My 96 T-100 Speaker Upgrade and Others

[96Wolf]

Ok i finally have some time to figure this out. Anyway here are some of the improvements i did.

Start the headlights:
both were very oxidized, yellow, and foggy. I bought a 3M headlight kit from O’Reilly’s for 20 bucks. What a difference!!! I also got new brighter bulbs to put in, as the old ones were still original, and they do dim over time. Total cost 60 bucks. Now my headlights are brighter then the brights when they are regular!





Also all my windows were really fogged over also, etched on the outside. I took the final step on the headlight kit and polished all the glass. What a difference!!! Looks so clear now, also I got the windows tinted as well, sorry no pics of that.

Now to the speakers. I put in some sony component 6.5” in the fronts, and a new pioneer CD player. I need some back speakers. So I got some Clarion 6x9 components for the rear. It never had rear speakers, so I took apart the truck. Found a huge about 24” long by 18” wide opening behind the panels. So I cut out the proper opening from MDF wood, and installed the 6x9’s into that and that into the truck.

I also put a lot of dynomat type stuff on the truck and some insulation as well. I found that the T-100 had quite a bit of sound deadening in the front but none in the rear. That is why my truck was so loud, and most of the noise was from behind me. I got the product called quick roof, exactly the same as dynomat, but about 1/10th the price. 6” x 25ft for 11 bucks. I also got the sound deadening from lowes… a leftover piece of carpet padding for 10 bucks.

See no sound deadening!!! No wonder all that noise was coming from behind me.

That is not duct tape, its that dynomat stuff.




Here is what it looks like finished,


That is what was left of my seat belt. I have the new one from the dealer installed now! So its all done

What a difference in quietness and sound. Its so much nicer to drive it on the highway. Now I can’t wait to get the Gibson system in on Friday and get it installed, and no more rusted muffler sound.

Now to my main source of work!!! 52 GMC truck

[Zuke76]

Nice work. Rubbing compound and polishing compound work great on the headlights and its about $8. Make sure you seal the headlights with a UV protector or you will have to polish them again in about a year.

nice work on the rear seats/speakers. I have an SR5 so it all ready has the 6" speaker in the rear. i would love to replace them with some 6x9s but I am scared to pull the wall panels off. Did you take photos on how you removed all the wall panels/seats?

Is that carpet padding?

[96Wolf]

hey thanks... for the compliments. I didn't take any pictures of removing the panel, however they are really easy.
1. Remove both seat belts on the top and let them lay.
2. Remove the oh crap handle above the rear window, two screws.
3. Remove the rear window latch, two screws.
4. Remove the 4 screws to the kick panel on the floor by the front door.
5. Carefully pry the panel loose. it should then pop out and you can lay it down kinda out of your way.

the sound deadening made the biggest change! wow what a difference its like night and day. and yeah its just carpet padding! bout 1/10th the price of actual sound deadening material, and does the same thing!!!

my headlights were beyond rubbing compound. I tried!!! this kit had 2 sanding stages, a rubbing compound, and a final polish stage. Turned out great i think. Plus i used the kit again to do my dads old fords headlights, so for bout 5 bucks a light it was a good deal. Oh yeah and all my windows, and my grandpa's

[96Wolf]

ZUKE: Here is a link to MT that showed very nicely how to remove the panels. I didn't take any pictures, but this is exactly what I did!!!

Mine didn't come with rear speakers, so I didn't have that white speaker mounting for mine. That's why i had to make mine out of wood. But it is really easy process. You will have to run rear speaker wires also

[ChipNOreo]

Very nice! I need to add that to my list of projects. I have a custom dual exhaust and it is very very loud in the cab.

[96Wolf]

that sound insulation does make a huge difference. And the carpet pad is practically the same thing as the juke pad or whatever its called, but a lot lot lot cheaper. you will be amazed i promise

[trd91s]

Wolf Did you put the padding under the quarter trim also or just behind the rear seats?

[96Wolf]

yes, i put it in the rear quarter panels also. I put it behind on the outer skin as well as the inner panel. I have a lot left over so i will pull the seats and the front carpet and put some more down on the floor in the front.

[96Wolf]

bump for information on the headlights

[FireMonkey]

Originally Posted by Zuke76

Nice work. Rubbing compound and polishing compound work great on the headlights and its about $8. Make sure you seal the headlights with a UV protector or you will have to polish them again in about a year.

