[cuz68]

Looking very good you have done a lot to it sence your last post, I hope that you can get some one to video it when you start it, I would love to be there also. Good luck your friend Randy.

[2cdavis3]

Hey Fred, anything to report haven't seen any updates. Hope all is well.

[Greg Reid]

Looking good Frederick.
I had that elbow thing myself. I got it from turning my engine over with a short ratchet for an extended period of time...Leakdown testing... Didn't hurt myself during the process but the next day, it was killing me and I figured that's what it was. Sleeping was a challenge for months. It took about a year before it really stopped bothering me.

[2cdavis3]

Sorry to hear about your arm but glad to see you're still plugging away at the lemans

[fbrown]

I had that elbow thing myself. I got it from turning my engine over with a short ratchet for an extended period of time...Leakdown testing...

The sad thing for me was I was loading pallets at work for a order that had to ship that day. There was no one else was available to load the pallets so I ended up packing the order. (about 5000 LBS in boxes weighting 60 LBS each) The trucking company failed to pick up the order for four days despite our constant calling. Of course in the mean time, someone else could have packed that order. I guess now I will act like a boss, sit around and do nothing. . . . (oops I didn't say that, I hope the GF doesn't read this)

What gauge wire do you run to the trunk for the amps? Where do you pick up the power? Battery? If so what do you use on the + post?

The wiring is roughed in place and not tied down yet. I ran a 8 gauge wire from the battery to the trunk. The wire goes along the drivers side inner fender and through a hole in the firewall. From there it follows the wiring path used by the rear light harness.

The stud for the wires is an adapter available at most auto parts stores. It also comes in amplifier wiring kits. I purchased an amp wiring kit from Amazon for about $20. You can also get adapters for the clamp type of battery cables.




I can't mount anything right now, so I just hooked it up for sound testing.


The amp. The label lies, its only 240W RMS at .001% THD. The dynamat works well. No rattles at really high volume. The JBL 6x9's really play loud and clean. Bass that you can feel.

[fbrown]

You guys got me to thinking about amplifiers and wiring and I remembered the amp I bought to use in my 2006 GTO. I bought the amp to replace the factory sub amp. After replacing the factory speakers with high efficiency Infinity speakers, I found I didn't need the amp so I just sit it in a cabinet and forgot about it.

This amp is a bit overkill, but why buy another when you have something that will work.

Specs

2x75 RMS 4 Ohms
2x120 RMS 2 Ohms
Total THD 0.03%
Draws 20 Amps, fused at 40 amps, 1 amp at idle
Recommend 10 gauge wire.

The amp is rather big, but I guess I can find somewhere to mount it. I can probably get away with a 12 gauge power wire, since I only wanted/needed about 25W RMS for the front speakers.

[fbrown]

The amp is too big to go anywhere but under the rear seat (maybe?) but if get the wiring to the rear seat, its trivial to go ahead and mount the amp in the trunk. Another two feet of wire. Now if I can find a gorilla to remove the rear seat for me. It was all I could do to install the rear seat with both arms.

[Greg Reid]

My '68 has an amp installed by a previous owner. It's mounted on the divider between the trunk and the rear seat. I've never used it but it's still there. Looking at my pic though...I can see why you may not want it there...Kinda distracting to the eye.

[cuz68]

Looking real good Fred I wish i could be there when you start it. Your friend Randy.

[Greg Reid]

I may have missed it Fred, but I see you gave up on the other dash? What was the problem and what are your plans for it? I might be interested.

[cuz68]

Greg it is on post 429.

[Greg Reid]

Thanks Randy but I mean the one on the roof. I thinking that is the repop dash he was using a while back and thought that he may have it as a spare since he is now using the Just Dashes unit.

[fbrown]

I may have missed it Fred, but I see you gave up on the other dash? What was the problem and what are your plans for it? I might be interested.

The repro dash is the one on the roof. The problem is that it does not stay attached very well and comes loose too easy. There are really two problems. Both can be solved, however I lost interest in making further modifications and the ability to do them when I injured my elbow.

Problem one - Green arrow, the plastic retainer is too short. There are probably several ways you could lengthen the retainer.
Problem two - Red arrow, the plastic does not hold the metal clips very well. This could be solved by bonding some metal backing to the dash pad.


Greg if you are interested in the pad, call or PM me. I was going to Ebay it.


Corrections.

What gauge wire do you run to the trunk for the amps?

