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Old 02-15-2017, 04:31 PM   #1
par4tom
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Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

I've had a couple of requests in the past few weeks on how I built my kick pods for my 1961 truck (Took 2nd place at the 68th Grand National Roadster Show in January 2017), and thought I would share some thoughts on how to achieve "sonic nirvana" in your own truck...if there is such a thing!

I'll start with a photo of my driver side kick pod here, share some theory on what sizes will and will not work for speakers in kick pods and why, talk a bit about speaker placement and alignment and then finish with how I built my own kick pods. If I had known there was going to be so much interest, I would have taken more pictures while I was building them.

For you younger guys out there...I wish I would have had this information about 20 years ago when I was still competing in car sound...I've learned from some of the best minds in the world!
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Old 02-15-2017, 04:44 PM   #2
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Background -

I got into car audio back in the early 1980's and it has always been a favorite hobby of mine. Back in the day, 100 watt amps were a rarity and the "more is better" theory prevailed. "More" meaning, how many speakers and amps could you fit in your car or truck.

During the 1990's, my career had progressed and I was able to afford to do my first competition car audio car, a 1994 Acura Legend that actually was featured in a CES Booth for Zapco in 1998 or 1999. It was a rather simple system and went undefeated the year I competed.

Fast forward to 2014 when I started building my dad's old 1961 truck, I determined to push the cutting edge of car audio thought...just this time in a classic chevy truck.

So whether you're putting a system in an old truck like ours, or the latest sedan or coupe, the first rule of thumb is to:

Always build your system to your vehicle.Not vice versa!!!

Too many times I have seen guys (much like I did in those early days), cut holes in the wrong place or try to fit too large a subwoofer (or too many) into too small a space with very poor results and very empty pockets after.

When it comes to kick pods, I happen to be a very lucky guy because Steve Brown (who was an IASCA National Champion the year I competed) and later went to work to head the fabrication division for Alpine Car Audio, befriended me at a competition in Carson City, NV.

So you know, Steve was years ahead of his time when it came to those early days of fiberglass. He was also the only guy I ever met that was competing with fiberglass kick pods. And his were good enough to win a National Championship.

To make a long story shorter, I had Steve come up from Southern California to the Central Valley and put on a class on how to build fiberglass kick panels...which he did. After I watched him, I made my own set of kick panels. They weren't very good compared to his, but they helped me receive an invite to nationals in South Carolina that year.

With that said...I am not an expert...just a long-time hobbiest. And I've learned a few short cuts along the way...so here we go!
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Old 02-15-2017, 04:53 PM   #3
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Let's step back a moment and talk about what we are trying to achieve when it comes to accurate sound reproduction.

First and foremost, everyone of us has been to a concert at one time or another, and when we have been at a concert, the performers are in front of us and up on a stage. Notice what I am saying as this is a key point: The performers are in front of us, usually at eye level and up on a stage.

Therefore, the goal of car audio, is to try and replicate this "stage like" effect up in front of us...or in this case, over the top of the dash and as far forward in the vehicle as possible. In essence, we are trying to create an illusion of the performers up over the front hood of our trucks just as if we were at a real concert.

Which...creates a big problem already! There is no place for speakers on the front hoods of our trucks and no room for huge subwoofers anywhere in the truck except behind the seats. And subwoofers behind the seats already presents us with our first handicap since there are no performers in a front stage performance playing bass notes or drums from behind us!!! We're doomed before we start. Or are we?

To combat this problem, acoustical engineers have been playing with many different designs and remedies to this 'front stage" objective. This post is not going to go into too many of these complex issues, since all you and I care about is how to get decent sound out of our old trucks...specifically the kick pods.

Suffice it to say, speaker size, choice, location and alignment are critical in our quest for sonic perfection.
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Old 02-15-2017, 05:03 PM   #4
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Before I go any further, let's talk briefly about sub woofers. In small cab enclosures like our old trucks, subwoofers much larger than 10" in space are going to result in muddy, overhung base.

Granted...I get the whole thing with you younger guys liking to brag about having 4 12-inch subs behind your seats and blasting everyone out of the neighborhood. However, the problem with large subwoofers is that the require large amount of enclosure space in order to achieve acceptable results.

If you notice in my truck, I only have 2 (very good quality CDT Audio Subs) that are 8" each. I went this route because I could: a) Get them to fit behind my seat; b) get a big enough sealed-enclosure (in this case I built a .375 cubic foot enclosure for each sub) for accurate reproduction; and c) (which is probably the most important one), I was able to get them down and way from directly behind the seat so that all of the vibration from the subs wasn't pounding directly into my back, and ruining my first objective which is...you guessed it...create the illusion that all the sound was coming from in front of me and over the top of the dash.

