Another great client of ours, Jeff from Mankato, brought in his highly customized 1950 rat rod. The audio system had to get loud yet stay crystal clear to overcome the extreme road and exhaust noise when he was on the road. The Sweet Sounds crew was up to the task and suggested a system with Focal speakers, powered by a marine-grade amplifier and a Sony head unit to deal with a possible moist environment.
Since this vehicle didn’t come with any provisions for mounting the radio or speakers, everything had to be customized and fabricated to add the audio system. Rather than using wood, we created both the radio and speaker mounts from a marine-grade plastic. Behind the glove box, we used a 10-inch wide strip of 1/4″ plastic and heat-forming techniques to bend it to match the contours of the existing metal frame. We then wrapped the plastic with black carpet and mounted the whole bracket. Then we installed the Sony marine radio and Rockford amp. The Sony can be controlled via wireless remote control or the volume knob on the dash.
We used the same techniques to mount the Focal Flax series PC165F in the kick panels. We then wrapped the panels and installed the speakers using a double-thick baffle. The entire area behind the speakers received a treatment of Stinger Roadkill damping material.
Up top, we mounted the Focal PC100 speakers directly to the metal body panel, skipping the grilles to give it a little more raw look that matched the rest of the vehicle. We used stainless steel fasteners throughout for a long-lasting install.
End result? This vehicle sounds sweet!
If you are looking for an audio system for your custom car or truck, drop by Sweet Sounds or send us an e-mail using our contact page.
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