<VV> Headlights and other uses for 150 amp alternators

[Tony Underwood]

At 11:57 PM 8/23/2010, shortle wrote:
>My Halogens seem to work fine for me. No upgrading or changing 
>anything other than the bulbs. My question: Anyone know off hand the 
>largest boom boxes I can fit in the bed of my Rampside without 
>modifying the bed?



You might be able to get some of the vintage movie theater speaker 
systems to fit in the bed.   Some of the smaller ones were the size 
of a fridge.  Larger ones were the size of a Greenbrier.


Look around for old decommissioned movie houses and pick up something 
at auction maybe.   I know somebody who did exactly this, and has 
them in a large basement... empty.  He bought the enclosures sans 
woofers (although the midrange horns are still there).   They are the 
Greenbrier size speakers.   You can crawl through the front reflex 
ports and go inside them.   They mounted eight 15" woofers.  Each.






...unless you were kidding of course... ;)

I know another guy who worked for one of the Southern Autotronics 
stores who had a delivery van loaded up with a "reproduction" theater 
speaker system crammed inside it.   It contained sixteen 12" Pioneer 
woofers.   It wasn't exactly what I would call "high fidelity", but 
it would get loud.


At one time I had the loudest stereo in any Corvair that I knew of... 
two batteries, a computer-designed custom port-loaded reflex woofer 
with a pair of high end Stillwater Designs 12" low freq drivers that 
filled the trunk and fired into the car interior via a duct in the 
front firewall, with some creative midrange and tweeter 
locations.   950 watts which would overpower the woofers and cook the 
voice coils if I got more stupid than usual.   When I was running a 
pair of Pioneer 12" drivers before the Stillwaters, I actually set 
one of the Pioneers on fire once, while listening to Tchaikovsky's 
1812 Overture and enjoying the cannon shots.

Seriously.

There was smoke coming into the car through the duct, I pulled over 
and stopped and opened the trunk (beside several stores downtown), 
smoke billowed, and I spent some quality time with my head sticking 
into the trunk trying to blow out a flaming woofer cone while people 
watched.

I replaced the surviving Pioneer and the cremated Pioneer with the 
Stillwaters and it didn't happen again.   I actually got the burned 
woofer replaced under warranty, after telling the Pioneer tech rep on 
the phone (who called the shop asking how the Hell anybody managed to 
do that to one of their woofers) how it got cooked, and what was 
actually playing when it fried.   He repeated what I'd said to others 
at his location, I heard laughter in the background, after which he 
OK'ed the warranty replacement.   I sold the Pioneer woofers to 
somebody I worked with...  then later on when I yanked all that junk 
out of the 'Vair I sold the Stillwater woofers also.

I'm not saying I got smarter... I just wanted my trunk back.


YES it is possible to install a very powerful sound system in a late 
Corvair although it's not easy and you still end up with something 
that's mostly useful for destroying ones hearing and collecting noise 
ordinance tickets.  But I could pull up beside a car at a light and 
rattle *Their* windows.

I sometimes contemplate how many times I wondered if that capability 
would ever actually come in handy...




tony..