Kim72

Has anyone any ideas for putting rear speakers (6x10's) in a 72?? I've looked at this, in mine, and there is no room to install speaker "boxes" while keeping the rear window storage "tray" and enough room to store the t-tops. I don't want to loose these features.
Has anyone considered cutting holes in the back panel (fiberglas?) and installing them there c/w speaker housings backing them up. They would be between the back storage area and the gas tank. I'm not sure if this would work or not. Looking for any ideas!!

VTHokie77Vette

I have 8s in boxes in my 77 rear. I also have a 6 disc changer and all this still leaves me room for storage, including the t-tops. They aren't thick boxes. If you want to see some pics click on the link in my sig.

Warp70

I believe they're is a pretty significant difference in room between a 72' and a 77'. In my 70' I have a 10 Base Tube on the left side that covers up the Jack compartment, and that still allows me room for my T-tops. It looks like if you had a set of 6x9 carpeted boxes they should be able to fit pretty easily and still allow room for the tops. They may not be perfectly centered behind the driver and passenger, but they would produce a lot of extra sound that the front speakers alone couldn't provide(surround sound in a way). Good Luck

mrvette

I have a '72 rag top (convertible) and did just that, MY bulkhead is between the hatch and just about 5" or so forward of the vents....
so I put my speakers in 6/9 holes about under the vents...with foam speaker backing from auto-sound shop...cheap....
works fine 4 years daily drive now...
seal with RTV rubber...

GENE

Kim72

Thanks, but it is the rear window storage "tray" that is the problem. 72 was last year for this. Any speaker boxes in this area will not let the tray come/fold down from the roof of the storage area. I'm not willing to remove this tray. It's a great feature to have.

Sleestak

If your looking for a spot for two additional speakers there's a space behind the kick panels. That's where I mounted two Clarion ProAudio 4x6 plate speakers. (along with two in the dash). Sounds killer. :yesnod:

vettfixr

Hi Kim
Go to my website in my signature and look at the stereo install. I put in 4 4x6 speakers, a subwoofer, 2 amps, a graphic equalizer and a 12 disk CD changer and I still have plenty of room for t-tops. You might want to do something different but you're bound to get some ideas. Good luck.

Ganey

I use these when there is a stereo in the car w/ 2 amps. Will ROCK ! :cool:
These are similar to center channel home speakers w/ 2 long throw 4s (equil. to 2 8s) & a dome in each. They sit on a small aluminum pipe over the wheel wells w/ an aluminum bar across the top between them to keep separated.





If anyone uses 6X9 car speakers you really need a large box since these car speakers are infinite baffle.
Kim, your idea of "cutting holes in the back panel" should work.

Kim72

Thanks Gene. This is what I had in mind. There is about 5" of space between the bulkhead and the gas tank in my coupe. The bulkhead has a cross rib profile stamped in it for strength, I guess, but it looks like I can work around that with some speaker holes. Do you get much bass, from these speakers, using the foam speaker covers?? Any deteriation from being outside the "cab" where moisture might get at them?? Are you running an amp, for these speakers, and if so where is it mounted??

7t2vette

Kim, from my name you can also see I have a 72. I too had this problem...trying to keep the window tray intact and functional. I decided to go with a 8" Bazooka tube for bass(which allows the tray to lower) and MTX 5 1/4" seperates up front with the woofer in the door and the tweeter in the dash for better imaging. I used to work as a car audio installer, and I used to compete with my personal vehicles in IASCA events, so sound is very important to me!! My daily driver has a $4000 stereo in it, and I could not live without it!! In my Vette, the amp is mounted on the back wall vertically, and I had to notch the back part of the window tray to clear the amp. My CD changer is mounted in the jack compartment, while still allowing the jack to be removed easily,I had to give up the pull-out tray though. I too thought about cutting out holes in the rear wall to install speakers, but decided in the end that it was too much work. If you were to go that route, you should build a box to house the speakers in outside the car. It could be made of wood,but considering it's location, I would make it out of fiberglass. You could cut a piece of wood the exact size of the back wall, and attach it to the inside to strengthen it from the cut holes and also to dampen resonance that will be caused by the speakers vibrating such a thin membrane. In other words, if you don't dampen it, it will vibrate like hell and sound like poopiee! Speakers that produce any amount of bass need to be mounted on solid baffles to minimize resonance and perform properly. It will be a lot of work to put them there, and it would alter the car tremendously, but if you don't car about that I would go for it! In fact, all this talk has made me think twice about my current set up!! I "settled" for the bazooka tube because I couldn't make a box with enough cubic feet of air space for even a 8" sub and still have the window tray function. My car is in the middle of a body-off resto, so I can still change this!!! You are evil to get me thinking about this again!! Hmmmmm........what about the floor of the rear area? I would have to check what kind of clearence is there, but maybe it would work too. You have to pick a woofer to work in the available cubic feet of air space you have. I have pics of my set up, but I am also working on a web site about my resto, so i am saving them for that,but I will email them to you if you want.

