Custom grilles

[72malibu]

Anybody try making your own speaker grilles?

I'm tinkering with this design to go on new speaker kick panels from USA1 Industries. These are for a Gentleman Jim that had rectangular kick panel speakers from the factory.

These would be made of 6.5" round anodized aluminum with standoff screw studs on the back, no screw holes.

I found a NOS 4x10 dash speaker and ordered a couple 6" round speakers from turnswitch/S&M Electro-Tech. Still looking for the correct 8 track am/fm radio but I have the amplifier.

[72malibu]

Figured I'd update my progress so far in case anybody is trying to do something similar. See photos of updated design and the factory speaker setup below.

I received the new kick panels from USA1 Industries. They are dyed in the 73-74 dark saddle color that matches the 75 Gentleman Jim interior.

I needed to resize my original design for the grilles somewhat. I'm going with a 6-7/8" diameter. That's right where the radius of the kick panels stops. I shortened the air holes so that you won't see the kick panel behind the grill, just the black speaker cone.

The 6" pin cushion 8-10 ohm speakers from Turnswitch/SMElectro-Tech are a perfect fit - the frame is a little under 7" diameter and the cone is a perfect fit to the opening of the kick panels. I will be mounting the speaker to the back of the kick panel and the grill on top. I think I'm going to use 8-32 or M4 countersunk screws/nuts instead of standoff studs to hold everything together.

[notsolo]

Originally Posted by 72malibu

Figured I'd update my progress so far in case anybody is trying to do something similar. See photos of updated design and the factory speaker setup below.

I received the new kick panels from USA1 Industries. They are dyed in the 73-74 dark saddle color that matches the 75 Gentleman Jim interior.

I needed to resize my original design for the grilles somewhat. I'm going with a 6-7/8" diameter. That's right where the radius of the kick panels stops. I shortened the air holes so that you won't see the kick panel behind the grill, just the black speaker cone.

The 6" pin cushion 8-10 ohm speakers from Turnswitch/SMElectro-Tech are a perfect fit - the frame is a little under 7" diameter and the cone is a perfect fit to the opening of the kick panels. I will be mounting the speaker to the back of the kick panel and the grill on top. I think I'm going to use 8-32 or M4 countersunk screws/nuts instead of standoff studs to hold everything together.

Nice clean look, any clearance issues on the parking brake. Driver side on my 72 has about 1/4" from the speaker grille. Not the same shape I know or anything just a heads-up.

[72malibu]

Thanks!

I haven't tried the kick panels in the cab yet (the truck is down to the frame). But from everything I've read the only awkwardness might be getting the foot around the speaker to hit the dimmer switch. The grill will be super low profile so I'm pretty sure it'll clear the parking brake lever.

[72malibu]

Here's the final design. I went with studs, so no visible screws.

[72malibu]

These guys do great work.

[72malibu]

More pics

[kglowacky]

I
I had some of these made years ago for my truck. They can be cut to the size of your truck. Worked well. Have left and right. But t they are old school compared to yours.