A good system can be "deceptively loud." Because there is zero distortion at acceptable listening levels, it's easy to go to even even more enjoyable levels. And eventually you notice your ears are not happy with it.
A good system can be "deceptively loud." Because there is zero distortion at acceptable listening levels, it's easy to go to even even more enjoyable levels. And eventually you notice your ears are not happy with it.
In reply to SkinnyG :
Agree entirely. And i already have hearing damage. Thats why everything is done with subtitles in my house.
Is there a way to know what db rating will cause MORE damage at sustained levels? That way i know where to go "bad idea" on the volume knob?
US Dept of Health says, sustained levels at 85 db can cause hearing loss.
From their website:
Here are the average decibel ratings of some familiar sounds:
By the way, great work on the Duster. How long before the car can make some "sustained noise"?
Awesome! Thanks! I was thinking it was 90db, but im pretty sure thats scca db limit.
And honestly, im fixing things and finishing things at this point. My fear is that if i start driving it again, i will continue to NOT finish stuff. Like the emergency brake system. Or the rear leaf springs. Or the seatbelts. Or....
True. Life is one long STD list.....Not the STD some may think ;)
The metalshop at work, with students working on their projects, is around 75-80dB of noise. 85dB can cause hearing damage after about 8 hours. I wear ear plugs at work to save me from "noise exhaustion."
Having worn hearing protection as much as I do, I cring seeing -anyone- use table saws, chop saws and machines without hearing protection. It makes a substantial difference.
And, while it's illegal to wear ear plugs while driving, I wear earplugs in my Super 7, because it's 119dB of windnoise at 55mph.
So, at "seriously loud" the app i just got for my phone registered 78db.
Thats loud enough for me to consider it ridiculous. Im happy there!
I used to have a lowered Nissan Hardbody. Two 1000W amps, two 6.5", one shallow 10" sub behind the seat. With the stereo "comfortable" and not even loud, it was 102dB in the cab with the windows open (wind noise) at 60mph.
At the end of the school year, we do a "sound off" with students' stereos - the world record so far is 126dB. The art class next door complained that things were falling off the walls.
We did have a car with monster truck puller stacks sticking out of the hood, which measured 137dB.
this picture doesn't seem like much.
All that visibily changes is the mirror.
What you CAN'T see is the window no longer scraping on un-felted guides, or not fitting the opening very well. It even rolls up and down smoothly except for the initial down. The front sticks slightly when you first operate the handle. But better than ever since the restoration.
I also tidied up the trunk and stereo wiring. Next is seatbelt relocate and rear suspension rework.
Imawaiting on a full road report of how the carb made the car so much better to drive.
For some reason I have lost the drive to work on the Molvo and even with the carb and new bypass regulator sitting on the bench, cant find the motivation.
In reply to NOHOME :
Id been out of motivation for a few years. Some reason its back. Maybe forcing myself to work on being able to drivg it made me motivated?
Dunno. But the decision to abandon megasquirt made a huge mental block go away.
Parking brake cables from a 1974 Chrysler town and country wagon are exactly the right length.
We have operable console parking brake!
So I can only speak for myself, and take this with grains of salt the size of your choosing, but I get frustrated / de-motivated when I'm up against some challenge (technical or not, doesn't really matter) that "should" be easy and it's not. In my case it was that Honda VFR that I did some wiring work to and ended up with an ECU that flashed an error at me and ignored the TPS. I probably caused some ground to float or lord knows what. In any case, after a while all I wanted to do was walk around it. I ended up tossing in the towel and selling it cheap just to get it out of my way.
To be given a bunch of issues for something that "should be easy", if I have other things to spend my time on instead, I'm prone to just walk off nd not want to get into it. There's probably some German word for this. Maybe that's what's happened with the Duster & MS, or the Molvo & FiTech/etc issues? It's why I never mess with bread starter anymore, because after three or four attempts and all I grew was something dangerous, I wash my hands and stop messing with it. Probably a number of things like that in my life.
What were we talking about?
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
It may be. But the last tow was the last straw for me.
Today, i finally fixed the rear suspension (de-flipped hangars, correct lowering blocks, pinion angle, leaf spring clamps)
Nailed the rear ride height. Front needs to come down 1/2-3/4 inch yet. I also need to see how the clamps affect ride quality. Seems stiffer by far with the push down test. 
Work needs to end. I want to go for a drive. See how the changes do.
Ac popped an o ring. Recharged.
Rear end is WAY too stiff. Think the spring clamps didn't work like i wanted.....
Always had soft spot (in my head) about Duster/Demon body shape. Still do. Looks great
that will make a problem
full drive report from the laptop later.
But, a DRIVE REPORT!!!!
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
That looks awesome, what a great job you've done on it. One of my buddies had a similar one in blue with a 318 / 2 barrel / automatic in high school and it was fun with that. Chrome Cragars on his all around, this was some time ago....lol.
Last budget: 12,021.34 ish
Money spent and made:
lowering blocks: 35
parking brake cables 60
seatbelt anchor plates: 14
New total: 12,130.34ish
so, got the carb swap finished and the car back together. Proof of concept was driving it around town.
That let me get to the to do list in a serious fashion.
First, swapping the dead stereo and parts. I raided my boxes, and came up with an extra pair of 3.5 for center dash speakers, and rockford fosgate amp, some wires, etc. ran the fosgate to the old ws6 sub in a 2 ohm load (400 watts RMS), bridged the kenwood 744 to power the kicks, ran the 3.5 and 6x9 off the new digital media receiver. This thing is AWESOME. Almost 2000 watts, 9 speakers, and just great audio package.
20200404_173523 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200404_180707 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
went ahead and chased some gremlins in the dash harness (HVAC and tach ground), and tightened and tidied up everything. Also finally hooked up the emergency brake stuff. 1974 Chrysler town and country wagon passenger side cables were proper length. And I only had to tweak the neon parts a smidge by opening up the holes in the cable bridge piece.
I also relocated the reels of the seatbelts. This fixed the sensitivity issues when pulling the buckle end. It also let the seats move properly. I tacked the plats in, and then triangulated them to the horizontal of the floor plans with backing plats and such. Feel pretty good about it.
Got the rest of the interior back together except for the passengers seat. Still need the good welder for that, and im stuck in quarantine due to serious lung issues.
20200409_161955 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
I also un-flipped the rear leaf spring hangars. The front spring eye was hitting the floor and causing a lot of noise. I went ahead and got 4 inch angled blocks which set the height properly. Clamped the leafs in the front segment, painted them, and put the car back down.
Then, I went about getting the car cleaned up. Washed, stripped, claybar, meguires 205 on a black foam pad on the porter cable DA, mothers california gold wax. Lots and lots and lots of work. But.
20200407_120442 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200409_161920 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200409_161948 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
20200409_162108 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
the main thing in this update is THIS.
20200411_110604 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr
im driving the car. And enjoying it. Its like coming home. My head and heart have some peace after 60 miles in it today. No fear of getting home. No concerns about what strange E36 M3 it will do next. Just a pleasure drive to check on my folks from 10 yards up the driveway. Going on some errands. Taking the long way home. Its not flawless. Its got a hunting idle, a small bog, and not as much power as I remember it having before all this. But its BACK. And I have faith.
Fan-tas-tic!
Great to hear the road report.
Had the Molvo out last week and it ran fine after a bit of fiddling with the idle AFR. Took it out on Sarturday and it barely made it around the block and home under its own power. THAT has been typical of the Fitech experinece since day one.
A little bit of sea foam to knock the crud out of everything probably wouldn't hurt ether. 
glad your enjoying it!
You'll need to log in to post.
