The Sound of Music

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Cam

I’m sure everyone is sick of hearing about my car projects. So here’s another one! In past posts I have mentioned various stereo upgrade projects (head unit, amps, sub). But the stereo wasn’t complete…until now. I finally replaced my stock speakers (mids & tweeters). Overall, I am extremely happy with the cumulative results.

I picked JL Audio ZR-series component speakers (ZR-650CSI for the front and ZR-525CSI for the back) based on reviews I’d read and because I have liked my JL Audio sub so much (the ZR series speakers produce very clear and accurate sounds). The original speakers in the C6 are these monstrous 10″ paper things. Nasty. I has to make adapters to fit the JL Audio 6.5″ set. I used 1/4″ oak ply covered with foam. Same thing for the tweeters.

The speaker install was pretty painless. The hardest thing would have been running new speaker wire but Sound Warehouse had done that last year. Getting body panels off can be tricky, but the C6 Vettes are pretty straight forward.

I decided to put the front crossovers in the doors. Instructions will tell you never to put them inside the door, but there’s a right way to do it. I mounted them in the side impact foam- they are perfectly safe from water and dirt. I mounted the rear crossovers behind a carpeted body panel in the trunk section- safe and accessible.

With the panels back on everything looks great. I mounted a component set in the back and my only concern is that I may have mounted the tweeters too high. I might consider moving them down a bit if I can’t get it tuned just right. Speaking of tuning- Jim helped me tweak the setting on the amps and crossovers. We pumped out some Enya and tingled. When your stereo makes you tingle you have a winner.

Below is the total rundown of my project. The labor time listed includes fabricating parts, carpeting, installation & testing/tuning. I’m not going to discuss price, but you’ve got everything you need if you really want to know. The bottom line is that I’m thrilled and I feel like it was worth the time and money I put into it. The stereo is finished. Now it’s time for the engine. Maybe. Probably. Yes, Definitely.

Pioneer Avic Z1 head unit with the Sirus/XM radio, blue tooth and iPod modules (install by Sound Warehouse).

JL Audio ZR component speakers: 650CSI in front and 52sCSI in back (custom front speaker plates & install by me, 12 hours).

Kenwood XR-4s amp for the mids & tweeters and Kenwood XR-1S amp for the sub woofer (custom amp rack by Justin & me and install by me, 8 hours).

JL Audio W6 10″ sub (custom sub box by Justin & me and install by me, 7 hours).

PAC Steering wheel control interface (install by Jim & me, 1 hour)

Wiring for head unit (RCA cables from Lightning Audio), subs, and speakers by Sound Warehouse

Yet More Car Stuff

Posted on March 21, 2010 by Cam

It’s true. You’ve heard right! I have done more stuff to my car. No one cares and I get that. But I care. It’s fun for me to post these little enhancements on my blog. And you never know- they might actually help someone who’s putting in the same stuff. If you decide to read this, fine. But I’ll just be upfront: this will probably be very boring and mildly technical. And naturally I’ll give you the “these pictures don’t do the mods justice” disclaimer. They are puzzle pieces of a much larger picture. Once the puzzle is done I’ll wow you with some full body shots. Yeah, you can’t wait. I know.

Guess what I have on my steering wheel? Anyone? Stereo controls. It’s been bugging me for a year: steering wheel stereo controls that don’t control my stereo. But it’s okay now. I’ve remedied the situation with the PAC SWI-PS steering wheel control Pioneer stereo interface.

My Pioneer Avic Z-1 was ecstatic (“For me? Really? Oh wow. I don’t know what to say!”). All I had to do was wire the PAC unit in and control away! After I got the car’s center console removed I had second thoughts (deja vu, right?). After attending several years of trade school to become an electrician I began the project. First off, I just want to say that I found the instructions for the PAC system unnecessarily confusing. They provide three different sheets of instructions (programming info, stereo harness diagrams, and car / PAC interface / version info). If you’re going to install this little guy just use the online instructions.

I got the PAC unit wired into the car’s original stereo harness just fine but I had a heckuva time finding a 12 volt power source that was tied to the ignition system. Jim to the rescue! Jim’s knowledge of electrical systems surprised me (and possibly him too) and he proved an exceptional ally as we waged war against the mess inside my car. We found a suitable 12 volt source and a ground and had the PAC interface working in nearly no time. The Z06 steering wheel has a larger “1-6” button that the PAC really doesn’t accommodate. I’d recommend mapping the “mute” function to it (a very handy function).

