Nomad final assembly

[chevynut]

Thanks Gmvette. It's definitely not a stock interior. I do have an interior build thread here showing the construction. Here's a couple more pics of the front

20150817_003.JPG

20150821_003.JPG



This is my original rendering of my side panel design....

20140903_220.JPG


And this is the covered cargo area and rear seat.....

CCF09042014_00000.jpg

[56Safari]

I understand the L7 sub with the enclosure only has one pair of connections (one + and one -) at 2 ohms. I thought that's what I read.

My battery is behind the passenger rear tire. The positive side (2 gauge) goes to a jumper lug, then to a Moroso disconnect, then INSIDE the frame through conduit to the cowl area where it exits and goes to the starter. From the starter I'll have 4 gauge about 18-24" into the interior of the car. just behind the firewall. I could put a fuse on the engine block but it would be something like the 175A MIDI fuse on the alternator side.

I plan to use this block right at the firewall, inside the console. It will allow me to connect the 4 gauge and split it into a 4 gauge to the amp and an 8 gauge to the breakers. I think it's pretty small and I don't have a lot of space there.

Yes, the L7 loaded enclose that comes installed in the box is already pre-wired @ 2ohms and only has 1 terminal.

That looks/sounds like a good plan, I'm sure 18-24" will be fine.

The Rockford rep just got back with me and said you can mix and match the impedance on that amp using 4 ohms x 4 channel and 2 ohms x 1 channel.. So you should be good to go.

If you want help tuning the system down the road let me know.. I should be living in Denver later this year, I have my final interviews for this new job next week. We can set the low and high pass filters on the receiver to match the crossover points.. Place an omni mic inside the car and use pink noise to set the EQ and flatten everything out.

[chevynut]

Well I got the 4 gauge cables, terminals, RCA cables, and fuse block ordered. Waiting for input from 56Safari on the impedance issue before I order the amp. But at least I can get the re-wiring going when I get this stuff.

56Safari, I took a close look at the R600x5 amp and I don't see any impedance selector switches on any channels. Do most amps have them? It seems like you just get whatever you get when you hook up the speakers to each channel. Lower impedance means more power. At least that's what makes sense to me. I assume one could even hook up 8 ohm speakers and it will work, but not at full power.

[chevynut]

OOPS, sorry I just saw your reply when I posted. Thanks for the confirmation. Let me know when you come to Denver and maybe we can get together.

[56Safari]

Well I got the 4 gauge cables, terminals, RCA cables, and fuse block ordered. Waiting for input from 56Safari on the impedance issue before I order the amp. But at least I can get the re-wiring going when I get this stuff.

56Safari, I took a close look at the R600x5 amp and I don't see any impedance selector switches on any channels. Do most amps have them? It seems like you just get whatever you get when you hook up the speakers to each channel. Lower impedance means more power. At least that's what makes sense to me. I assume one could even hook up 8 ohm speakers and it will work, but not at full power.

The amp will detect the impedance and operate accordingly... you can hook up an ohm meter to your + and - connections on the speaker and it will read accordingly... In theory you can always hook up a higher ohm speaker and it will still function, but you can't hook up a lower ohm speaker than your amp is rated for (you can, but the amp will overheat almost immediately).

I know I mentioned it earlier but I'm not sure we really discussed it. You will need an 18 gauge "remote wire" going from the back of the Kenwood heat unit to the amplifier to switch it on/off when you turn the keys in the ignition... It's usually blue or blue/white and labeled remote coming out of the stereo harness

[chevynut]

I know I mentioned it earlier but I'm not sure we really discussed it. You will need an 18 gauge "remote wire" going from the back of the Kenwood heat unit to the amplifier to switch it on/off when you turn the keys in the ignition... It's usually blue or blue/white and labeled remote coming out of the stereo harness

Thanks....yes I saw that remote wire on the plug. Gotta get the amp ordered now.

[Gmvette]

I have a stereo system in my 57 Nomad that honesty I never use it. The BBC makes the music. My 65 Corvette has no radio at all. We use a wireless Bose feed with our phone on long rides. No wiring necessary and for our ears is excellent sound. In fact when I’m out in the garage it is always playing the oldies.