Rule of thumb on subs - if you want to just be loud and proud, go with any size sub you want and how ever many you can fit. If you are looking for smoothness, bump, and accuracy, stay with a 10" or 8" sub. A pair is more then enough.

Trust me, I can get more sound out of a well designed pair of 8's then a lot of you guys can get out a pair of 10's or 12' in enclosures that are too small. I won't delve into the efficiency aspect of subwoofers, but will add that a lot of you are getting cleaned out by stereo shops that don't know what they are doing and paying too much money for poor results. Here are few photos of my own build...

Notice how far down and to the side each one of the subs is located. I moved them as far away from the back of my seat as possible.
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Old 02-15-2017, 05:19 PM   #5
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

After that detour, let's get back to front sound stage issues. As I said earlier, our objective is to create an illusion of sound coming from over the top of the dash. And since 6 1/2 inch mids, or 5 1/4 inch mids won't fit on the dash, we are now stuck with a second dilemma what size speakers to buy and where to place them.

There have been many arguments over the years about what speakers are best, or which size speakers are best, and I won't get into that too much right here. Although I will say, buy good mids and tweets and buy as large of a driver as you can fit into the kickpod and still get acceptable performance.

Here is a very important point of speaker size:

1. If you are able to use the cowl vents as a type of infinite baffle (meaning the back of the speaker is vented out to the cowl vent), then going with solid pair of 6 1/2" midranges will work best. If you do not plan to use the cowl vents, DO NOT USE 6 1/2" drivers in a sealed kick pod. You simply will not get stellar performance out of this large of a driver.

Many people try to get around this by cutting the back of the kick pods out and venting the 6 1/2" drivers out into the cab. This is a huge mistake! There will be phasing issues and sound wave cancellation issues using this methodology.

Again, if you are stuck using the kick pod as an enclosure, you will actually get better performance and have fewer phasing problems and cancellations with a 5 1/4" driver or even a 4" drive. A good 5 1/4" driver or good 4" drive in a sealed enclosure, will outperform a 6 1/2" drive in a sealed kickpod.

In my application, I used the cowl vents with a good water shield in the vent to keep our rain and moisture and used a 6 1/2" drive. My crossover point is at 80 hz and is at a 12 db slope.

In the picture below you can see the first version of kickpod I made (I since redid them) showing a 6 1/2" midbass driver and a 2" mid/tweet driver down below it. I milled a Lexan beauty ring to hid the screws on the midbass driver.
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Old 02-15-2017, 05:35 PM   #6
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Speaker Alignment and aim - (Which direction to point the darn speakers!!!)

In the old days of car audio, there was a lot of trial and error with trying to achieve accurate sound reproduction. Mostly it was error...

Since then, several national champion competitors have spilled the beans with regards to how they achieved more consistent winning results.

I simply followed their leads...

In my truck, as a I've already mentioned, I used a set of CDT Audio drivers for the kick pods. A 6 1/2" mid and a 2" tweeter.

When it comes to which direction to aim the drivers, there is a very simple trick to follow that will help you achieve almost perfect results every time, while still being able to "trick" your mind into thinking the sound is coming from over the top of the dash.

To start this alignment process, have a friend outside the drivers side of the truck while you sit in the drivers seat. Have them look through the side glass and put a piece of blue tape directly opposite the opening of your ear. Again, sit in your truck. Have your buddy stand right outside and look through the glass, then stick a piece of tape directly opposite the opening of your left ear.

After this is done, take a tape measure from the piece of blue tape, measure 7 inches directly towards the front of the truck and then down 1 1/2 inches from that point and place a piece of blue tape at this forward aiming point.

This second piece of blue tape is going to be the exact point where you will be aiming the passenger side speakers.

Once you are done with the drivers side sitting position, go to the passenger side and repeat the same process you just completed.

You should now have two pieces of tape to aim your speakers at...one on each window.

Is this going to magically make your system sound amazing? Of course not! But it is going to give you the absolute best physical chance of achieving a good, stable and high front sound stage and that is the best that we can hope for in this imperfect environment.

Here is a picture of the tape on my window...it's a bit hard to see and is hiding part of the steering wheel. Anyway, I think you get the idea...
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Old 02-15-2017, 05:43 PM   #7
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

With the correct speaker size now determined and the correct aiming point now determined, we are ready to start building.