After all the excitement with my stereo I decided to take a break and tackle an easy problem. When you work on a car sometimes you need the hood up (to pull a fuse, run a wire, charge the battery, etc). The Z06 hood has a small light that comes on when it’s open. The light never goes off. I used to pull out the bulb, but then I had to put it back in. Out, in, out, in. What a nightmare. I decided to put in a switch. Now when the hood is up and I don’t need the light I just switch it off. Best thing ever.

Well, except for black anodized custom painted aluminum engine caps… I’m trying to get a black/red color scheme going for the engine. I bought these black aluminum caps and then painted the vehicle markings on them myself. They actually turned out really well. Vanessa loves them. Remember, Vanessa is the car. Who’s crazy?

Anyway, it was finally time for a wideband. In a nutshell a wideband is a sensor that will tell you the air/fuel (A/F) ratio of the exhaust. With that information you can determine if your car has too much or not enough fuel. I bought HP Tuners awhile back and now I’ll be able to [more] safely use it.

The wideband installation was a job. I purchased an Innovate Motorsports LC-1 kit (which so far I would recommend). It comes with a gauge to display the A/F ratio. Cool! But that meant that I had to switch out my two gauge pillar (which has fuel and boost pressure gauges) with a three gauge pillar. No sweat, right? Advice: When switching out gauge pillars don’t try to make anchor pin holes in the same spot as the old gauge pillar. Just pull out the pillar trim, drill new holes, wire everything up, attach the gauge pillar back to the trim and put it back in.

Getting under my car is tricky so I took my her to Vince (of Lung Automotive). I had him weld in a sensor bung and then run the LC-1 control module. He poked the leads out through the shift boot which seems to work really well. Thanks Vince! And once again Jim came to the rescue and assisted me with the wiring portion of the project. Advice: The instruction manual for the LC-1 notes that there are two wires which have to be soldered together. It’s not kidding. Crimping won’t work. You have to solder them. Jim proved to be an adept soldering iron handler as well. It would have been difficult to achieve such exceptional result without his help. Thanks again Jim!

The gauge itself is pretty basic (I might upgrade to the XD-16 if the wideband proves to be useful). It’s a bit bright and the constant flickering as the A/F changes seems like it’s going to get annoying. Maybe the gauge will need a switch like my hood light! I know a guy…

And finally I decided that I’d upgrade my pedals. In retrospect I don’t really know why. The clutch and brake portions of the upgrade are just cosmetic overlays, but the whole accelerator is new. Advice: Don’t try and unhook the wiring harness on the accelerator without being able to see what you’re doing. You should be able to get both of the bolts (13mm btw) out and remove the pedal with the harness still intact. Then you can pull the pedal out and see how to unhook things. It’s a super tricky harness (with good cause).

And finally, it was time to say good by to Mr. AcDelco. That’s my old battery. It served me poorly for the last year before finally giving up the ghost this past winter. It’s actually very difficult to find the correct battery replacement for a 2007 Corvette z06. In fact I couldn’t. I ended up getting a DuraLast with similar specs (same cold crank amps- very important). It fit…sort of. Justin helped me purchase and install the battery. It’s seriously a two man job. The battery is located in a compartment in my trunk and I have my amp rack and every speaker wire sitting on top of it. What a pain! Advice: If you have you battery inside the car like I do and you end up getting a replacement that’s not quite the same as the original remember to make sure the new battery is vented.

Well that blog post was almost as much work as actually doing the car mods. Next up, I’m going to finish my stereo and then start working on my new engine (LSX block). 1000WHP ready or not, here I come.

Locked Out? But That’s Impossible!

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Cam

I got locked out of my car about a month ago. That may not seem like a big deal, but it is. When my key fob is near the car door it automatically unlocks (and when I walk away it locks- very nice). The car will only start with the key fob in the cabin and if you forget the fob when you get out and close the door the car reminds you to grab them (serious). So, with the fob in the car, and the door closed it shouldn’t be a big deal. Except that this one time my car decided the fob wasn’t there and locked the doors with the keys inside (the left is a picture of where the keys were). Technology is cool, but it can really hurt a guy.

