DJ Billy E "orion" van brought back to life (56k be warned)

natewood70

natewood70

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I got a call from one of my buddies who is great friends with a local celebrity who goes by the name of DJ Billy E. He has been know throughout the SPL and IASCA car community as the Bass Mechanic and has put out multiple CD's that are designed purely for testing a speakers limits.

One of the CD's he came out with was titled "Beats for my Van." This van was featured on the cover of his CD, and was a hit within the SPL community.

Anyways, he got a call from the founder of IASCA to bring the van out of retirement for Spring Break Nationals in Daytona Beach, FL... He got the hookup on some new batteries (7 in total) and got the van running, tagged, and insured!

This van was sitting under a tree at his studio for 3 years.... Due to time constraints, we have decided on a one step polish to bring this thing back to life! The pictures don't do justice to how filthy this thing was!!!!

Products/Techniques

Wheels/Tires:
PB APC 4:1
Daytona Speed Brushes
Brass bristle brush
Megs Gold Class Soap
Eagle One Nevr - Dull
Pinnacle Black Onyx Tire Gel
PB Wheel Sealent

Wash/Dry:
Megs Gold Class
Microfiber Mitt (the one with the fingers!!!)
Lug Nut Brush
WW Guzzler

Clay:
H2O flush method
Wolfgang poly clay

Polish/Wax:
Pinnacle XMT 360
PC 7424
LC white CCS pad
Pinnacle Souveran
LC red CCS pad

On to the pictures!!!!!

Before

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During Wash ( I washed it twice, once before clay and once after):

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Onto the Polish! The paint was severely oxidized, but have no fear, PINNACLE IS HERE!!!!

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Good ol' Single Stage Paint!:

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Here is what makes the truck go BOOM!!!! 9 15" Orion Subs powered by 4 amps with 7 batteries:

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FINALLY HERE IS THE BAM!!!! ALL FINISHED!!!

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All in all i took roughly 7 hours to complete this, however the results are amazing. This thing looked great and sounded even better at the show!

Thanks for looking everyone, I hope you enjoy!!!! :dblthumb2:
 
Wow what a turnaround!!! Funny how these things get loads of $ thrown into them just to be forgotten :(. This one owes you its resurrection. Hopefully the owner at least puts it indoors now!

Any video of the thing pounding away?
 
jlb85 said:
Wow what a turnaround!!! Funny how these things get loads of $ thrown into them just to be forgotten :(. This one owes you its resurrection. Hopefully the owner at least puts it indoors now!

Any video of the thing pounding away?
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Thanks man! No video of the van pumping away though... but that thing is loud!!! It ripped a girls hoop earing right out of her ear by the port... so much sound pressure!!
 
Nate ...

Wow! What a blast from the past and nice to see that you made it look so nice. Seeing one of those old school SPL vehicles sure brings back some fond memories.
 
Thanks everyone! I will be posting pictures of the cars at Spring Break Nationals soon!

This was my first single stage, and I was really happy with how it came out. I appreciate everyones kind words!
 
Great job man! I've downloaded some of that guy's CDs before. Just like your work, they are good stuff!
 
J1nx93 said:
Great job man! I've downloaded some of that guy's CDs before. Just like your work, they are good stuff!
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Thanks for the kind words! Yea, his new CD's hit sssssooooo hard! Nothing short of what he is known for creating!:props:
 
Nice job! I checked out that van on your facebook page. :dblthumb2:

Is that a wire brush you used on those rims? No scratches from that??
 
dad07 said:
Van looks Great Nate! nice work!
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Thanks for the comment! I noticed you're in NC! I'm pretty excited, because a soda that used to be exclusive to the Carolinas is slowly making its way down to FL! Sun Drop... MMMMMM (yes im a fat kid)
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Nice job! I checked out that van on your facebook page. :dblthumb2:

Is that a wire brush you used on those rims? No scratches from that??
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Thanks for checking it out man! Yea it was a wired brush, and the only reason I used it is because the wheels had a brushed finish to it already and I just stayed with the grain. It worked very well!!!
 
WOW... talk about memories.
#1 - that van.. haha I have the CD with that van on it from when I used to build car audio systems in Daytona Beach back in the late '90s

#2 - Orion audio... how I miss those speakers.

#3 - The Chevy Astro / GMC Safari: what a great van. It had so many uses, and was a great size compared to the full size versions (that was untill it grew in later years) Wish they were still around.

Beautiful correction, and its great to see that van up and running again.

Enjoy the nationals!
 
reality33 said:
WOW... talk about memories.
#1 - that van.. haha I have the CD with that van on it from when I used to build car audio systems in Daytona Beach back in the late '90s

#2 - Orion audio... how I miss those speakers.

#3 - The Chevy Astro / GMC Safari: what a great van. It had so many uses, and was a great size compared to the full size versions (that was untill it grew in later years) Wish they were still around.

Beautiful correction, and its great to see that van up and running again.

Enjoy the nationals!
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Thanks for the compliments! Yea man this van is awesome...they just dont make car audio like they used to...
 
natewood70 said:
Thanks for checking it out man! Yea it was a wired brush, and the only reason I used it is because the wheels had a brushed finish to it already and I just stayed with the grain. It worked very well!!!
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HA!! See, I ain't the only one that does that. I didn't ask cause I thought you were doing something wrong. I asked because I had a post where I said I used a wire brush on machine polished rims and I got crap for it.

I feel like you do, I went with the grain...and it worked well. But I was stripping clear coat off the rim using Aircraft stripper...but still, same concept. Nice work buddy! :dblthumb2:
 
Kristopher1129 said:
HA!! See, I ain't the only one that does that. I didn't ask cause I thought you were doing something wrong. I asked because I had a post where I said I used a wire brush on machine polished rims and I got crap for it.

I feel like you do, I went with the grain...and it worked well. But I was stripping clear coat off the rim using Aircraft stripper...but still, same concept. Nice work buddy! :dblthumb2:
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Thanks man, I appreicate it!

People will always question technique that is abnormal or against the grain. (no pun intended). But the wheels had no clear coat on them, and you couldn't see any difference after they were done in the brushed grain...

Gotta do what works for you!
 
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