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Hello SAABnet! Since I've done more reading lately than I've done posting, I figured that I'd leave some notes on a few of the projects that I've been doin'
First off, I dropped a new sound system into ol' wheezy and boy does she sound nice now. The setup is a 60W x 4 Alpine head unit, Infinity Kappas in the front (stock location), Kenwood 4 x 10's in the back, an SAS Bazooka 10" amplified sub, and all new heavy-gauge wires everywhere. The idea was to keep the installation as simple as possible and keep it looking stock (didn't want to relocate speakers, no external amps). Of course I ended up tearing the whole car apart to run the wires, but otherwise I am very pleased.
Pros: The Alpine (CDA-7873) head unit doesn't need an external amp with it's 60 watt internal amp (turning it up beyond 2/3 volume is basically painfully loud) and it sounds great anyway. Another plus: If you plan on installing an Alpine head in the lower slot, this unit also has the neat feature of automatically tilting the motorized face up when the power goes on. The Bazooka was painfully easy to install, four wires: power, ground and sound. (Sounds incredible too, BTW. You NEED a sub in the 900 SAAB, acoustically, it is the perfect shape for a rear mounted sub.) Yes, these are pricey subs (I got mine used) but they're worth it - you will put 90% of homemade subs to shame, to shame! This is clean, warm bass, and don't bother with the higher wattage Bazookas, mine has 80w and doesn't need any more power. Lastly, all of the speakers in the car are rated to at least 90w, so they should never blow up...
Cons: While the tonal quality of the system is excellent, the stereo separation is just pretty good, it would probably be improved by putting the speakers in the kick panels. I thought it was worth it for the easier install. I think the need for more range in the mids and highs up front is more of an issue - if you want to do the work, I would suggest separate 6" mids in the kicks and tweets in the stock location. Also, all of the 4 x 10 speakers on the market are basically crappy. I figured this wouldn't be a problem since they don't need to carry much bass (with the sub) and you don't hear the highs as much (being that they are in the back). It worked out okay, but I might have gotten the 6 x 9 adaptors if I had to do it again. There are so many nice 6 x 9's out there. All in all, no major problems, I love the way it sounds.
One last goodie: I wired the auxiliary input so that I can plug in an mp3 player. Mmmmm, nice sound AND it's expandable!
Does anybody have any ideas on why AM stations go out when I drive under high-tension electric wires? Did that with my old radio, too...
On to a completely different "auto sound" project: I did the back half of my exhaust this weekend, went well - no major injuries, two hour job. I guess it just pays to have a plan before you go in. I had originally thought about upgrading the stock exhaust, but since I couldn't find a pre-fab system made with stainless steel, I went with the stock $120 Starla setup. Can't beat the price, anyway. Maybe when this one dies I'll bring the car to a custom muffler shop and have them build a nice rumbly stainless system from the manifold back. Some of the independent muffler shops can bend up a superior custom exhaust for less than you'd think.
This was one DIY project that went much easier than expected. Basically I took off the clamp at the back of the mid pipe (came off easily - one side actually screwed out, the other snapped off inside the clamp - had a bolt splitter and cutting disk on hand just in case) then I cut the pipe about a foot back from there with a cutting disk, a power drill AND a large plumbing pipe cutter I happened to have around. From there I was able to pull all the old stuff from there back right out.
I figured the hard part would be separating the two sections of pipe where the clamp was, and yes it took a while. Luckily most of the pipe on the outside (connected to the 1' section) was rusted out, so I wiggled it a bit, banged on it with a chisel a lot, wedged a screwdriver under some of it and bent bits of it off. Eventually it realized that I wasn't giving up and it let go.
Reassembly with the shiny new exhaust wasn't too bad either, after a little tweaking. The front muffler section went right on, so I figured it's natural position and clamped it down. The kit I bought came with all the hardware I needed, including clamps, hangers and a little packet of goo that said it would help to seal the system of you smeared it on everything. I've never heard of the stuff, but I smeared it on there anyway. It helps stuff to slide around when you are adjusting pipes, too. Once the main muffler was on, I threw a box under it to hold it up, and make it easier to put the hangers on and position the resonator.
Question: Why does the stock exhaust have to go so damn close to the panhard rod? It's not like there isn't enough room back there! My old exhaust was a bit off and I kept having to bend the pipe away from the panhard rod to stop it from making horrible sounds.
I got a worried when the resonator section wouldn't push into the muffler section, but luckily I was able to just bend the two halves of the flange apart by putting a bar in there and pulling. I also smoothed the edge out by putting the point of a square piece of sheet metal in there and reaming it out. Then they went together okay.
Naturally, when I put the resonator section on I tried to spin it as far from the panhard rod as possible. That was a pain in the neck, this section felt like it wanted to rest right up against the panhard rod. Eventually I was able to get it about 3/4 of an inch from the panhard mount, but of course, now the rest of the tailpipe was off by a few inches. At this point I just put the clamp on and did some creative bending. I was careful to put blocks of wood between the exhaust pipe and the body so it bent where I wanted it too, and the box under the muffler helped as well.
That's it. A bit of finesse and, after a few laps around the block I would say it's on there perfectly. (Man I hope so!) Hope this helps someone else anyway.
Next project: Heater Control Valve.
Nerm
Black 92 Turboless 900S
Hartford, CT
posted by 12.243.18...
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