, Crunch CS65C for $39 and $32 for 50hz rca inline high pass filters...without wiring or wood this puts me at $256. probably another $120 for wood and wiring to be all in about $375...regular prices for Jensen amp is $60, RF R2D2 is $90, everything else listed above at full price]

anyways, no this is NOT the high quality setup I still want to get but it cost far less than ~$2k and it beats the nonfunctioning radio that was there

the old dash 5x7 speaker, everything was falling apart when touched and it was full of glass. explains why it was so ratty sounding

Mounting tabs for the replacement 5x7 are a solid 1/4" wider than the stock holes oh well #OneOfTheseDays the whole dash will come out so that it can get mounted properly. Also slightly deeper than the old and I had to bend the wire connector ears flat to clear the heater vents

knew I was going to be making a mess with wiring, hence why I wanted to clean some of it up earlier.

curious if the direct drag/drop upload of a video to irate will work. Thought it was fun watching the dust off the dash cover float around above the center speaker. low pass filter for that guy is set to 250hz, high pass for the door speakers is probably 175hz. Dash speaker is set to "rear" and is wired bridged across the rear set for the amp, ending up running a bit of rear bias to help it keep up with the door speakers and it has just a slight amount of gain, like a 3 instead of a 1. Using the EQ, I was able to take out a whole bunch of the harshness that the bass/treble only options for the head unit wouldn't touch.

yeah, yeah, terrible music and playing off an MP3 instead of a good quality file I'll mess with it some more later and a better music file.

A big part of why I wanted to buy a 3D printer was to make some mounts for gauges and such to go under the dash. I've not spent the time to figure it all out, yet I still said "oh, I can just print a mount for all this stuff as well Plan is to stick the amp to the right of the 12v outlet and near the air box down there so that the wires aren't a mess, and then mount the EQ to the right of that, as out of the way as possible.

and then mount the USB outlets where the cigar lighter hole currently is and somehow or another actually get the tach and O2 sensor mounted....or not and remove those two.

edit: Bass Boost vs. Gain: What shoud I adjust?


edit: More links of stuff i've been reading about

Speaker Plans article explaining speaker rating basics

QMS, QES, QTS, What makes up a speaker?

www.diymobileaudio.com

Sub Box Polyester Fiberfill article and measurements on the effects of polyfill

What is Polyfill and Why Should I Use It? - Sonic Electronix Learning Center and Blog polyfill, how it works

Resonant Frequency of an enclosure more fill and space considerations

 

[Provience]

Lot's o' pictures to follow:

for the lighter, the rear part needs to be held from behind the dash while the front is rotated, or the other way, which is why it was confusing if it unscrewed to pushed in place.

and large step drill to the hole once it is out of the way

and then finally mounted this guy. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DD4BH6G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
wanted one which did USB C as well as regular USB. With stuff that accepts C, it is faster and betterer in every way.

This picture is kind of hard to see, but there is an interesting 1-3 way wire there which is keyed 12v. mighty convenient. One of these days, will need to make a bus bar for battery 12v and another for keyed 12v

and pulling off the wide band o2 sensor. Other than the leads which all connect the gauge to the sensor, all it needs is keyed 12v and ground to function. now i'll just pop it in and out as needed and this way can swap it easily into the other stuff.

not entirely sure what this hadley thing is, best guess is that it is for monitoring the propane tank levels or flow or something. seems to be old and broken, so just pulling it out for nows.

just two lines go into the back, can see them dangling in the background. additional regulator maybe?

and for $25, hard to pass up this new or like new in box amp. despite the label, it's actually rated 250w RMS bridged which is more than the R400-4D, which is only rated 200w bridged.

uses blutooth and a phone app for control rather than knobs, which is kind of fun.

 

[Provience]

little bit more progress under the dash

Speaker wires are a bit short, but this is about the placement and mounting of things

Picked up a scratch & dent rockford fosgate R2D2-10 10" subwoofer. This is the cheapest sub they make (or very close), has the least travel and worst response....but it also has a 4-3/8" mounting depth without being a "shallow" speaker and i'm not exactly trying to power it to the moon. Works for me

These are very cheap as well, low on information but they claim 60w RMS. Kind of fun to use for the door speakers. trying to keep it the same brand because cheapness