Under dash speakers mounting advice needed

[Lippyp]

I have just been out and bought a pair of JBL 4" 425E 2 way speakers to add to my current Panasonic CD player in my truck. The previous owner fitted two Pioneers in the back corners of the doors and the sound is muffled by the seat (and possibly my butt!. I also have some better Kenwoods to mount in their place. I'm not looking for huge bass just better and clearer sound than I have at the moment.

I want to mount these 4"'s in place of the stock speaker up under the dash so they are out of sight and high up. I know this has been done before (I think it was by a board member called Greasemonkey), and I wondered if anybody had any pics of a similar install or any advice. I was thinking of mounting them on some thick MDF with appropriate holes cut in it and then putting a rubber seal around the top to stop any rattling aginst the dash. Any suggestions on what I can then attach the board to under there (I haven't looked yet)

Question for the audio guys, should I remove the vinyl from above the speaker apetures and replace with an acoustically transparent cover?

Any advice/picture gratefully received.

Thanks

[greasemonkey]

Yes, I have done it and I know others have done it as well, Paul Clark and Big69C20 to name some. I had the original style speaker and I used the bracket that was on it already that attaches to the stud from the dash pad (replace the sheet metal nut with a regular one, though). I took an old underdash air conditioning bracket, just a flat piece of metal, and bolted it to the original bracket. I also bent the original bracket slightly so the speakers were not pointed straight at the windshield but angled more toward the interior. I attached the two speakers to the bracket and hooked them up. They sound really good, sorry I don't have pics however. I do not have air conditioning, so if you do, I am not sure if it will work the same way. I also installed kick panel enclosures with my own speakers; I did have to move the parking brake about 3/4" over, and I have pretty good clearence al the way around now. I am very pleased with the sound, and when I move my tank to under the bed, will put some speakers behind the seat as well, to have a "surround sound". Good luck!
John

[Lippyp]

Thanks for the quick reply, no air-con so no problems in that respect but I may not have the original speaker fitted, I haven't checked. I've plenty of metal so I guess I'll just fab some brackets up. My wifes away next week at a conference in Barcelona, Spain so unlimited tinkering time!

[Lippyp]

On pulling the existing door speakers (80W cheap Pioneers) I found that the reason that the previous owner had mounted them on a black plastic panel is that the doors are cut for 6"x9"'s so I've decided to bite the bullet and buy a set of JBL 2 way 6x9's and mount the JBL 4"'s in pods on the kick panels...beter sounds here I come!