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?

[Longhorn Man]

I know you just said you dpon't wanna do it, but if you cut the doors and use poly speakers, mount them on the inside of the door, then you can install the aftermarket lower boor carpet and no one will ever see the speakers.

[Woody]

I have 6 x9 's in the doors of my 69. I've owned it for many years. When I first bought it it had a set of 6 x9's that where mounted to the doors but they were made so that no hole was needed except the 4 mounting bolts so the whole speaker mounted on the outside of the door skin. I've not had any luck finding any replacements like them so I cut my doors and mounted 6 x 9's in the door with a foam protector covering the rear of the speakers. They sound pretty good.

There are other choices....

Factory Speaker location: you can get dual speakers for this location. But it is a PITA with a/c to get it in there. Sounds great though.

Behind the Seat: Yea, the gas tank really needs to be removed and relocated to under the bed first. But several truckers have this and like the sound of speakers here.

Kick Panels : Several have these as well. I have not tried them, mostly because of the cost and the problems you listed.

Bottom of Dash: Just another suggestion...It would work, but thats about it.

Good Luck

[Figment412]

What I plan on doing is a custom door pannel install and set it up so i can mount speakers but not cut into that doors, just using the orgional mounting holes. Second you can make a custom counsle where you can mount speakers but that is probably is limited to 6" base. Then I will mount subs behind the seat.

[Warbones]

Overhead possible.

[krazy_texan]

while on this topic what is the safest way to run wire into the door for speakers, i am going to cut my doors but have not put much thougt into the routing of wires yet.

[67chevemall]

Behind the seats will work! Sounds good!

[67Fleetsidedream]

Headliner.

[rambler]

not to steal this thread, but I know JC Whitney had a headliner with 4 speakers and a space for a receiver, it was a bolt on unit for the truck, I have not had luck finding it now, since my truck is now on the road. This would be the option I would like to do..

[BT Classics]

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I really didnt want to cut the doors in case someone wanted to put the truck back to stock in the future and the issue of wiring.

Nobody has cut the metal kickpanels instead of the doors? What kind of problems (if any) would I run into by doing this?

How would the sound quality be if I mounted speakers under the front seat?

[shortymac83]

I'd think that the sound quality would depend when putting them under the seat. If you pointed them upward, it might muffle the extremities. I"ve been giving some thought to the sound system of my truck for when I actually get the money to do bodywork and such. Since I want the truck to look more or less stock, I'm going to have a CD head in the glovebox and mount 6X9's in each corner under the dash. If I'm really industrious, I'll put 6" 3 ways in the doors. I'm also thinking about a pair of 10 or 12" subs to go under the seat, there's some nice space there. For a center channel, the dual dash speaker would be the way to go, I'd think. I've only done stereo setups in cars, and with about 1/3 the space to work with, everything I do is gonna be that much louder, so I don't know how much I want to go at the moment, I might just leave it with the 2 6X9's...

[CPNE]

Originally posted by BT Classics
...Nobody has cut the metal kickpanels instead of the doors? What kind of problems (if any) would I run into by doing this?

My concern would be the fact that the front cab pillar is welded to this panel. If you cut into that you could seriously compromise the strutural integrity of your cab.

We've been back and forth on this topic before but don't expect "symphonic" miracles no matter what you do. The accoustics just aren't there, plus your BB will drown most of it out anyway without proper sound insulation.

[mocwon]

What I did would probably cause a big problem if your truck is already finished but here it is anyway. I welded a couple of pieces of 1" angle iron to the inside door jamb and rear of cab. Then, I fabricated 16 gauge panels to fit the opening which are bolted to the angle iron. Here are a couple of pictures before I cut the speaker holes:

[mocwon]

16 gauge metal blank

[greasemonkey]

BT Classics:
Don't expect the pods just to slide into place. You will have to do some trimming on them in order to fit them around the handle assembly for the vent door. Also, on the passenger side, you need to cut off that leg closest to the firewall. The truck has a bow in right there, and the straight kick panel will not conform to it since it is rigid. The e-brake is something a lot of people are scared of, but I don't know why. All you have to do is remove that mounting screw on the bottom lip of the dash, drill a hole to the side however far you want to move the brake over, push the assembly over, and put in the screw. My old sloppy e-brake doesn't ever hit the speaker. When installed right, they look good, and sound decent.
I would not cut into the metal kick panel. Someone has tried that and said they hit a brace and were not able to continue.
If you don't use the pods, cut the doors or put some speakers under the seat.