I had a hot date (with my wife) and I really needed the car that night. I called Onstar. “Sir, you could be anyone. I can’t open the car for you.” “I just need you to fax over your registration. It’s in the car? One moment, let me see what I can do.” “Click.” I was frustrated, but in retrospect it’s obvious they couldn’t help me. I did the only think I could think of…

We sell lock pick kits, so I busted one out. One of the coolest gadgets is a device that slides down under the window and pops up in the cabin. Once it’s inside you can hit the lock buttons. The second picture shows what I mean- half outside, half inside, button pressed. I was absolutely shocked at how easy it was to get inside my car. It might have taken five minutes. No alarm, no snags, no damage. Once I learn how to hot wire vehicles I’ll be on my way to grand theft auto academy.

September 2009

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Cam

It’s been another busy month. Busy on the home front (seems like there’s something going on every day) and busy on the work front (I think we’ve finally settled in, but the business never sleeps). Sometimes I wish I didn’t need sleep. And believe me I’ve tried to get by with nothing. For awhile I actually slept every other night (that was a bad idea). Time is just so hard to come by. That’s been on my mind a lot lately- lack of time. Maybe I just manage my time poorly. I could be exercising instead of doing this blog post!

Speaking of exercising… Rachel organized a relay marathon a few weeks ago. Each of the five members on the relay team runs a 5K section. Fran trained for it blazed through her section in about 47 mins. That’s basically five ten minute miles. Not bad! Makes me want to train for a race.

Speaking of races… A couple weeks back Jim, Justin and I hit the Rocky Mountain Raceway for some midnight drags. Anyone who hasn’t gone should check it out- $5 to go watch people dual it out in the quarter mile. And a mighty dual it was. Corvette vs. Corvette vs. Camaro I ran a 12.1 at 131mph, Jim ran a 12.2 at 121 and Justin ran a 12.3 at 117mph! It was a super close race between Jim and I- he had me until about 90mph. You can check out one of our races and some pictures on Jim & Cindy’s blog. We were all hoping for 11 second runs, but we’ll have to get a little faster.

Speaking of a little faster… That’s what I plan to be shortly. I recently picked up a copy of HP Tuners. This nifty little software package gives the user control over every aspect of the car’s engine computer (yes, this can be very dangerous) . I need to pick up a few more things before I’m ready to start seriously tweaking, but I predict a predict a lot of fun… or tears.

Speaking of tears… I’m guessing people who shelled out 4K or 5K for a Dell color laptop ten years ago have shed a few. In the past couple of weeks I’ve gotten two laptops and I can’t believe all the computer you get for the money these days. The little guy above to the right was $279. It’s an HP Mini Notebook from Best Buy (I think this model might only be available though them). I got it to use with HP Tuners and it stays in my car- fits perfectly in my glove box. It has a 16 gig solid state drive (important to me since it will get bumped around in the car) a gig of ram, a 9″ 1024 x 600 screen, high speed wireless, USB outs, – everything that would have cost thousands of dollars a few years ago. The other laptop was a Dell Studio XPS. Again- an amazing bang for the buck.

Speaking of bang and bucks… A couple of nights ago we went to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus! I haven’t been to a circus in years and I have some really good memories from when I was a kid. Aside from trapeze performers they had all the good stuff I was expecting. We got to see magic acts, a ton of awesome acrobatics, people shooting out of a cannon (bang), clowns, tigers, elephants, tightrope walkers and more. I have admit it wasn’t always easy to follow everything- at times there was so much going on that the ring seemed chaotic. And it didn’t help that our kids seemed to have an endless queue of needs.

It may seem terrible to say, but if we were to go to the circus again soon we might leave some (or all) of the kids home. We willingly bought $10 cotton candy and a $9 lemonade (bucks) to appease their ceaseless demands for food, but Mike wanted popcorn as well ($12). We said “no” so he folded his arms, arranged a giant frown on his face and announced that he was wasn’t happy. He managed to sulk all the way home. That kind of put a damper on festivities. Gabriel was also a handful, but he’s 2- we can cut him some slack. Hopefully Mike will remember that we went to the circus and not that we refused to buy him Popcorn. I guess it’s hard to be a kid.

I always get confused when I post- I can’t remember if the pictures go first and then I blab. Or if I blab first and then put a picture. Ah well- I’ll let people figure out which blab goes with which pic. Until next time.

The Z06: There’s Nothing Vetter

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Cam

Cars are my hobby. I thought my hobby might have been writing… but I don’t really write. Drawing? No… don’t really do that either. Maybe my hobby is working? I work alot, but that doesn’t do it for me. Cars. It’s cars. For Father’s Day Fran got me an awesome 1000+ page automotive textbook that covers everything car related. Beautiful.

