Where to mount speakers?

[BT Classics]

My '72 came with a Pioneer system but I did not like the speaker boxes set in front of the seat where you would hit them with your feet and it looked bad.
I thought this would be a simple project by getting the molded plastic kickpanels for 6.5" speakers like this one:

I got them without the speakers so I could add my own better quality for less price. I thought I was going to use some 3 way Pioneers but I ended up buying some 6.5" Kenwoods because I thought they sounded a better. Rockfords sometimes have a larger magnet and there was only 2" so I decided to play it safe.

Before mounting the speakers I tried to fit the kick panels in place and ran into some problems:
Drivers side - Emergency brake would come very close if not hit the speaker, Hi/Low Beam switch would be hard to press.
Passenger side - Could not even get the panel into place. The part closest to the firewall seemed to be too long. Vacuum parts for the vent door would be in the way.

So now I am trying to come up with a better way or better place to mount some speakers. It is a 1972 C-10 with factory A/C, stock bench seat, and the gas tank is behind the seat. I would prefer not to cut the doors. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or ideas.

Does anyone know if I could cut a hole in the metal part of the kickpanel and install the 6.5" instead of using the plastic panels?