I ran 4 gauge not 8 as I first answered. It had been a long time and I forgot what I pulled. The amplifier calls for 2 to 4 gauge power wire.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by fbrown

Greg if you are interested in the pad, call or PM me. I was going to Ebay it..

I just might do that Fred. Thanks.

[fbrown]

I got a couple of things done today.

Installed the rear window trim. The trim restoration was not bad considering the poor shape of the trim. There were 80 grit scratches on part of it and it was badly dented. I took about two hours taping the dents out and another 6 hours removing all of the scratches. I had to sand part of the trim with 400 grit, then 600, 1000 and 2000 before I could even buff it. With the buffing compounds I had on hand, 2000 grit scratches were hard to remove.





I resolved the tail light problem. The wires for brake and turn were reversed in the right hand tail light assembly. Rather than remove the bumper I just swapped the wires in the rear light harness connector. I'm not even sure if it's even feasible to swap the wires at the light socket.




I continued hooking up the electrical system. Connected the console wiring. Bumped the starter and yes the engine turned.

I found I don't have the strength to crimp 4 gauge connectors with an improper tool with one hand. It was hard to do even with two hands. I guess I will be looking for the proper crimp tool. I need to clean up and shorten some under hood wiring.


Retro sound radio.

I don't recommend the Retro Sound Radio if you care about sound quality. I continued to play with eq settings on the amp, and while I think I got really decent sound, it could be better. There may still be some improvement when I get the front amp hooked up. If I had it to do again I would use a different head unit.

I didn't find and bad reviews of the Retro unit. In retrospect, I think that most of the people who bought RetroSound did not buy the unit with sound quality as a major concern. I think most were probably more concerned with it fitting their dash rather than how well it sounded. It you were to hook this up to a typical 4x10 front speaker, I guess you would never know how bad it sounded. The roll off of bass could be intentional, small speakers don't handle bass very well.

When I was young, I helped my dad do performance measurements for the radio stations he owned. (Annual proof of performance test as required by the FCC). Back in the 60's we actually worked on equipment and repaired it. As a result of my training I am very sensitive to any distortion in my sound system. I'm the type of person who thinks a BOSE Car Radio is only mediocre.

I should sum this up. The internal amp on the RetroSound is not flat. It rolls the bass off and the sound is awful . It sounds like a cheap transistor radio of the 60's. It you use a quality external amp the sound will be OK.

BTW my girl friend heard the radio today and thinks it sounds great and she has a BOSE sound system in her car.

[fbrown]

I'm having a hard time getting anything done with my injured elbow. But I did manage a few simple things.


Made a hose to go from the engine to the coolant tank. Really I just added the Tee (capped right now) Will connect to the Vintage Air unit eventually.



Hose installed, also had to cut the engine cover around the AC compressor.



The driver side engine cover hits the brake booster.


Trimmed slightly to clear



Tip of the Day. To remove the rear seat, use a pry bar. The notch will engage the wire and you can press and lift with one simple motion. I was able to remove the rear seat using only my left hand.


You will need to tilt the bar slightly to catch the seat wire.


Next I decide that adding antifreeze, power steering fluid and transmission fluid was something that I could do.

OK, the only thing I need is a little gas to fire the engine. So put a gallon of gas in the tank. Turn the key on and off a few times to prime the fuel line. Turn on camera and take a video of the first start since the body was reinstalled on the frame.

Startup video about 38MB
http://peripheraltech.com/gto/start001.mov

I did move the car back and forth about a foot. it's not really apparent in the video.

Oil pressure gage works, tach doesn't work. GEN and Temp not hooked up.

Next a detailed check for leaks.

[Greg Reid]

That's looking good Fred. I had read where the valence trim didn't fit too well...Looks like they got that worked out? Yours looks perfect. I may change mine...they're kind of cloudy.

[fbrown]

From all of the pictures I have studied, the chrome didn't fit all that well even from the factory. That is it doesn't fit with no gaps, flush with the edge etc, if you look up close, but from a few feet away it looks good. I think mine is equal to the fit and finish from the factory.

[Greg Reid]

The one I saw in another thread was so far off that the opening in the valence had to be cut and bent to conform if I recall correctly. I think I can find the thread. I could be 'mis-remembering' ....maybe it was a repop valence that had the problem and not the trim.

[fbrown]

Was it the older repro chrome or the new PY one? Also I don't know exactly where the holes would be in the GTO valence. I located the best spot for the PY chrome and drilled mounting holes.

My valence was a original beat up LeMans piece.