Still it is impressive with all the audio your Nomad is going to have, but how much will it actually be played?

Is there benefits to big sound systems in the concourse custom shows or is it a personal preference?

[chevynut]

Still it is impressive with all the audio your Nomad is going to have, but how much will it actually be played?
Is there benefits to big sound systems in the concourse custom shows or is it a personal preference?

I wanted a stereo in my Nomad, something better than a stock AM radio. I could have picked something that fit in the stock opening in the dash, that looked stock, but they sound like crap for the most part, and my car isn't anywhere near stock inside. I listen to the radio or CDs in all my vehicles, whether going around town or on trips. I don't play it loud most of the time.

I didn't intend to upgrade the setup this much but I figure why not do it now? I like the double DIN touchscreen since it fits in my console well and I think it looks nice. I just got convinced to install an amp and probably a subwoofer later. I'll have around $1100 in the whole works and compared to what I have in the car that's mousenuts. Most nice cars have good stereo systems.....mine will too.

[chevynut]

I'm trying to find a simple, small panel mount connector to connect my laptop to my ECU for monitoring and programming on the fly. The interface cable normally goes to the laptop serial port, which is 9 pins, but only 3 pins are actually used by the ECU. The Holley-supplied connector is 4 pin (but only 3 are used) and it's not panel mount. I want to be able to plug into it somewhere on or inside the console in a discrete location. I was looking at plugs and sockets like this which is similar to the one supplied with the ECU....




Then it occurred to me that an audio jack has 3 pins too. They're really small and I think one would work. Dakota Digital uses an audio cable to connect their PAC-2750 fan controller to the VHX computer. My only concern is that it might short two leads together during insertion that aren't supposed to short together. But I think the male pin is specifically designed to prevent that. Is there any reason not to use one for this application?

[56Safari]

I'm trying to find a simple, small panel mount connector to connect my laptop to my ECU for monitoring and programming on the fly. The interface cable normally goes to the laptop serial port, which is 9 pins, but only 3 pins are actually used by the ECU. The Holley-supplied connector is 4 pin (but only 3 are used) and it's not panel mount. I want to be able to plug into it somewhere on or inside the console in a discrete location. I was looking at plugs and sockets like this which is similar to the one supplied with the ECU....

Then it occurred to me that an audio jack has 3 pins too. They're really small and I think one would work. Dakota Digital uses an audio cable to connect their PAC-2750 fan controller to the VHX computer. My only concern is that it might short two leads together during insertion that aren't supposed to short together. But I think the male pin is specifically designed to prevent that. Is there any reason not to use one for this application?

The plugs are cheap enough you could always put a meter on one as you insert it to see if it shorts. Another option would be a 3 pin XLR connector, it's a bit larger but they will definitely not short out and the connectors lock into place when inserted.

Neutrik makes a large variety of cable connectors and chassis connectors

https://www.neutrik.com/en/products/audio/xlr

[chevynut]

The plugs are cheap enough you could always put a meter on one as you insert it to see if it shorts.

Thanks that's a good idea. I really think that the narrowed down tip is designed that way to prevent shorting.

Another option would be a 3 pin XLR connector, it's a bit larger but they will definitely not short out and the connectors lock into place when inserted.

Yeah I found several cheap 3-pin connectors but all of them are a lot bigger than an audio connector. I would also want a cover for it to protect it and so it wouldn't show. I really like the idea of having such a small diameter connector for the laptop, like the audio plug. Otherwise I need to hide it better, like inside the console box with a cover on it. Putting it inside the box makes it a lot more difficult to remove the box if needed to get to the ECU.

I think I'll try getting an audio connector pair and see if it will work. Thanks for the info.

[chevynut]

Here's a great website for connector info...

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/connector-basics/all

1/8" tip-ring-sleeve (TRS) is very common as the connector for headphones or audio output signals on MP3 players or computers. Some cell phones will provide a 2.5mm tip-ring-ring-sleeve (TRRS) jack for connecting to headphones that also include a microphone for hands-free communications.

