Featured Installation - 1996 Chevy Impala (07/21/06)

This vehicle is a 1996 Chevy Impala brought to me by a customer named Sean Samuel (aka: Rainman). Sean wanted a system that was very loud but also had the ability to compete in IASCA sound competitions and be very competitive at the national level. What you see here is the result of almost two years of ideas, creations, trial, error, more creations and a finished product that truly defines attention to detail.

The trunk is definitely the centerpiece of the installation, which incorporates two JL Audio 13W6V2D4's in an eight-cubic-foot ported enclosure that is painted to match the vehicles exterior. The enclosure was constructed by first taking a mold of the vehicles trunk and then duplicating the shape in fiberglass to take advantage of all useable air space. The shape of the box was then mocked up using MDF templates and fleece material, at that point the fleece was then coated in fiberglass resin to retain the shape. Once the resin was dry, the enclosure was reinforced using 4oz fiberglass woven mat and more resin. The freshly glassed enclosure was then smoothed out using body filler and polyester primer to ensure a flawless finish. Once sanded to perfection the box was coated in burgundy PPG paint and clear for an outstanding shine. After the painting was complete and the enclosure set in it's place, it was installed by bolting it to the vehicles frame to ensure stability. The woofers were then installed and the port finished off with a custom fabricated polished aluminum grill.

The amp rack was built using 3/4" MDF to ensure a solid frame for the enormous amplifiers. Three Soundstream amplifiers were used to power the system. One 1600 watt Tarantula Monoblock, one four channel 60x4 for the door speakers and the rear deck and one two-channel 125x2 just for the kick panels. The four-channel is on a separate switch to transform the system from street rocker to competitor. The amp rack was outfitted with four duct fans for proper cooling, which are vented to the vehicles exterior. The amp rack is then covered by a vinyl panel that gives the amps a flush appearance.

Signal processing is done by way of an Audio Control 6XS and EQS for tuning and signal tweaking. The opposite side of the trunk is complimented by a Rockford Fosgate 100 farad capacitor and Streetwire fuse distribution block. The entire trunk was re-fabricated to cover every inch of space. Every panel in the trunk was custom fabricated by hand using the same process as the enclosure (frames made of MDF, then wrapped in fleece material, then coated with a tooling resin to retain shape). All panels were then smoothed with body filler, primed, sanded and wrapped in gray vinyl. The trunk is topped off with a custom fiberglass painted light bar embossed with the Mobile One logo. The light bar is outfitted with a series of LED's that illuminate the install when the trunk is opened.

As if that weren't enough for the trunk, it still wasn't done. The customer wanted even more of a bling factor to the trunk, so a custom deck lid panel was fabricated to house two 7" LCD monitors and a large Impala logo made from 1/4" 6061-T6 aircraft-grade aluminum polished to a shine!

The sound from the subs makes it's way through the rear deck along side two Polk Audio 6x9's. The entire rear deck of the vehicle was cut then reinforced with plate steel for strength so the vehicle would not flex or rattle. The deck was then fabricated using the template, fleece, resin, filler, primer then sanding technique, afterwards being wrapped in gray vinyl. The deck was then outfitted with a subwoofer port that is wrapped in charcoal grill cloth and capped off with two Polk Audio grilles.

Up front the Impala was treated to two pair of Polk Audio 6.5" separates. One set in the doors in the stock locations and one set in the custom-fabricated kick panels. A pair of tweeters were flushed in the vehicles A-pillars to raise the vehicles image height. The headunit is a Kenwood KVT915DVD along with a 10-disc DVD changer flushed into the center console. The console also houses a custom pod for the control switches and system gauges.

Under the hood is a pair of Optima Red Top batteries and a Stinger 200 amp alternator that is powder coated black. All of the power and ground wires under the hood were upgraded to Streetwire 0 gauge wire and terminated with SWWS compression fitting ring terminals.

Overall the customer was extremely satisfied with the system even though the vehicle neared a two-year completion timeframe. The car is very unique and catches everyone's eye at every show it goes to. I took pride in every step of this build and believe the attention to detail shows throughout, and most importantly, it achieved my goal of a system that looks good on the street and can be comfortable in a daily driver, yet it can easily turn around and be extremely competitive in national-level car audio events. competitive.

-Eric Hunn MECP