The Chronicles Of Mercules - Interior Design

[Mercules]

As many of know know I was mis fortunate enough to have some lowlife scumbag bust into my 450 and wreck the glovebox in search for something of value - whilst there was nothing actually in the glovebox at the time, they did destroy something of value.

I was recently visited by a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder, bearing treasures and wares from lands afar... he just so happened to have the wood paneling for my glovebox!



So it is now fixed - Thanks to Captain Parker! - and this picture provide the perfect segway for the re-trimming I performed on the knee pads... they were covered with a thick velour that was faded & wearing badly - so a quick stop at Clark Rubber for some vinyl - chop chop glue glue and its done.





During the reassembly of the dash there was a big hole where the stereo used to be and I just couldn't bring myself to screw those pissy little speakers covered with shark mesh screen (they have to be the most hardcore speaker grilles in the world!) Autobarn had a sale on so I picked up some Clarion 4" 2-way speakers - they were rated at 140W (RMS) and the magnets are about 3x bigger than the standards squakers. I also found this nice head unit - has a USB port, Aux input, 4x RCA output, Bluetooth and remote control capable - $199. I am quite the shopper it would seem.





Next on the list will be the rear parcel shelf with some nice speakers and maybe a sumpwoofer...

Cam

 

[Mercules]

Plase excuse the grubby fingerprints and dust all over the place - the 450 is yet to recieve a spring clean since the body repairs

 

[Des]

ah yes the soft light from 70's dashboards, far nicer to drive with than the christmas tree affect you get in newer cars.

Great to see the timber fixed, please now fit an alarm to keep the glue sniffing kids away from your glovebox.

 

[Michel]

It's great to see you progressing so fast on the car Cam...

 

[BAR]

Nice to see that many minor headaches have been resolved by the good support of Michael.

I have been able to keep my vehicle running smoothly, thanks to his almost limitless supply of parts.

For your rear speakers, can I suggest that you consider removing the original pracel shelf and replace the flimsy board with plywood or masonite. DO not use MDF as it will eventually swell due to heat and moisture build up in the car. Parkes does this service very well.

For the speakers, well one is free to use anything made by the multitude of manufacturers on this planet. Most car audio sales, even Autobahn, Supercheap and the like sell a range of SPeaker boxes. The range enables one to choose the size and combination of speaker that best suits ones budget.

I chose a dual speaker box. This allowed for a 7" dual cone for mid and bass, then accomodate the high frequency 'tweeter' as a separate mounting.

The use of the box, angled the speakers, just so slightly forward and also provided additional clearance for the significantly deeper mid / bass speaker to sit on the parcel shelf.

Most of the speaker boxes are covered in vinyl, which can be spray painted in normal car paint, to match the colour of your rear parcel shelf carpet.

There is a huge jump in sound quality over the original 'factory' sound, just in this alone. Buying a better replacement speaker set will also contribute to your listening pleasure, so don't be mean when choosing the units that you will ultimately install.

By the way Styria will attest to the quality improvements gained from my approach to relacement speakers.