But before we start building, I just want to add this disclaimer:

There is no ONE WAY to build a speaker kick pod. In fact, there are a lot of different ways. I am only going to be showing you A WAY...not necessarily THE WAY to build a kick pod.


You get to work those details out yourself.

To start with, I take a piece of cardboard and cut out a template for the back plate to my speaker pod. I will then transfer this template onto a piece of 1/4" HDF and cut to make my back plate. Typically, I would have made this back plate out of fiberglass by taping everything off with blue tape, glueing polyester fleece onto the tape and then putting resin onto the fleece.

However, in this case, the kick panel area was so flat, I decided to use HDF for the back plate...

Here is the cardboard shape ready to be transferred to the HDF...
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Old 02-15-2017, 05:47 PM   #8
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

And here is the cutout of the HDF...as you can see, the speaker ring is already mocked up onto the board in this picture. Disregard that for now as I did not take a picture of the backer board by itself...notice how this 6 1/2" driver is being vented out through the cowl vent. Also, notice how this speaker is located towards the front of the cab and the mid-tweet is going to be closer to me. This is
to make sure the high frequencies (which are very directional) are not bouncing around into the dash.

Remember, if I had needed a sealed enclosure for my kickpod, I would have gone to a smaller driver!

Ohhh and I almost forgot...make sure that before you finalize the placement of your mid base driver, that you can plainly see at least 2/3's of the driver from the opposite seat sitting position.
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Old 02-15-2017, 06:01 PM   #9
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Now comes the fun part...speaker alignment!

To begin with, I make my speaker ring-mounts out of 3/4" MDF. You want this mounting surface to be as stable, and firm as possible. Do not use 1/2" mdf or plywood. Use 3/4" MDF and glue the ring-mount to the back-plate with as many supports as possible once you've got your alignment figured out. You can not be too ridgid!

To align my mid bass driver to the blue tape on the drivers side window. I took a piece of scrap wood that was slight larger than the speaker opening, then drilled a hole into the center of it using my drill press to insure a perpendicular angle to the face plate. From there, I took an old graphite golf shaft (Or you can use a wood dowel) or anything that is straight, and hot glue it into the hole you just drilled.

I did not take a picture of this by itself but in the first picture you can see what I am talking about. The white plastic cup behind this speaker is a 2" cap for PVC pipe. This ensures that the back waves from the mid bass driver don't mess up the tweeters job. But that is another discussion for another day...

The second picture shows the tweeter being aligned.

The last picture at the bottom, you can see both alignment aids mocked up on the drivers side and aligned DIRECTLY at the blue tape on the opposite window. In this case, the passenger side window. And I mean directly!!! In that same picture and on the passenger side of the truck, you can see both drivers in place after I had already done the alignment.

Once everything was aiming where it should, I used a bit of hot glue and to lock all the speaker rings down and get ready to stretch fleece and fiberglass.

Be patient during this phase of alignment and construction...it is time consuming and takes some effort (and help) to get it right.

You can find cheap graphite golf shafts for sale on ebay or...get a couple at a yard sale...or hit up Home Depot for some wood dowels too...

I'll post some more on this in the next few days if time allows...
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:07 PM   #10
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

With the backer board done I flushed trimmed a round over piece for the outside edge of the kick pod in order to give it a uniform radius and save myself some sanding later.
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:07 PM   #11
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

And here is the piece just before fleece and resin...
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:15 PM   #12
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Because I am using the cowl vent as a type of infinite baffle for the mid bass driver and to eliminate air leaking back into the cab from around the speakers, I chose to fleece the kick pod in two steps...the first step here you can see how I've only stretched fleece over the speaker rings in order to block off the cowl vent from the rest of the panel...I stapled the fleece to the backer board and applied resin, saturating the fleece all the way through to the back.

If you are doing a sealed kick pod and not using the cowl vent, you can skip this step.
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:21 PM   #13
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

After this first application of fleece and resin has cured, i then stretch another layer of medium thick fleece over the entire panel, staple it down and then apply a couple more coats of resin.

Note - If you use a decent quality fleece material that is medium thickness (like a medium weight sweatshirt) from any fabric store and the fleece is somewhat stretchable, there is no need to apply chop mat over the top. Good penetration of resin into the fleece is way MORE than enough structural integrity.

Here is the piece for the drivers side covered in fleece...the recessed area on this piece is so the E brake will clear without problems.

Then a test fit on the passenger side...the two arrows show where I am going to have to come back in and backfill the gaps with Rage Gold before wrapping in vinyl.

Last picture is after a couple of coats of resin. After the second coat of resin, your piece should be pretty shiny.