A few months ago I bought a newer Corvette, but it was just this past week that I put the finishing touches on her (I named her Vanessa). When you get a car you have to do certain things to make it “yours” (like giving it a name). Some people just need to add a bumper sticker, put on seat covers, or get some new floor mats. Others have to overhaul their car’s physical appearance in one way or another (there’s a right way and wrong way to do this -learn more HERE). Sure I did the floor mats and some stickers, but I did the wheels too.

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I replaced the stock Z06 rims (18″ front, 19″ rear, flat, kinda boring, generic) with West Coast Corvette’s WCC Forged 946 EXT custom series (19″ front, 20″ rear, not flat, super exciting, made by Asanti). For tires I went with Michelin’s PS2 series. So far I really like them- good ride & great traction.

As far as cars go I’m having a good time with this one. It’s an actual Z06 (my last car looked like one, but had a secret) with nearly 800 horsepower (an APS twin turbo kit on the LS7 engine is a pretty mean set up). My last car accelerated so fast it made some people scream. This car is so fast that it will compress the air in your lungs so you can’t scream (better for you, better for me). Not that I have ever sped. Mom thinks I should get something quieter. Something safer. Sorry Mom. I like my cars loud and fast.

March 28, 2010: Added some updated photos of the car.

The Neverending Story

Posted on July 18, 2009 by Cam

We finally finished moving into our new building and we’re in the process of settling in. I think this move will be a great opportunity for us to grow and I feel like we got a killer deal (owing to the poor economic climate). The move has been very draining, but I think for the most part people have come to be in favor of it. Here’s a quick tour:

Below is part of our storefront. What you see below completely filled our old store from wall to wall.

The current storefront is about three times larger and we have a lot of extra space. It’s a great, but it looks bad… next year we’ll finish it off with counters and more shelving.

This is our warehouse operation. The new warehouse is about five times biggest than the old one which gives plenty of working space and tons of room for new products (most of the warehouse is still empty at this point- I didn’t post a picture of the empty space though).

Our tool area and photo studio areas. Having a dedicated room for pictures is awesome.

This is the office that I share with Fran. I’ve got a picture below of the old office we used to share. It was 8′ x 7′ and we were both crammed in there. I don’t know how we did it. This one is 16′ x 12′ and there’s plenty of room for two (and even a couch… which I desperately want to try sleeping on).

This is Jim’s office. He favors the more executive approach- looks good! And then Jim’s beloved data closet- It’s all he’s ever really wanted.

We got ourselves a conference room with a pompous table and some executive looking chairs (really comfortable chairs though). Our new break room has a sink and a full sized fridge (it has changed my life). We still have the Street Fighter arcade and SNES too. But….

The Ping Pong table has really taken over as the popular break time option. The upstairs lounge has a few couches that spectators can watch from too. I commandeered a little corner space in the warehouse which I plan to make into a garage of sorts (for cleaning, light maintenance, etc).

Below are some pictures of the move. Moving is always emotional for me. Our old store served us well, ultimately it just wasn’t meeting our needs.

It felt really strange to see the store empty again.

This was our old office (remember, Fran was in there too). 7′ x 8′ people! The back wall in the pictures is the 7′ wall. Initially this room had an 8′ ceiling, but we had it raised up to 9′. It really makes us appreciate what we’ve got now.

Despite my agonizingly busy schedule we went up to Idaho for my sister’s wedding. The ceremony was held at a beautiful converted church. Erin Hughes and Doug Atwood were married on June 23, 2009. We couldn’t be happier for them! They currently reside in Idaho. Check out their wedding website HERE!

My busy schedule caused some casualties though. Fran got a Costco Gazebo for our yard at the end of May. It’s still sitting in our yard like you see it below. I’m going to try and get it built for our Anniversary though (end of July). Fran has been busy growing roses and I think they are gorgeous (one time I sprouted a mustard seed which died shortly thereafter- that is the extent of my gardening ability).

I did steal some time to work on another car project that’s been haunting me for several months. I recently got a new car (a newer Corvette) and, aside from the usual tune tweaking, one of my first projects was to put in a new Stereo. I put the head unit and mid speakers from my old car into my new car but I couldn’t move my subwoofers because of car design differences. Justin was on the job- he built my sub box and amp rack and I did the carpet and installation.