Started looking into doing this on my truck as well, problem is I dont really know what compound to get as I want to go as cheep as possible.. (I live in Costa Rica why I have a herd time finding parts and products that you guys are used to) Can I pick up any rubbing/polishing compound from the hardwarestore?
Is it nessesary to do this with a grinder or can I pull it off by hand without my arm cramping up on me?

[96Wolf]

Originally Posted by FireMonkey

Started looking into doing this on my truck as well, problem is I dont really know what compound to get as I want to go as cheep as possible.. (I live in Costa Rica why I have a herd time finding parts and products that you guys are used to) Can I pick up any rubbing/polishing compound from the hardwarestore?
Is it nessesary to do this with a grinder or can I pull it off by hand without my arm cramping up on me?

My headlights where far too hazed over for just rubbing compound, i tried it and not much result. The 3M headlight resto kit i bought from the local autoparts store. it came with literally everything, the buffing pad too. I would definitely use a drill to do the sanding steps and the polishing steps. The kit came with the bit that goes into the drill, so all you need is the cordless drill to do the hard work.

The results speak for themselves. I put new bulbs in to, because they were the originals, and they tend to dim over time. Amazing difference at night that is for sure.

[96Wolf]

Update:

Just installed new Bilstien shocks all around! What a difference! Truck had 79,300 Miles on it. Truck has been in the family since new and I have all the service records on it. The shocks were original, and they were worn out.

I removed the shocks and they just stayed where they were, they didn't expand out at all. Worn out!!! Rides quite a bit better now! Got them from shockwarehouse.com Word of advise, is to spay down all the bolts as many times as you can a few days before you do the shocks. All my bolts came out really easy. I use PB blaster and it has worked great for me!

Also just had my Auto transmission flushed! Took it to my local Firestone store, great bunch of guys whom I trust! 100% fluid exchange. Power flush and then pan drop and filter change. Shifts great still, just some preventative maintenance. I plan on keeping the truck for a long long time!

Need to replace my sway bar and end links. Probably going to go with the energy suspension stuff, that Zip talks about!!

[96Wolf]

Another update:

Sorry no pics, but I got around to taking the front door panels off and what do ya know, no sound insulation at all. So i did the inside, and outside door panels with that quick roof product. I then added the juke pad insulation to the inside of the plastic door panels. Tons of difference yet again. Truck is a lot quieter, and the speakers sound great now. See above for what type of speakers I used. No more rattle when turned up. That was my main objective for doing this.

A bonus too is that when you shut the door it sounds so solid now. Similar sound to a new car!!! Nice solid thud, no rattle or tin can sound.

I also put on that Energy Suspension #9.5164 Endlinks that Bam talked about in another thread. Firmed up the handling for sure. Truck is running good now!!!

[ChipNOreo]

So I have been trying to gather supplies for doing some sound proofing to my T... and what do ya know... neither Lowes nor Home deport, nor Ace carries Quick Roof or anything similar. All I can find is "reflectix" which looks like shiny bubble wrap... Looks like the bulk pack of Dynamat on Amazon has free shipping and getting that all the way up to AK will be about as much as ordering anything else and shipping.... I have looked at other brands which are cheaper but then I look at what they charge for shipping and its usually around $100....just to ship it. Hoping to take a week off between when school gets out and I start my summer job to totally redo my interior. Sound matting, new carpet, get bucket seats, reupholster, and finally fis my bubbly door panels I cant wait!!

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by ChipNOreo

So I have been trying to gather supplies for doing some sound proofing to my T... and what do ya know... neither Lowes nor Home deport, nor Ace carries Quick Roof or anything similar. All I can find is "reflectix" which looks like shiny bubble wrap... Looks like the bulk pack of Dynamat on Amazon has free shipping and getting that all the way up to AK will be about as much as ordering anything else and shipping.... I have looked at other brands which are cheaper but then I look at what they charge for shipping and its usually around $100....just to ship it. Hoping to take a week off between when school gets out and I start my summer job to totally redo my interior. Sound matting, new carpet, get bucket seats, reupholster, and finally fis my bubbly door panels I cant wait!!

Maybe you should consider the same material I'm looking at fer the hoodliner...

http://www.wicksaircraft.com/catalog...350/index.html