Regards
'
Bruce

Kim72

Bruce
Thanks for the response. You've obviously thought about this too. I considered the floor area but since I usually have the t-tops (in bags) stored in back it would always be on top of any speakers cut into the floor. I haven't looked to see if there is any clearance under the floor. I think I am going to purse the back bulkhead angle with maybe a sub-woofer in the jack storage compartment as other c3er's have done. I have thought of building covers/boxes from fiberglass but I have never made anything from scratch, using fiberglass, before. Always a first time!!
Thanks also for the "beafing up" the bulkhead info. I didn't consider this before. I'll have to remove the carpet and see what can be done. Carpet needs replacing anyway (future project).

Tex71BB

Kim-

Please don't cut your car up. Here is a drawing I made of a box I built to house 6x9s. Like you, my criteria were to be able to store the tops and use the window tray. This design does it. The window tray won't drop down quite all the way, but enough to get the window in and out. Also, like someone said, 6x9s generally need a pretty large box to sound their best and the sound of mine are compromised a bit, but still FAR superior to factory or tiny aftermarket speakers. If I did it over, I would probably make the box to hold some good 5 1/4 component speakers and add a separate (easily removable) sub. Hope you find some help from this and let me know if you have any questions.

gdh

Kim

I put in Polk Momo 6.5 component speakers in the rear. Made boxes that fit between the rear of the wheel well and left plenty of room for my rear compartment light so that I had no cutting and didn't have to move or cover the light. They are difficult to see from the outside which is a definate plus given that I have a convert.

jbroughton

Kim, not sure how the coupe is configured in the rear compared to the convertible, but here's a couple of pictures (I hope) of the setup in my '69 convertible. It includes 8" speakers, 12-disc CD changer, and the original courtesy light. I just cut a piece of plywood to fit, covered it with black carpet, and put it all together for the finished product you see here. It's out of the way of the top when it's down, and is out of sight to the rest of the world too. Sounds decent, although I probably should've tried to squeeze some 10" speakers in there, along with an amplifier to boost the sad output of the Custom Autosound USA6 radio up front.




Hope that helps!
Jeff Broughton

Aaron76

I battled the same problem this is what I did I hope this helps It is just a simple design however my 76 does not have that fan defog :cool:

Turbo-Jet

off topic: kim, do you have any pics of you car? love to see them...

Kim72

Cam
This is a photo of my car from back in the summer (in primer). Car has just been painted (Steel City Grey) and I am in the process of putting it back together. I will shoot some up to date photos when it is finished (sometime in March).





[Modified by Kim72, 2:35 PM 1/21/2002]

VolVette

Ganey and I have similar setups. I mounted my speakers on brackets about 6-8" above the floor. Most of the space the speakers occupy is unused and will allow plenty of space for T-Tops and other toys.

Stephen

VolVette

Oh yeah... I used 6" by 9" Speakers mounted in standard size "truck" boxes.

SES

1970 Dave

There was someone on the Forum that made a friction fit and Velcro aided box that went in between the rear of the wheel well and the back (not from side to side) at the time I remember thinking great idea--they even had a pic or drawing--the only drawback that I saw was that the sound would not be aimed at you but across . Anyone else remember?

SEMPER FI--1970 Dave