I relocated my trunk lights to the center (previously they were on the corners where the sub and amps now go). I think I like them better there.

Instead of two 8″ JL Audio W3 subs I went with one 10″ JL Audio W6 (it’s a beast). I’m running matched Kenwood Excelon amps. Since I only have a single sub this time we tried to balance the visual presentation by putting the amps in the other corner. Overall I think it turned out great.

There’s a ton of other things that happened too, but Fran’s got them covered on Facebook (she posts albums for each month). Some highlights: Fran’s birthday, Gabriel’s Birthday, Father’s Day, Stadium of Fire, and lots more.

Pong and Song

Posted on April 18, 2009 by Cam

We’ve had a ping pong table on our wish list for awhile. I’m not exactly sure why but at some point last week it rose right to the top and we got one. Fran did all the legwork on this one- she picked it out, ordered it and drove up to the warehouse in West Vally in the middle of a thunderstorm to pick it up. It’s a two part design that sits right on top of our pool table- practical and convenient.

Initially I thought that the ceiling fan hung too low in relation to the table (we kept hitting it at first becuase we sucked), but I think “Wind Pong” might turn into a fun variation. I want to try playing with eye patches (“Pirate Pong”- very hard with no depth perception). Fran also proposed putting in black lights and playing with a glow-in-the-dark ball (no name yet).

So far we’ve had three “tournaments.” It’s nothing organized enough to determine if there is a definitive champion (not everyone has played everyone else), but so far it appears that Apana is the King of Ping (or Kong of Pong- whatever you like). Jake has vowed to dethrone him and I will be holding secret practice sessions each Saturday. Anyone up for game? Bring it.

A couple of days ago Justin and I finished the stereo wiring in the car! Ultimately I had great time and I learned a ton of fun stuff, but the stereo upgrade was a way bigger project than we had thought. Running all the cables and keeping them hidden was really tricky (we ended up pulling out tons of the body paneling). The mess of wires behind the head unit was intimidating but we got everything wired up a-ok. I will confess that it was a little frightening to see my car in so many pieces.

I got everything put back together earlier tonight and spent some time road testing it. For the most part I’m really happy with everything. The two subs (JL Audio 8″) are fantastic. They give off nice tight base (which is what I wanted) but still sound very full. I replaced the stock speakers in the rear with some 5 1/4″ Kenwood Exelons (nothing fancy) which have a nice bright sound that complements the subs. I left the 10″ stock speakers in the doors- for now they get the job done just fine. Everything (subs and mids) run of the two Alpine amplifiers (both 250 watts). As an aside, cramming everything into the trunk and still leaving room for the removable roof was difficult, but we pulled it off! Visually I think the set up is very appealing.

There’s a lot of tuning left to do, but I think the final result will exceed my expectations. Sadly I’ve got humming noise that parallels the engine speed. I need to figure out where it’s coming from and what’s causing it. My initial hunch is that the ground wire is too long (the chassis of the car is fiberglass to we had to run the ground wire back to the battery- nearly 16 feet). It may also have to do with poorly shielded wires in the engine bay (i.e. spark plug wires). This, coupled with my Blu Ray sync issues, has made it a bad month for sound! Ah well- it makes me feel manly when I fix stuff.

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Egg-citing Stuff

Posted on April 13, 2009 by Cam

Saturday we spent the morning coloring eggs for Easter. One of these days I’ll have to take time to research the origins of coloring eggs and how that might (read “might not”) relate to the Resurrection of Christ. No idea- but coloring eggs is fun. We used an Transformers coloring kit we bought last year after Easter (I think it was marked down to a buck). Funny thing- the red dye pellet didn’t make it; I guess its shelf life was less than one year. We made our own ready dye with food coloring and vinegar. The kids had a blast (well, not Gabe- he was napping).

That afternoon I commenced the wiring portion of my subwoofer / amplifier install. That’s going to be a big job. Mike was a huge help and we got the seat and some panelling out and and started running the ground wires and RCA cables. This coming week I’ll have to remove the center console and the actual receiver (from the instructions I’ve got it won’t be fun). But hey- that’s what life is all about: Doing things that aren’t fun with the hope that later something not fun that you did will result in fun.

And finally Easter. We hid chocolate eggs in the living room and the real eggs outside. Mike and Claire put the eggs in their baskets but Gabe just put everything in his mouth. Another holiday successfully celebrated!

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