Well, I'll start by introducing myself. My name is Al, I am the master 12v fabricator at Phat Ride Cusoms in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

As of last week we've been working on an 05 SS Charity Build for the local Children's Hospital organized by the Winnipeg Free Press. Basically, several companies and employees donate their products, labor and skills to make a custom car which will be auctioned off to raise money for the Children's Hospital at the World of Wheels car show in about a month. In return, the companies recieve weekly 'column's' in the news paper detailing aspects of their work, as well as their name on posters ect at the show.


Now about the car. It's an 05 SS which if I understand correctly started life blue. It has now been painted black by one of the GM dealers in town (I don't remember the name at the moment, I'll post it when I remember). The roof, trunk lid and hood are a gun-metal grey color.

One of the dealerships also did basically all the GM bolt on engine performance parts for the car. So the performance aspect is good to go..

Now on to where I come it. Basically I've got a fairly decent audio/video system planned for the car.

I've already done a Compustar 2W900FM-A alarm system on the car with just about every feature possible hooked up. The alarm is also wired to control two door popper solenoids which will be installed in the doors. We may (Time dependent) do shaved door handles, maybe not. Either way, the doors will be able to be opened remotely with the alarm.

Now for the audio/video. Eclipse and our distributor have graciously given us a huge discount on product for this car. So far the plan for audio/video is as follows:

-Eclipse AVN5500 double din navigation head unit
-Eclipse XA4000 Speaker Amp
-Eclipse XA1000 Subwoofer amp
-Eclipse SC8355 Front Component set
-Eclipse SP6500 Rear Speakers
-Eclipse SW4000 subwoofers (2)
-Eclipse Sirius tuner

www.eclipse-web.com

Also hoping to get a hook-up with a donated Ipod and Xbox360 for the car so we can do Ipod integration and work an XBOX into the install.

That's basically it for audio/video product other than a few LCD screens when I figgure out where the heck to put them.


Other plans for the car include some custom upholstery in the door panels, seats and maybe a bit more. Under hood will get the typical dress-up.

As for suspension, we are undecided at the moment.. The owner want's to do air-ride (since we do a lot of air ride as well), but myself and a couple other employees are somewhat against the air ride in a 'sports car' thing...

Anyways, that's all for tonight. I've got about 100 pics of the car and progress already, but they are at work... I'm basically at work from 8a-10p 7 days a week right now, but I'll get pics up as soon as possible...

Comments, ideas, tips, product offers ect are always welcome

 

That is a great thing you guys are doing, but im not quite sure if this will violate the forum's rules or not with the supportig vendors.

Good Luck though.

 

how is he violating the rules its in general cobalt and hes just asking for suggestions

 

hey is that that badass cobalt i saw in the paper a few weeks back?! Good luck man!!

 

Sounds like a really good thing you guys are doing. My hats off to you!

I wouldn't shy away from the air ride system personally because they have come a long way in recent years to the point where they now are a good option for sports cars. Plus it gives you the option of lifting up over speed bumps or what not.

My only real suggestion would be to replace the clutch and axles because if this car is going to be driven reasonably hard it's a matter of time before they will fail with the extra horsepower under the hood.

Good luck to you guys and I hope that thing fetches a fortune.

 

Well, I started mocking up the trunk with an air tank in it this morning... Looks like it'll be getting bagged.

 

For the locals:

-Check out our article in this morning's Winnipeg Free Press Automotive Showcase

-Also, if any locals want to swing by the shop and have a look at the car and maybe have some input with ideas feel free to send me a PM. I'll give you the contact info



I'll scan and upload the article when I get home tonight,. Hopefully some pics too

 

sweet! can't wait to see this!

 

Here's the link to the article, it was on the front page of the Automotive Section

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/aut...-4462591c.html

I'll start off with the alarm. It's your basic Compustar 2W900FM-A Alarm. I've used every useable input and every output on the alarm system so it's loaded with features from factory door locks and trunk release all the way to door popper solenoids in the doors.

Instead of the (IMO) ugly compustar LED bezel, I cleanly drilled a 3mm hole in the dash and mounted a 3mm ultra bright led from behind... You see the LED clearly in the pic because of the flash, under normal lighting you can barely see the hole at all...



But when it's on, watch out! Damn thing is bright!



Also, the LEDs had to match so I opened up the RPS and changed the LED color in it as well.

 

I am kinda close to Winnepeg, we should get a meet together with some of you canucks.

