Over the past couple of months, I’ve sorted out just about every aspect of the C10 that’s mechanical in nature. I’ve upgraded the suspension, rebuilt the rearend, hopped up the motor, installed a freshly rebuilt transmission, and upgraded the steering system; all in the hope of bringing the drivability of the old truck into the 21st Century. But what I also hoped for was a bit of comfort to go along with the performance. In that regard, I wasn’t let down as the newly rebuilt C10 performs as good if not better than it looks.
That said, it was time to turn my attention to the inside of the cab and knock out a couple of items that will really add to the comfort level of my daily driver. I’ve already replaced all the felt and rubber bits for the door glass, but I had not tackled installing the new LMC door weatherstripping yet. Needless to say, this was the first item on the list to not only reduce the wind noise, but to help keep that cold air inside the cab that the newly-installed Vintage Air A/C system is pumping out. Next up was to install a new LMC floor mat as the original one was pretty trashed. While that was out, I figured it was as good a time as any to install some Dynamat insulation to further reduce the road noise and cab temperature.
The first thing I conquered on the cab upgrade list was to install new door weatherstrip from LMC. Black weatherstrip adhesive was applied in sections directly to the door sill before the weatherstrip was pushed in place.
But the icing on the cake, and the really fun part about the cab upgrades I made, was installing the new Kicker sound system. I’ve seen Kicker’s stuff in a bunch of different trucks I’ve shot over the years, but I had yet to actually hear one of their systems first hand. I know that their stuff is first rate, as they’re known as one of the top audio equipment manufacturers in the world, and there are plenty of reviews online as testament to this. I’ve always wanted a really nice stereo setup in one of my old cars but never had the opportunity to see it through, so I figured the C10 was the perfect project in which to do so.
To get the ball rolling, I contacted my buddy Ron Burnett over at Kicker to see what he recommended as a jumping off point for our pickup. He plotted out two separate setups depending on the space available, dictated by whether or not the stock gas tank would remain in place. I didn’t plan on removing the tank any time soon, so we went with the option that worked within the stock confines of the cab. This meant that whatever subs we use need to fit under the bench seat (as opposed to behind it) and we were limited for coaxial speaker size by the room in each door (where the previous owner had cut a nice hole).
Given these parameters, Ron set us up with a pair of Kicker’s CompVT 8-inch subboxes. Measuring 5 inches deep and 16 inches long, they’re perfect for mounting under the seat and they come ready to rock, with each woofer mounted in its own carpet-wrapped box. For the doors, he recommended a pair of DS Series 6-inch midrange coaxial speakers. Powering the system needed to be handled by an amp that had plenty of juice, so Ron set us up with their DX600.5 amplifier. With a certified maximum power output of 779 watts (it even came with a certificate of verification!), the DX600.5 packs way more punch than we’ll probably ever need.
The icing on the cake though is Kicker’s newest product, the PXi50.2 iPod controller. One of the stipulations I had when we were putting together our audio system was that I didn’t want a head unit of any kind, be it in the dash or under the seat. Let’s face it, CDs and, *cough*, cassettes are a thing of the past and don’t get me started on FM radio! No, the MP3 player is king today and I’m a bit attached to my iPod as I bet many of you fellow music lovers are as well. And with nearly 20,000 songs on my iPod alone, why would I need anything else? I wanted a system that I could simply plug my iPod or iPhone in and be a’rockin’ and a’rollin’—the PXi50.2 was the perfect solution. An amplified controller designed to easily add tunes to a vehicle not previously equipped with a music source, for all intents and purposes, the PXi50.2 is a head unit that can be mounted under the seat or in the glovebox thanks to its small footprint. A wired remote allows for control of basic functions of the device and a 66-inch connection cable provides continuous charging to the docked device. This translates essentially into a system that can be completely hidden out of sight when not in use, something that I was keen on from the beginning to thwart off the potential thief, yet rivals any aftermarket stereo system. Short of the door-mounted speakers, the entire system is out of sight.
To power the amp, I ran a 4-gauge wire from the battery to the amp with an 80 amp fuse mounted close to the battery.
Eager to pump my cab full of tunes as well as wanting to keep any exhaust fumes and heat out and cool air in, I tore into the project with the veracity of a whirling dervish. First came the bench seat, followed by the floor mat, and finally the stock insulation, which had to be scraped off the cab floor. From there, it was a matter of laying down Dynamat followed by Dynaliner, planning out the location of each device, and wiring everything up. By that afternoon, I had the cab back together and had pissed off a few neighbors with my new bumpin’ sound system. If it’s too loud, you’re too old. Yeah, something like that … CCT
