[firebird_madness]

I am on the finishing stages of running a whole new system on my 77. I ran all new wires and new equipment. I will post pictures after I clean the wiring in the trunk up with wire covers. This is what I put in the car. A Kenwood head set, an 1100W Crunch Ground Pounder amp, two 1000W 6X9's, a SoundPex 10 subwoofer box (picked up from Murray's when they had clearances on items, $10.00). I ran 16 gauge speaker wire (two are just sitting there for future use) and the amp wiring from the battery to the trunk. All the wiring is hidden and safe. Mounted the amp on a piece of plywood hidden under the carpet in the trunk. All that is left as I said before is to clean up the wiring. I bridged the 6x9's and subwoofer box to the amp. This system sounds pretty good with no overload. I am not sure what I am going to do about front speakers yet, but I am looking into options. I am also going to get a stronger alternator and clean up the ignition wiring under the hood. Any idea's on a good alternator would be great. Thanks

 

[Greenbird76]

Dan, right now for the sbc I upgrated to an 85 amp alternator and it seems fine. When I rebuild the 400 Pontiac motor I will have to change the wiring back to original which is no problem and will probably buy an alternater from Summit or Jegs- 140 amp like this one- http://www.summitracing.com/search/Year/1976/Make/PONTIAC/Model/FIREBIRD/Department/Ignitions-Electrical/Part-Type/Alternators-and-Generators/?Ns=Rank%7cAsc&page=4

As for the front speaker ideas, my 76 only had the one speaker in the front for its am radio. I dont know if you have the two 3.5 inch speakers or the one 4x10 like I do. But here is what I did. I removed the original speaker which looked great at first, but the paper disentergrated as soon as I touched it with a rag. I had to remove the glove box, the a/c vents and runners, slide out the power door lock and rear defrost switches and then remove the speaker. There is very little room and it took some patiience and finese to work each piece out without any damage. I did some research on the web and started a thread on this site because I did not want to cut up my interior due to the great original shape it is in.

What I did was to use my dremmel and cut up the original speaker housing using the old paper insert as a guide. I essentially cut out an oval. I then used and made a small center support bracket out of some scrap sheet metal and welded it to the original brackt to strengthen it. This divided the stock bracket into two compartments so I could mount two 4" speakers. For now I am using some pioneers I bought off the shelf at Best buy. I too put in Kenwood reciever. I went with Crutchfields recommondation of the KDC395 which was in their signature series. It was $140 with free shipping. It has a front usb input which I love. In the rear I have a pair of Polk marine use dxi 690s. For now everthing is running off the Kenwood and it actually sounds pretty good. The polks put out very good bass. I too ran all the wires when I had the interior out of the car. I am setup for an amp to run the 4 speakers and one to run some sub woofers. These will have to remain on my to do list for now. I attached a picture of an origianl 4x10 speaker that had two 3.5 inch speakers installed it. This is not my actual speaker, but is very similar to it.

 

[GaryDoug]

As for the alternator choice, I would avoid the 1-wire versions, if possible. With such a heavy load, you will need to have all the remote voltage sensing you can get.

 

[firebird_madness]

Wow Gary, that was a very creative way to turn the one speaker into two. The 77 only has the one 4x10 and you have created a very good solution for that. I tried oreillys for a larger volt alt, and had no luck, but it looks like summit has another solution. I am checking all my connections on the car first before I start changing things because it has a 11-13 volts on the gauge before I did anything. Has a new battery and all the terminals going to the alt look solid. I am going to look on the starter to see if everything is good down there. Thanks for all of your input, you really gave me some good ideas! I would have never had thought about splitting the front speaker up like that.

 

[GaryDoug]

I am pretty sure he means you Ron ;-)

 

[firebird_madness]

LOL, my mistake. Thank you too Ron!!

BTW Ron, where did you get your 85 amp alt?

 

[firebird_madness]

Here are some pictures of the finished product.

 

[Greenbird76]

Pep boys, it is actually 80 amp. Sorry. but here is the link. 75$ + core. Warranty is very good. Just keep your reciept.

5th item down- Prostart optional 80 amp alternator- #7155112

http://www.pepboys.com/catalog/partresult?category=8&group=17

 

[firebird_madness]

Thanks Ron. I am going to head up after work to pick it up.
The one I have is only getting my charge up to 13.

