Klipsch Cornwall Altec 511b mod

Last weekend it was sposta rain,

and on Sunday it did,

for like 5 minutes.

Regardless of the amount of wetness,

I had an in-house project waiting.

These Klipsch Cornwall speakers thump.

Letting go of two pairs of Fortes wasn't fun,

but space and money are ruthless.

Klipsch speakers are made for hot rodding.

They are very modular,

and the cabinets are made for tinkering.

Such a simple design.

Many listeners upgrade the crossover,

which has possibly degraded over 37 years.

Maybe later.

This weekend was about making a monster.

The stock midrange horn is small,

and it sounds obviously thin.

Compared to iPod speakers maybe not.

I just need any excuse to rip these apart.

The key ingredients are Altec 511B horns,

and a bolt-on to screw-on adapter.

I made big gaskets out of cardboard,

and rings out of cork material.

Foam plugs wedged into the old horn,

keeping them air tight.

New longer wire was needed,

and strategic holes hidden in the junction,

kept any cabinet mids low key.

Fatter speaker wire is in order too.

Now for the real test.

Are the speakers taller 

than your youngest child?

Check.

Skateboard wheels are sufficient stands.

Definitely temporary permanent.

Now this is a proper home system.

Wow.

The upgrade was an upgrade.

The original horn went down to 600hz,

the altec is tuned to 500 hz,

so it's really similar.

They just open up the sound more.

There's not as direct sweet spot either,

which is better for general listening.

So we go to watch Star Wars 7.

When your used to theater grade sound,

realized AMC needs to step up there chit!

No replacement for displacement.

TP

221K ford e350 update

Nothin like a SoCal rain 

to wack the free-van down a notch,

releasing the Pandora's box 

caused by un-maintenance.

I seriously take reliability for granted.

Check engine light...

Awesome...

Was this it?

Timing chain?

Dead cylinder?

Cracked head?

Fortunately a shop friend has the OBD2 tester.

the dreaded p0308 misfire code.

Most likely a wet coil.

Since the wife's ride and the van 

have the same ignition coils,

a trip to the junkyard was in order.

There are so many ford/mercs,

it is worth choosing a handful 

of $13 used versus $60 new.

Plenty for backups.

Hey,

I can't afford having fun if I don't scrimp...

Scoped out this HD ford e350,

with a beefy set of extended body springs.

They're over 1/16" thicker,

and the rears have 6 leaves vs 4.

Hmmm...

If they're still here at the 40% off sale 

next weekend...

Perfect for hauling bricks!

The drawback to working on vans.

The big box gives no work space.

Wasn't too bad,

however I did do it twice.

Yeah...

Hack!

Now for the tires.

Wtf.

6 years in the sun,

looked like a landspeed race course.

I had a plan,

Jason was saving up for his tire upgrade,

and I was gonna swoop in for his oldies.

The barrio tire shop...

$40 for a swap and balance.

Great deal.

Cheap cause the shop tools were quality,

no need to replace equipment every year,

or decade.

The wait was quick,

watching how big boys get their chit done.

How have I not seen one of these?

An air powered jack.

Lifted this rig no problem.

He hammered away at the bead...

And pried it off like a bike.

I'm a pussy in comparison.

Admit it,

most likely you are too!

The new old tires were fat!

275/85/16 vs the old 245/75/16.

Tall and right for the big ole van.

Thanks Jason!

Yea changed out that nasty air cleaner too!

At 221k miles,

we're back in business...

TP

scrounger

Let's start off the month with missed deals...

Yeah I'm still looking for bricks...

It is amazing how fast they get scooped up.

No luck with these.

Kinda light loads anyway.

Now this 2000 brick stash...

this would have been a long day.

Gone in 15 minutes!

Then the most random things pop up.

We really needed these dragon heads!

This generator would have been nice.

Gone within the half hour.

I've got an extra outboard,

and a cheap hull would be cool.

Throw together a boat before summer.

Yeah another project.

This one lingered for a week,

but I didn't fall for the trap.

This one was a better hull design.

The inside was so rough though.

Pass...

For now!

I was too busy to see this one quickly.

Looked like a great deal for free!

The guy that got it tried the quick flip.

No luck at $1k,

it's down to $600 now.

This one hurt

A working Grommes tube stereo.

I should have offered $50 for it,

easily worth $500.

Oh well.

You'll see why these would have been cool.

People just part out these speakers for big bucks,

and guys like me try to put them back together!

Now what do you think this was?

A free roadster body?

Either a trick or a score.

This one may still be available.

Free dreadlocks!!

From a white guy...

I can only imagine the smell in that bag.

This one was ruthless.

Neighbor giving away her neighbors things.

Hopefully she got her stuff back!

Here's a business for the kids.

Everyone needs one of these wood chippers!

Another portable business opportunity.

I likes the vice!

Happy hunting...

TP

stay tuned...

Definitely slow on the updates this month,

not that there's a lack of stuff to show

and write about.

Don't worry,

nothing bad happened.

Just each project lately 

has been either exhausting 

or time consuming.

February will be PB&S overload!

So yeah,

stay tuned...

I'll get back on the ball soon!

TP