YOUR MID-20TH CENTURY CAR IN THE 21ST CENTURY HI-TECH WORLD
HIDDEN AUDIO-WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SPEND?
One of the few drawbacks to the old car experience is the AM radio. No matter how great that old radio in your 56 Dodge sounds you’re still limited to AM broadcasts.
Heavy emphasis on the word “limited”.
Occasionally you’ll find golden oldies stations but in 2009 AM radio you’d better develop a fondness for “The Best of Billy Graham”. Or Portuguese folk music.
In today’s iPod infested, MP3 –centric, GPS oriented, satellite radio dominated world of car technology your old tube radio makes as much sense as bringing a wooden stick to a gunfight where everybody else gets a Glock 9mm. On the other hand you don’t want to gut your car’s interior just to jam a gizzard thumping sound system into your 56 Dodge so what are the options?
You are definitely going to have some questions.
Fortunately we have the answers via our resident expert Chris Shaw at Vibe Car Audio.
The first question is the most important one: how much do you really want to spend? Any reputable shop that doesn’t operate out of a stolen truck on East Crack-head Avenue will work with you on this so go in with a budget limit and work with your audio guy on that basis. The question is simple-do you want a basic deck and 2 to 4 speakers or do you want a full bore system with touch screens, iPod audio and video interface, portable hard drives and TV tuners? The difference is like comparing a walk to the corner store to a trek across China.
Chris recommends that you really nail down your system needs and a price with your audio guy before the process starts because that really cuts down on the post-installment brawls after the job is done.
CUTTING UP MY 56 DODGE FOR BETTER TUNES-CAN I SLEEP AT NIGHT AFTER THAT?
This is a very touchy area because ripping into a 60-year-old car just to get static-free audio raises a host of ethical questions including the biggest issue-originality. Purists will refuse to change the tube radio experience into a life-affirming wall of sound because the old Packard came that way. Fair enough. Just like leaving that original equipment radio delete panel in the car makes sense from an investment point of view.
But there are more 56 Dodge guys that are willing to compromise a little and Chris has worked under those guidelines. Usually if there are no factory speaker locations he will cut locations without altering the cosmetics or the stock appearance of the car. Again, he advises that both parties are very clear on the direction of the project at this point because the last thing any business needs is a customer grabbing an employee by the throat simply because neither party communicated on the “new hole in the mint and original 59 Chevy interior” issue.
Chris likes to recreate, as close as possible, the original appearance after an alteration is made. For example if a rear deck is removed and altered they will make a new one and recover it in material that recreates the original look yet is acoustically transparent. The old original rear deck or kick panels are put aside just in case the car goes back to completely original. Most audio shops with a conscience should offer this service up front for the old car guys as standard business practice. If not-find one that does.
WIRING-IS MY 56 DODGE GOING TO BE INVITED TO A WEINER ROAST AFTER THAT NEW SYSTEM IS INSTALLED?
Wiring is the single biggest potential disaster in an audio retrofit and this where you really have to trust your audio guy. If the car is an unrestored original you are going to have to be joined at the hip with the technician during this stage. Chris is a perfectionist when it comes to audio wiring so he’s a little under whelmed with the old, crudely taped, point A to point B philosophy found in vintage harnesses. Add 5 or 6 decades to this setup and you end up with cracked casings, broken wires and corroded connectors and terminals.
Chris likes to work with what he’s dealt so they’ll replace sections of the harness as needed but keep the authenticity of it by making small soldered connections, heat shrink and replacing the original with material that comes as close as possible to the factory look. This is good news for those of you that like an original look without the "really bad day" inducing experience of a catastrophic car fire in your 55 Pontiac.
CHARGING SYSTEMS-IS THAT OLD GENERATOR GOING TO HANDLE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN OR GO TO CAR PART HEAVEN?
Chris takes each car on a case by case basis so if it’s a modest system that isn’t going to alienate your neighbors 3 blocks over every time you crank ‘Johnny Cash–Live at Folsom Prison’ to the nines you’re probably okay-they don’t need as much amperage.
But if you need to push your charging system a little harder than Perry Como did on the original AM radio Chris recommends upgrading the alternator with bolt-on parts or adding a product called Kinetic. This is a very low resistance power cell that allows them to add available wattage to the car. It stores large amounts of energy yet charges fast-kind of like a 3 year old kid after a nap.
HIDDEN AUDIO-CAN IT REALLY BE DONE?
As you can see a “stealth” system in a car involves planning and constant communication with the audio guy. You can add and hide just about anything in an old car when it comes to technology but there are going to be hurdles.
Hurdles that the customer and the shop have to overcome but in Chris Shaw’s experience at VIBE Audio it really comes down to budget, product selection and overall performance requested by the client.
When vintage old iron is involved sometimes it seems like cost is no object but...
that 10,000-dollar sound system in your 57 Buick might be just the catalyst to trampoline you into divorce court so make sure that it’s something that you really need…
And keep that audio shop on speed dial because like Chris says “the good shops aren’t afraid to answer customer’s questions.
After you get that great new system installed in the old ride keep one thing in mind-you can never,never go wrong with a 1-gig Van Morrison music file.