The common availability of these connectors and cables makes them a good candidate for general purpose connectivity applications--for instance, long before USB, Texas Instruments graphing calculators used a 2.5mm TRS connector for a serial programming connector. It should be remembered that tip-sleeve connector types are not designed for carrying power; during insertion, the tip and the sleeve can be momentarily shorted together, which may damage the power supply. The lack of shielding makes them poor candidates for high-speed data, but low speed serial data can be passed through these connectors.

[Bitchin'57]

Laz, are you getting close to mounting the body onto the chassis?

[chevynut]

As I get closer to finishing my wiring I realize I'm running into a big problem and not sure what to do about it. Space is getting really tight inside the console. I ran the 4 gauge wire back to the amp along with the 20 gauge remote wire, the 6 RCA cables, and the four 16 gauge front speaker wires inside the console. Also, I'm having to split several wires that go to multiple locations inside the console, such as the dome light power and ground. Then there's a large wire for the backup camera that has to go from the stereo to the rear bumper. There are a lot more wires than I expected to deal with and I am wishing I'd used 20 gauge or even smaller wire for some circuits that are just signals. I probably over-killed wire sizes a lot of places but I used what I had available and was conservative with current rating.

One solution to decrease the bulk of the of wires inside the console would be to run all of the amplifier and speaker wires UNDER the console but that has it's own potential issues. I may have to consider that anyhow. This is like cramming the proverbial 20 pounds of stuff into a 5 pound box . But wire bulk isn't the only problem....the other one is the number of fuses. I built a fuse panel several years ago with 24 ATO/ATC fuses that I thought was plenty, and was bigger than any panel I saw commercially available. The panel is made up of Packard 4-fuse blocks and it's pretty inefficient as far as space it takes up but it's easy to bus it.



A big part of the problem is that the cruise control, A/C, mirror, stereo, fan controller, door lock controller, headlight controller, ECM, VHX computer, and keyless entry ALL require TWO power inputs, switched power and constant power. That's 20 fuses alone.

My fuse panel would have been big enough had it not been for all these dual power requirements. Some of them make no sense to me, but some I understand why two power inputs are required.

So adding up all the required fuses if everything was wired up separately comes to 43 fuses! I have already doubled up or even tripled up some of the power wires in the harness and still need 36 fuses. I don't have room to expand my current fuse panel any more and it's almost too crowded to route wires as it is. I am wishing I'd put more of the control modules in the rear of the console where the keyless entry is going to have to reside so I could expand the panel. But that's something I don't want to re-do.

I can still double up some of the power wires but I can't get to 24. So I'm looking at getting a different fuse panel with ATM fuses packed more efficiently. I found a couple of them with 30 fuse capacity that are actually a lot smaller than what I now have partially since the fuses are smaller. My concern is getting all the wires into them and they're not bussed. I don't know how to bus them properly because each contact only accepts one 12 gauge wire and all of my power leads from the relays are 12 gauge which would need to be daisy-chained to individual contacts.

Here's one that accepts 30 fuses and is only 4 1/2" long and 3 3/8" wide......


Have any of you guys used this kind of fuse panel? Any ideas on how to bus it? I have 4 power sections, Retained Accessory Power, Ignition Power, Accessory Power, and Constant Power. The terminals they use are MicroPak 2.8 series.

My other option is to put another ATO fuse panel in the rear of the console to expand the existing one. I have a few more blocks and a lot of contacts and there's plenty of room there. However, that would require running at least one more power lead to the expansion panel and extending a lot of the wires that would go there. Also, I had not planned to make the inside of the rear of the console easily accessible like I'm planning in the front in case I blow a fuse. The problem with the ATM fuse panel above, aside from bussing, is that it's still not quite big enough. I'd feel more comfortable with a 40-fuse panel. So maybe expansion is the answer.

[chevynut]

Littelfuse makes this 30 fuse panel but it's not bussed either. Also, with the long mounting legs it's 6" long. It is a nice panel though. I think you have to mount it raised off of the mounting surface, or cut a hole and mount it flush, routing the wires in from the back side of the panel.