 

look here for future planned meets

https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/canadian-mid-east-111/manitoba-sss-2007-a-42245/

 

Now onto the front speakers. We will be using an Eclipse SC8355 Front Component set. Tweeters will be placed in the 'stock' location but in custom pods. Mids will also be mounted in the 'stock' location, but in a not so stock configuration.

Frist off with the stock Pioneer Audio...

H/U:


Midranges:


Tweeters:


Sub:


Stock door panel. Note the speaker grill, and stock tweeter pods:




Now, on to the modding:
Dask gutted and awaiting some sweet gear... (Dash kit, steering wheel control integration kit coming Monday)


Stock Tweeter pods have been modified for a bit of depth and kick-out:


Mid-Range in the door in the 'stock' location..... Well, actually the stock mid was mounted to the steel of the door. What I did here was cut out the factory grill very carefully. Then bond a 1/8" ABS piece to the back of the plactic door panel so the speaker would sit just slightly behind the surface of the door panel. After that, a 1/2" MDF baffle was permanently bonded to the door panel for the speaker to attach to.... This was already pretty solid, but I went a step farther, a 2 1/4" tapered MDF baffle was made and attached to the steel door panel itself... When you install the plastic door panel, the MDF baffle in the door panel attaches to the MDF baffle mounted on the steel door panel essentially solidly mounting the mid-range speaker to the door panel as well as mounting the plastic door panel solidly to the sheet metal in the door....



That isn't done yet. Somthing along the line of a polished or painted aluminum trim piece will be added to cover the speaker mounting screws.



And, the doors re-assembled (definatly not for the final time, still a few mods to do to them).



Also, another hurdle in this car is the door looms. They use a connector and not just wires through a loom... This makes it damn near impossible to run any aftermarket wiring into the doors... But with a little persistance and work, you can run a pair of 14g twisted speaker wires, 12g wire for door poppers and a few more wires into the doors.....

That's about all I've got for pics for now... I started fiberglassing trunk parts earlier tonight, but I have been neglecting to take pics of the trunk progress......

 

looks sweet so far, cant wait to see the finished product

 

Hmmm..... The trunk smells of laser cut metal and fiberglass

BIG progress for a Monday!

Also, a few donated toys showed up from Metra... A PAC steering wheel controls interface for the deck as well as a few other things... Thanks guys!

 

Here is this week's Winnipeg Free Press article....

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/aut...-4472149c.html


I really need to start updating this, I've made way more progress than what's shown in the paper, and on here

 

Ok.... time for a long awaited update...

This is NOT the stock compustar remote paging sensor LED color



The speaker baffle that needed to be made to mount the speakers solidly as they are now:




Yes, even though there is NO door grommet, there is a connector instead, you CAN get this much wire through with a bit of skill



Jay built me a wicked custom battery tray:



I threw it in the trunk, added a couple Optima Yellow tops and started to wire the batteries. Once all is said and done, each terminal will have every spot for wire used (1x 0awg and 2x 4awg):



A pair of 5 gallon 'hot dog' air tanks for the air-ride:



Crossovers wired up for the front speakers:



Hmm.... whatever could this be for?


Oh, that's what it's for! Nice little amp rack:



With an amp, goes subs... Anyone up for a pair of 10"s?




That's all for tonight

I lied... I threw in an Eclipse AVN5000 dvd/navagation unit this afternoon as well.. Also added an auto-switching backup camera as well as a PAC-Audio steering wheel control interface so the factory steering wheel controls still work with the Eclipse deck.. :cheers

 

Hmm, what are you doing with the stock head unit?

I can be a vulture if I smell the opportunity

 

I'm almost positive all the stock equipment is going with the car for whoever buys it at the auction

 

Aww. Fair enough though. I had to ask.

 

hey man...where did you get those brake/gas pedals? (the blue ones)Me likey...how much how much!

 

Damnn this is kick ass, I wish a vendor would sell Custom enclosures for our trunks

 

They were donated along with the PAC-Audio steering wheel control interface and some blue loom for under the hood by one of our suppliers... I'm pretty sure it was Importel who donated them, I'll double check.

 

nice

 

Looks awesome keep us updated.

The vendor rules only apply to companies selling products on the site which this isn't.

 

I should update this some time :p

The car audio install is 80% completed right now. The car is at my other shop getting the air-ride done. I expect it back Tuesday night. I've probably got a weeks worth of work to tie up loose ends and do the final audio install. Then she'll be done