Time to start shaping and sanding...
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:25 PM   #14
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Sanding down the resin then some filler to finish out the shape...

Take note how I have back filled that gap a bit better by the door molding. I think I had to do this a couple of times to get it perfectly fit.
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:34 PM   #15
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Here is the driver's side kick with the backfill taking place next to the door weatherstripping.

If these trucks had perfectly flat panels here, I could have skipped this back filling process...but nothing is ever flat.
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:38 PM   #16
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Getting ready for vinyl...

Note - If you are using Vinyl, I recommend strongly using the Katzkin Vinyl product. It will stretch quite a bit when you hit it with a heat gun and without losing some of its marbling texture on the front.

Kick pods generally require a lot of heat and stretching.

Some prefer to use carpet. If you elect to use carpet, make sure it is stretchable. Also, if you use carpet, you can eliminate about 70% of the sanding you do on the panel because imperfections will never show.

If you do paint, plan on doing a lot of extra sanding, all the way down to about 120 grit before applying poly primer. I recommend poly primer as it will fill the 120 grit sand scratches and you can lay it on pretty thick.

After primer, sand to 400 to 500 grit and then base coat and clear.
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:43 PM   #17
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

getting ready for final assembly...

First pic shows the 2" mid/tweet being mounted.

In the other photo I used a little bit of dacron fill (cut up an old throw pillow if you don't have any loose dacron) to cut down on back waves, then did final mounting to the truck.
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Old 02-16-2017, 06:49 PM   #18
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Final product...(actually, I covered both of these again after I took these pictures in order to smooth out some surfaces that I didn't like)...but you get the idea.

If you are planning on doing these yourself, plan on about 30 to 35 hours of labor to completion and maybe $100 in materials.

If you plan to paint yours, budget an extra 4 to 5 hours of time for extra time sanding and spraying and whatever you spend on paint.

Tom
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Old 02-22-2017, 01:43 AM   #19
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Wow, awesome work and super informative!

Ever thought of producing a perfect sound kit/setup, since you've already pioneered the research and development?
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Old 02-22-2017, 02:17 AM   #20
wichita
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Nice write up I was into the whole car stereo thing in the mid 80"s to mid 90's. I live just north of you about 5 miles. I built all of the sub woofer enclosures at Bananas Hi-fi back in the day.
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Old 02-22-2017, 08:39 AM   #21
leonphelps
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

what did you use for the adhesive with the vinyl?
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Old 02-22-2017, 11:55 AM   #22
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

If you are reasonably good with handtools, there is no reason you can't do this yourself. It's a lot of fun and there is a high degree of satisfaction.

And, I wish I could take credit for pioneering the research...I just learned from others who knew more than I did...

All of these trucks are different so one size won't always fit all.
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Wow, awesome work and super informative!

Ever thought of producing a perfect sound kit/setup, since you've already pioneered the research and development?
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Old 02-22-2017, 11:56 AM   #23
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

I remember that place...they built my very first system in about 1982 or so...

Tom
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Originally Posted by wichita View Post
Nice write up I was into the whole car stereo thing in the mid 80"s to mid 90's. I live just north of you about 5 miles. I built all of the sub woofer enclosures at Bananas Hi-fi back in the day.
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Old 02-22-2017, 12:00 PM   #24
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

Good question...I use the vinyl top adhesive from a local upholstery supplier. They use to have a lot better contact cement here in California but the regulators have long since outlawed getting the good stuff here. If you live in other states, I think you can still get the good adhesive.

Weldwood Vinyl Top Adhesive. Available at any upholstery store. The adhesive in the spray cans will not work as they will not hold. Spray adhesive also will not hold if you live in a hot climate like I do here in Central California.

I should also mention another point...if you are going to apply vinyl, do not sand down your finished piece beyond 80 to 100 grit. The adhesive will tend to not stick. Also, I wipe down the piece really good with a tack cloth and Acetone to clean the surface and aid sticking.

To apply, I take a 2" chip brush and brush the adhesive onto the panel and also onto the vinyl. From there, you need to let it tack up to the point that the glue doesn't lift off when you touch it with the knuckle on your finger.
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what did you use for the adhesive with the vinyl?
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Old 02-22-2017, 03:20 PM   #25
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Re: Sonic Nirvana - How to Build Kick Pods in Classic Chevy Truck

I've been wanting to do this for years but didn't know where to start, great write up and I will surely try something along these lines this summer. I did a very crude setup using stacked rings on my kick panels that doesn't look very good.

Question for you though, I already have 6.5" drivers, no AC so I need my vents, what's you're suggestion in such a situation besides buying smaller speakers?
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