Hey all. This is the beginning of the montana project. My plan is to do this in three phases. Why do a van? Truth is that I have a family, like 50% of people out there, but I only have one vehicle. A minivan. The vision is that most people detest minivans as they arent exactly the coolest thins on earth. I cant say I blame them. Truth is, they arent. However they are versatile. I can haul the seats out in a matter of 5 minutes and you intantly have a 6 foot box with a cap, all the seats in you now have a miniature bus. Power on the van is good. Towing isnt an issue either as the van has halued a 2,402lb boat and trailer without sweating too much. For me the van fits. It will never be the fastest or best looking vehicle, but it works.
Phase #1 - Audio
Thus far today there is now some new kit in the van. I bought myself a Pioneer Deh-3700MP head unit this morning, along with some Kaption HDX-602's for the van and had them installed.
Some light trimming was required to fit it in, and have it centered nicely, overall I feel the intallation was quite detailed. It looks like it was shipped from the factory, which is the look Im going for. See, on 90% of the Pontiac line-up, the GT models always had more. Better this, better that, and the montana is no exception, but this is really what I think should be in here. GT's are supposed to be special, right? And for the record, mine is not a GT.
A picture of the 6" 1/2's installed in thier new homes in the doors and in the tailgate, they are barely visible.
Just so you know Im not playing around, here are the boxes from all the kit. It wouldnt be the first time Ive been accused of "posing". Not a bad peice of kit. 170W RMS between the two, and 120W MUSIC.
So whats next?
Subs. 2 of em. Nothing insanely huge, two Kaption 10"s (the new flat subs) for the back. Nice MTX amp, and a custom box.. Why a custom box? This is why:
Not much room to play with. Sometimes I kick myself for not buying the extended lenght van. No big deal. The custom box, subs, and amp will be intalled on Tuesday so keep looking, the project isnt done yet... Not sure on the wattage, and I guess I wont know till Tuesday.
So here we are at C&C Car Audio In Petawawa, Ontario. This is Cal. In this pic hes beginning to bash apart the MDF board that we need to make a totally custom box for the van.
Here is the sub box frame. Fits pretty snug. Its hard to see the MTX amp sitting on the far left.
And the cover for the amp, which will try to keep the wiring hidden. I cant completely bury the wire as the box is designed to be removed If I need to haul stuff in the van. Notice the custom fit peice on the left and how it curves around the paneling.
Cal and his compadre fighting to get the carpeting wrinkle-free.
A pic of the riser. The holes in the box were made for 12" subs, and Im installing 10"s so a riser had to be made to accomadate. Its covered in a nice vinyl.
The finished product with the new Kaption Flat 10"s sitting in thier new home. They are angled to fire up at the back window of the van and rebound forward. It sounds perfect. -=BOOM=-
Each sub is rated for a MAX or 400W. The MTX 3202 amp only pushes 475 so I -=should=- be safe. Now for the calculations
So we have the 6" 1/2's at 170W Max. And 2 sets of em. Giving me 340W. Add in the two 10's pounding in the back at 400W a peice and you have 1140W stuffed in the van.
Now realistically!
The 4 6" 1/2's are 54w a peice as they run off the deck. So 216W. Add in 2 subs drawing from a 497w amp.. So 248W a peice, or 497w For the pack. So Realistically im looking at 713W of power!
So whats next? Well Definitally a CAP.. Maybe 1.5 Farad. Can you even buy that size? And another MTX amp for the 6" 1/2's.
Today we got the van into the shop and put it through the paces. The SPL paces that is. We nailed 128.5 on the meter! For only having 2 flat 10's and a 400w amp in between the two, and moving all the air in a minivan.. Thats very impressive!