 

[firebird_madness]

Now that I have a car with no leaks and a stable drive train, I am going back to what I started in September of last year, the radio setup. I i have to do to finish this is to put two 4 inch speakers in where the one 4X10 is.

These are what I am going to put in.

 

[73Birdman]

Dan, I will be following this closely....please more pics/info

 

[daveyk86]

I thought I saw one on kijiji saskatchewan that was 85 amps but it is only an 80amp... not sure if this is sufficient for whta you are looking for.
here is the link anyways
http://saskatoon.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-auto-parts-tires-other-parts-accessories-AC-DELCO-ALTERNATOR-FROM-1976-PONTIAC-TRANS-AM-W0QQAdIdZ252950406

 

[Greenbird76]

Dan, the 4 inch speakers fit was tight when I did it and I used 4 inch poineers. It barley fits above the vents, but it fit. You are going to make a custom bracket out of the original right?

 

[txvintage]

I know JC Whitney makes a dual speaker replacement for the single speaker in my truck. I'm not sure if it would work in a Bird dash or not, and I doubt it has the quality of two mini Pioneers or Kickers.

 

[Greenbird76]

there are a few retro sound companies that make speakers with duel tweeter cones to accomodate the older cars. Retrosound. I think is one. I have heard differing comments about them and I want true seperate channels. If you have a dremmel and a welder then you can modify your old 4x10 speaker. You actually are using part of the old speaker to fabricate a new mounting bracket for the 2 4 inch speakers. I think 3.5 inch is an easier fit though. I posted a picture of one on this site once. Dan, you may have that picture somewhere. My harddrive went a while back and so did all my pictures and links.

 

[firebird_madness]

I have the old speaker out, this part was easy.

Step 1 Remove the 4 screws for the glove box door.

Step 2 Remove the 6 screws for the glove box insert and remove insert.

Step 3 Remove the 1 bolt holding the speaker bracket, then the speaker and bracket drop right down.

So I am pretty much gutting the speaker and making a bracket out of it to hold the other 2 speakers? Is that correct Ron? I think I might give that a shot.

 

[Cheats]

Need you to post some good pics of your trunk when your done Dan so I can get some ideas for mine

Looking great so far.

 

[Greenbird76]

Yes Dan. Use a Dremmel and cut out the oval area and then further grind the bracket to fit your speakers. Be careful because at this stage the what is left of the bracket is very flimsey and can easily bend. For strength, I took a small strip of sheet metal and welded it to the new bracket between the speakers. Lastly, I took the origianl mounting arm and welded it to the new speaker frame assembly. Grinded down my tack welds and shot with some flat rustoleum. Drilled some holes and attached the speakers with speed nuts and screws. Take your time mounting and welding the arm because you do have to get the angle just right for the bracket to fit back into the car. By looking at this thread and all you have done. This should be cake walk for ya.

Nice pics of the original speaker mounted in your car BTW

 

[firebird_madness]

Thanks Ron for all the advice.

Well I did it. It mounted solid back up where it was, with the two 4 inch speakers.Not pictured, I got the magnet out of the center of the old speaker so it would not cause a disturbance to the new ones(not sure if it would have, but pulled it anyways). The bracket was still super solid. I drilled 4 corresponding holes for each speaker to mount onto the old speaker. If anyone is wanting to try this it really isn't a hard thing to do and the results were well worth it!

 

[Greenbird76]

Thanks Ron for all the advice.

Well I did it. It mounted solid back up where it was, with the two 4 inch speakers.Not pictured, I got the magnet out of the center of the old speaker so it would not cause a disturbance to the new ones(not sure if it would have, but pulled it anyways). The bracket was still super solid. I drilled 4 corresponding holes for each speaker to mount onto the old speaker. If anyone is wanting to try this it really isn't a hard thing to do and the results were well worth it!

View attachment 33179

No problem Dan, I am glad it all worked out for ya! Great job BTW Looks very clean!
One thing I did not mention is that I took some speaker mesh from an old bookshelf speaker; cut it to fit and glued it with 3m spray adhesive to the new speaker assembly to protect the new speakers and keep them hidden in the dash like the original one was.
Ron