[shortymac83]

yeah, after thinking about it for a while, I'd probably just stick with some oval (4X10 or 6X9) speakers under the dash and a sub or 2 under the seat. To get the high range, you could go with 3, 4 or 5 way ovals. I have used Pioneer 6X9 3 ways in all the cars I've done and I love them, enough bass, but still the high range is there if those are the only speakers you're running. In my delta, I've got 3.5" speakers that really can't handle the power if I turn it up, so I fade to the back by about 2/3 or so and it still gives me the high range without being too flat and bassy.

[RON WOODGEARD]

My kick panels fit fine,, It is very close for the E-brake pedal, ( Just bend it over a little) As far as the metal kick panels go, I tried it, there is an internal brace inside between the exterior and interior kick panel wall.

You can get a dual voice coil (Stereo) speaker for the stock location in the dash,
There is also on the aftermarket, a Speaker box that fits under the seats, It has a full range speaker and tweeters.
The overhead unit that mounts stereo unit and speakers has been dis-continued. It just depends on how you want your system to sound... I have the kick panel speakers, Two 6X9 full ranges in the doors, 4-4" behind the seat, two behind the passenger and two behind the driver, One right and one left channel. I also have two 8" subs on the floor in boxes where the tank used to be, along with the tweeters on the dash.

If you're squeemish on cutting the doors, dash, or cab. You are going to be extremely limited on sound quality.

BUT,,, the Kick panels you already have, Plus the Dual voice stock mounted speaker, two dash tweeters, and finally a couple of 8" subs, under the seat.. And a good head unit, You'll be set.. Oh yea,,,,, Don't forget Power.. That again depends on your taste, I prefer clean over Loud....

[SCOTI]

Don't be scared to cut the doors..... that's what welders are for.

Welding up holes for speakers is relatively easy. If the speakers are protected from moisture, the doors are a good option (mine work just fine).

[67cst]

do you want to sell your kick panel speaker pods? i might be interested if you are

Derek

[greg72]

Here is how I dealt with speakers. See mt thread regarding this

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...threadid=99096

[BT Classics]

Thanks for the help. I am looking for something that is nice sounding (quality over quantity) while cruisin' that I can hear over the whine of the BB when I want to. Not looking to enter any stereo competitions or anything.

The kickpanels were sent back today. Thanks for the replies about cutting - I may have gotten myself into a real mess.
I got looking and I think I could probably build custom pods out of MDF for less than those panels cost. They would probably fit much better as well. I am going to order the dual voice coil for the dash. Then I will decide what else I want to do - under the front seat, custom kick panel pods, custom door pods, under dash, corner of cab, piller, etc. I am in no big rush. This is just a fun toy until I get the '56 built.
I was thinking about something like this for the door:
http://www.smart-parts.ca/s10door3.gif
Anyone else make their own pods?

Greg72, They look nice but do they solve any of the problems that I was dealing with? What size speakers do those hold and what would be an estimate on price? How far do they go up - I really cant tell where they end.

[highboy_04]

what about cutting a hole in the door panel that is removeable. that way if you want to go back you just get a new panel and your set.

[68speedalert]

What I've done both with my 68 & numberoneson's 72 has worked fairly well. It won't win any sound contest but I gaurentee it will sound better than just the dual coil speaker.

Before I start let me mention that I try to work cheap, using what I have on hand.

I had 6x9's already so I built the largest boxes I could and still slide them under the seat. THe boxes are sealed, no ports, speaker pointing up. Because of sound wave characteristics, You will lose the mid-highs to highs in the set cushions and buttocks.
This also loses the stereo separation.

To fix this, cheaply, I might add, I had a couple of 6x9s with the woofer blown out. I unscrewed the mids and highs and removed them from the old speaker assembly. I soldered a wire pigtail to the the mids ( were the origional wire from the woofer attaches). I fashioned a metal bracket to the speaker, and found a place to attatch one under each side of the dash, pointing down, out of sight.

It works best if you have an EQ with a 4 channel amp, having the mid/tweeters on the front side and the complete speakers on the rear. By adjusting the EQ & fader you can get a pretty good sound. You need to customize the hook-up to the head unit you have.

If your interested, I can post some pics.

Cheap and a decent sound; great combo!.

Steve

You will lose alot of volumne on the seat speakers so give them as much power as you can.