Technical Turn on, Tune in, Drop out (of sight)

In my continuing effort to hide my technology in my cars I came up with an idea to incorporate some tunes without distracting from what I am planning on being a very cool interior in my roadster.

I didn’t want a visible head unit, no CD players, no door speakers. I thought about a portable Bluetooth speaker but I don’t want it ripped off at a car show or give a crack head a reason to slit my convertible top to take a speaker off the seat. Same thing for a suitcase filled with amps and speakers. So a few drinks later I came up with the following idea. I have been building it for a while and thought I’d wait for this year’s tech week to share it with you but got tired of waiting.

Real estate is very scarce in my 34 roadster and I am already running my under dash heater from tech week a couple years ago. I did have a spot left over in the middle of the firewall under the new cowl vent though.

Taking my lead from a vintage ford speaker ...



that would have been a common sight in an old car, I created a cardboard template that would echo the shape of my Speed 33 firewall.



Second, make it out of steel.



Third, weld two studs to the firewall to secure the box without having to have bolts through my perfect firewall. You can skip this step if you have already painted your firewall.

Next, weld four smaller studs to the inside of the lid to secure speaker. If you look at the ford speaker box, it has screws though the grille and I thought it could be built better…so I did. The 4 studs are visible in the next picture.

Make a wood panel to attach speaker to. This panel will also set the speaker back from the grill as the dual voice coil speaker protrudes in the center where the tweeters are, plus you will attach the speaker cloth to the board as well.



Ford script speaker cloth is readily available in the aftermarket. I considered something flashier like a juke box would have used but I went for a stock look. Note the speaker panel is notched in the center and all four corners, that is in order to clear the mounting hardware (nut zerts) on the box.




The speaker is from Retro Sound. I have used this speaker before, sounds nice and it is stereo. Not expensive. If you look close you can see the left and right speaker inputs on the back.



Next, prepare the box. You will need to drill for the amp, add a bracket for the Bluetooth receiver and I also added a volume knob to fine tune the volume rather than relying on my iphone.



Next step, off to the powder coater. Russ Meeks at Finishline in Milwaukie, who appreciates my creativity, finished the box in a semi flat black wrinkle coat for a factory fresh appearance.



Speaker bolts in a seconds using nylon locking hardware to make sure they don’t shake loose while 'Zeppin out to the oldies.

These are license plate lights that I am using for floor courtesy lighting. I added them to the top of the speaker box. Note they have two poles so the ground will toggle on the jamb switches.



In this view you can also see the air vent holes drilled in the box. Note to self, louvers would have been cool too. You can also see the 4 holes that will mount the amp and the two larger holes where the mounting studs on the firewall will pass through.



I welded a bracket on the side to hold the volume knob. It is labeled as “V” below



Here are all of the components needed to Bluetooth the speaker box; the amp labeled as “A” (a motorcycle item, 50 watts, 2 channels), the Bluetooth receiver labeled as “B” and the volume knob “V” all mounted in the case with my courtesy lights up top. I will add sound proofing mat.


Here is the box mounted to the firewall, you can see I used wing nuts for now but might use nylon insert nuts here as well in the final assembly. Not easy to steal which is what I was after since it is a roadster and I don’t put the top up often on my cars.



The lid is installed starting with the bottom edge and then over the top. Secured with small Allen head bolts into nut zerts added to the box during assembly.



More venting holes on the bottom, electronics hate heat.



Top view of the box shows the wiring grommets that will protect the light wiring as well as the speaker ground and power.



Installed, plenty of room above the tunnel for carpet and it leaves room for the heater box to the right. No theft worries as you must remove the lid to access the mounting


You can see my limited amount of real estate. The speaker squeezes between my gas pedal and the heater that goes on the other side of the dash. It was a lot of fabrication and took a bit of time and creativity but hey, if was easy, everyone would do it!

Don't want a speaker box? You can hide this easily inside an old heater box too!

Tech from the imagine of BanditBilly for my buddies on the HAMB.

 

For those about to rock, we salute you.


Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.

 

Very nice,I like the wrinkle finish also. HRP

 

Nice fab,got enough volume to hear over that awesome flatty?

 

LMAO! That is yet to be seen (and heard).

It looks original from a distance, and that was the idea.

I listen to it in the garage occasionally and it is pretty loud, could use a bit more bass, probably should have added a graphic EQ inside the box instead of the bike amp. Then you could preset the dynamics.

 

Does the talent around here ever end?

Very nice work and a GREAT idea!

Now ya got me thinkin!

 

Does that thing play any Moody Blues or Iron Butterfly?????...

 

Not yet but it will! I use it for Pandora and my playlists on my iphone but skies the limit with Bluetooth audio.
Glad to see so many of you dig this, you never know how things will go over around these parts.

 

very Cool , great tech too

 

That's exactly like I woulda done it.

Except I wouldn't have been embarrassed to have the volume knob right on the front. Lots of cool knobs out there that would fit the style. Maybe you can adjust the knob with your toe now.

 

Fantastic!!

 

Pretty slick!! One thing I would change though...I'd move the volume knob to the front. I'd be afraid of hitting it while smashing the gas and possibly breaking it off. Cool idea though. Might try something like this in my Shoebox Ford.

 

It ain't on the front, it is low on the drivers side of the box. You are right though, there are better knobs.

 

Truthfully, it doesn't need a volume knob at all, your iphone volume works just fine. I just thought an override on the box would be nice for a fast volume adjustment, like to talk to a cop or the first refrains from Sweet Home Alabama (turn it up!).

 

Very nice!!

 

I heard all the cool guys do not have music in their HOT RODS.

 

Sweet Home Alabama....
Another GREAT song!!!!!
Krank that mother up!!!!!

 

That's slicker than dog snot Billy!

 

Thanks man!

 

Yes, that is very creative. I could probably do it but I'm not very smart nor am I that handy with tools. Other than that, I'd be a winner, too.

 

my vote for best tech week project, december 2017!

 

Very, very nice and well written. But I have a Chevy, not a Ford.

 

That's a fine piece of work.

 

Thanks!

Nobody is perfect!

 

You better hope the needle doesn't get stuck on Free Bird!

 

Really nice Billy! I didn't know they had wrinkle powdercoat.

 

Russ Meeks is a genius. I explained the project and dropped it off when I had my exhaust system ceramic coated. he said, "oh yeah, I got this" and boy did he ever!

I love that song. You know that guy in the back of the room that always yells "PLAY FREE BIRD!" ? I'm that guy.

 

Great idea,plan and execution!

 

That turned out nice!

I'm planning to do the heater case route (if I can't squeeze enough room from under the dash) in my coupe.

Here's another option for a micro amp, with a decent amount of power, that has the Bluetooth module built in.

http://www.woofersetc.com/st4-1000d...00w-max-class-d-amplifier-with-bluetooth.html

You can run a pair of interior speakers off the front channels, and bridge the back channels to run a small subwoofer. (if that's your thing)

 

Ya did good. I like it! Gary