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| Re: Cool Stuff in the Summer of 2020 [message #92088 is a reply to message #92087] |
Thu, 16 July 2020 09:32   |
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Wayne Parham
Messages: 18801
Registered: January 2001
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Illuminati (33rd Degree) |
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Super cool on that KT120 amp. I'd love to see and hear that one. I tend to tell folks buying my speakers that 10 watts is plenty, even for home theater. So 20 watts is perfect, because it gives a little extra headroom for transients.
I got an email yesterday from a guy that is planning to use an entry-level Bottlehead amplifier. I have a lot of customers with this kind of amp: 2A3 single-ended. Bottleheads use parafeed circuits too. That gives 'em about 100dB/M with my speakers.
Which brings me to my question: Do you have an entry-level kit? Inexpensive cabinet, simple circuit, low-power output? I've seen a handful of amps in the < $1K range, some SET and some UL. They make great "gateway drugs" for more powerful higher-quality tube amps.
On the Impala: Mine is a four door with a 327. The guy I bought it from had a two-door and a four-door, and for what this car is going to be for me, I wanted the four-door model. I already have a two-door Cutlass with a big block, aluminum heads and roller lifters. Nine Inch Ford in the back makes it look like it has big balls. But for this car, I wanted an antique "family car" with some Americana muscle car roots. It won't be the fastest car, it'll be a cruiser.
The four-door version of the 68 Impala looks very much like the two-door model to my eyes. The difference is the B-Pillars. Everybody says they like the looks of a car without pillars - and some people will notice right away - but most people really don't. And to me, the way the windows track is soooo much better. Everybody I know that has a car without B-Pillars has a window sealing problem. You gotta have new rubber and adjust the window angle in the door and still, they just don't seal like windows in tracks.
So I decided this car would be the four-door model. I think it looks awesome. I'm having it painted blue, and stitching in a diamond tuck blue velour interior. Dash and carpets are black. It has a Powerglide and a 3:08 rear-end gear, so the stock 327 has very little push. But I have a small block Chevy at the machine shop right now. I'll build it mild, but with roller cam and aluminum heads so I can get a little more out of it. Not intending it to need RPM to get into the power band though, so it'll have a low-duration cam. Might still swap out the rear-end gear for a 3:23 ratio, we'll see.
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| Re: Cool Stuff in the Summer of 2020 [message #92091 is a reply to message #92090] |
Thu, 16 July 2020 21:58 |
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Wayne Parham
Messages: 18801
Registered: January 2001
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Illuminati (33rd Degree) |
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I figure since I asked you for pics, I probably should post some of my own. Pics or it didn't happen!
First, my Cutlass. I've had it since 1993. It was stock when I got it, just a good get-around car. Typical 80s American car - Gutless, a faint whisper of better days gone by. Now days, American cars have made a big comeback, but when I built this car in the late 1990s, our cars still sucked. So the mods to that Cutlass made it a tribute to the rumble of yesteryear's muscle cars.
1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
I shoehorned an Olds 455 into the '83 Cutlass. I had to cut into the heater box, and then fabricate a plate that recessed to allow room for the passenger side valve covers. And even though MSD was commonplace by the time I built the Cutlass, I wanted to keep it old school, so it has a dual-point distributor. But you might notice a transistor in a box mounted on the firewall in the photo. That's what drives the spark coil. The points never pit or wear out, because they're just driving the base, so current through them is small. Never a need for a dwell adjustment, like was needed in the old points days. The failure mode is the spring wears out, and it doesn't happen until around 100K miles. Who would have ever thought that would be the failure mode of a set of points?
Oldsmobile 455 w/ aluminum heads and roller cam/lifters
Now a little bit about the Impala. Not much to look at when I bought it. I didn't care if it ran well, and really expected it to just be a rolling chassis. My plans were to go through pretty much everything, so the most important thing for me was that it not have rust. But to my surprise, the little 327 actually runs pretty good. It looks nasty under the hood though. Not a problem 'cause I'm building an engine for it now, and I'll detail the engine compartment when it's out. So for now, the 327 just makes it convenient for moving it around while the body work is being done.
1968 Chevy Impala running roller
1968 Chevy Impala work in progress
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