I'm working on pics and have included some, I'll upload more when I've got them. Here's what I've done and am going to do so far:
The vehicle is a 1996 Black Chevy Tahoe LT 4dr 4x4.
2) I've had all the body mouldings, badges, and chrome trim pieces removed, including the chrome rocker panels that go between the side mouldings and the running boards. Also I have had all the windows aside from the windshield tinted. I'm very happy with the improvement so far.
Future ideas are to replace the front end with the Escalade/Denali body kit, do a rear drum to disk brake conversion, put some nice 20" wheels on it, and lower it a few inches. I am considering airbags so I can lower it for ride in the summer and raise it for clearance in the winter. I don't really have plans to slam it though.
3) At the moment the entire interior aside from the front dashboard is removed. This means all panels, carpet, door covers, head liner, seats, consoles, seatbelts, everything. Here are some pics that have been slightly brightened to get rid of some shadows:
5) This step will need to be broken up into several smaller ones.
A)I will be custom fabricating a new center console which may or may not have subwoofers in it, and it will house 2 Audiocontrol EQTs and a Directed 204 6-channel active crossover.
B)Contrary to most audio setups in vehicles like this my plan is to retain as much possible cargo area as I can, as I still like to haul items around once in a while. To retain the full bed with the rear seats down, I will not be able to mount the amps under the rear seats like many installs. I plan on building up the sides and roof with wood and fiberglass and plexiglass to have the amps mounted around where the windows are and the subs in the sides, with the power distribution system under plexiglass on the roof, which will continue on all the way to the front windshield in a full-length overhead console which will house the lighting and possibly a DVD monitor setup in the future.
I'm thinking of doing a final layer of carbon fiber over all the fiberglass work I will be doing. I think using actual carbon fiber and surfboard epoxy/resin will look better than the cheezy peel 'n stick stuff I've seen. Should look more professional too.
C) I will have a tri-amped front component 3-way system involving 8" midbasses in the doors, and kickpanels with 6.5" midranges and 1" silk tweeters. There will also be supplemental 1" silk tweeters mounted in the stock tweeter location to improve on sound being blocked by people's legs and etc. The front stage alone is run off of a 6-channel amp. All stages are actively crossed over via the DEI 204 crossover and the amp.
I currently have all the equipment to be installed still sitting in their respective boxes. Here is a rundown of everything included:
Source:
1 Alpine CDA-7878 MP3/XM ready CD receiver
1 Alpine TUA-T020XM XM tuner
Signal Processors:
2 Audiocontrol EQT 30-band equilizers
1 Directed 204 3-way, 6-channel active crossover
Amps:
1 Directed 6550 6-channel amp 50x4, 75x2
1 Directed 2150 2-channel amp 50x2
2 Directed 1100D monoblock amps 1100x1 @12v, 1ohm.
Speakers:
1 set Directed Studio 3084 8" inverted motor midbasses
1 set Directed Studio 3065 6.5" component sets including 1" silk-domed tweeters
1 set Directed Studio 2013 1" silk-domed tweeters
1 set Directed Studio 3062 coaxials with outboard passive crossover network
Subwoofers:
2 Diamond TDX 12D2 subs
The subwoofers are likely to change in brand/size/or number.
Here's a pic of the rollcage i had put in to support the weight of the amps/subs/wood/fiberglass/etc when they're in.
I will be updating this relatively frequently and with more pics soon. Let me know what think in my guestbook!
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