Integrating Modernization To The Classic Restoration - Audio & Video - Techproject

There comes a point in every builder's life that the thrill of the hop and the rumble from the trunk becomes too much to want to deal with; a day where the next build is something for the family to enjoy with the top down under the summer sun, not for a turntable or for an active night of swinging on the boulevard. But just because we don't need the entire neighborhood to hear us doesn't mean that we don't want clean sound and a clean classic to hit the street with.

This month's build follows a rare classic, the Lincoln Continental four-door convertible. With simple lines and a hide-away top, the car has clean lines top up or down, and the suicide doors give it a flavor all its own. For such a large car, you would expect the trunk to be huge, as it is. The issue we need to overcome is the hide-away top. This top pulls itself back and into the trunk leaving us virtually no room. There's just enough space for a cooler and a picnic blanket, but not for a sub enclosure. So how do we fit our clean sound desires with no trunk to play with? Integrate and modernize!

With the overall appearance a simple yet full system could be a bit of challenge. Stock with a modern flare led us down a path where the installer, upholsterer and painter would come together and find common ground. This vehicle had a simplistic attempt at our final result, a pair of speakers and a single 8-inch sub to add a little more body to the sound. The goal for the front stage was clean, full and seamless. For this stage, we opted to reintroduce an old friend, the horn loaded compression driver.

Coming back in vogue, Image Dynamics describes their controlled dispersion HLCD speakers as the most technologically advanced method for overcoming the acoustics of the mobile audio environment. Their proprietary characteristics make them the ultimate choice in midrange and high-frequency reproduction. To give some girth to the music a pair of 10s was desired in place of the 8, and this is where it gets tricky. Follow along as we "unstick" a sticky situation, integrating modernization to the classic restoration.

The speaker mix from Image Dynamics-simple and extremely effective.	The previously installed system had a nice set of fabricated kick panels with intricately stretched vinyl. These only need to be color matched and have some custom grilles created to further integrate them to the interior.	The kicks were cleaned and prepped before spraying adhesion promoter and the color-matched vinyl dye along with a few other stock panels.
The kicks were cleaned and prepped before spraying adhesion promoter and the color-matched vinyl dye along with a few other stock panels.	Once the aiming is done and the brackets are bent properly, it is as simple as screwing them in place.	Now the kick panels can be remounted and the mid-bass drivers will drop right in place. Once the upholster gets the car back, smooth grille cloth covers will be created for the speakers grilles and the horn grilles.
The center where the factory armrests were will be home to two 10-inch subs and where we need to get crazy. We started by measuring the approximate length from the face of the rear seat. From the face of the seat into the "armrest pocket," a small enclosure will be created.	Next on the agenda is mounting a ring and notching the console for one of the 10s. They will have to be mounted in different locations because of the size constraints.	The first speaker location is roughed out. After a few coats of resin, the area was smoothed out before test fitting on the new leather seats.
The console top and inner transition panels are then cut and nailed in place. Now the fleece can be applied for the final shape.	We then turn our attention to the front of the console where the fleece is pulled tight in multiple directions until the desired shape is created.	The second sub will be housed in a bell-like housing that will hang at the bottom of the enclosure. Here we have a temporary platform that we will use to mock up our side panels and find our measurements floor to console.
The first order of business is to stretch and trim the fleece around the bell housing.	We then can apply resin to the entire structure. After the first few coats, we sanded any extremely rough edges to lighten the work after the resin phase and before the body working phase.	The two sections of the console are married together and with our basic shape we can begin the building of the enclosure. Out of the car you can get a good look at our preliminary console. Notice the notches for the rear seat cushions and the front seat transition.
With the ring in place and the wood all shaved to accommodate the 10, we can stretch fleece in preparation for resining.	Upholstery black board was used for the mock up since it's easy to work with and stiff enough to keep its shape with all of the resining.	Next we carefully stretched, stapled and trimmed the rear seat transition panel. While this area will not be seen it needs to be smooth so as to not tear the new leather seats.
Once all of the coats are cured, we can begin knocking everything down so that the new resined panels will be as smooth as possible before applying our body filler.	A little heavier than normal coat of filler is applied to help feather out those rough edges.	Fresh out of the booth, our crazy creation could almost double for a nuclear sub.
The entire box is then sanded with 80-grit until the desired shape is achieved.	The lower speaker is mounted and the box is secured before proceeding to the next step.	This is just the beginning. Our body shop will now work out the imperfections and get this box ready for paint.