jtl1567

i want to upgrade my audio system in my 1978 corvette. i cant seem to find kick panels to mount speakers to. any ideas? i have found a box for the rear of the car that will house a 10" sub and two 6x9 speakers. just cant find anything about those dang kick panels. help!

diehrd

I am going the same route you are with the rear box and side speakers my plan is to cut the kick panels for the speakers

Paul L

http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=13462

Lobzila

I was planning on mounting a set of 4x6 speakers on mine.
But that looks good too.

Easy Mike

FWIW: depending upon what speakers you choose, you can mount them to the door hinge posts behind the kick panels and not necessarily mount them to the panels. 68s and 69s mounted 4x10 speakers there.

74Ken

Depending on your car year, you have enough room behind the kick panel for 4x6 speakers. without cutting anything. The kick panels themselves have holes in the for the sound to pass thru (as you can see from Paul's picture above the speaker itself).

I made a plate out of a sheet of metal from HD and pop riveted it to the side wall.

Before that, I attached them directly to the kick panel, but found there was not a lot of room back there and I was not about to start cutting up my car.... Also the kick panel's kept falling down when I hit a bump. (I had a hard time securing the panels due to previous owners messing with the mount holes).

Once I mounted the speakers into the plates I made, it all sounds good.

Good luck.
Ken

Street Rat

Here is my write up on installing kick panel speakers in my "81...
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-speakers.html

7T1vette

You don't want the speakers actually mounted to those flimsy panels, anyway. You'll just set up a resonant vibration in the panels if the speakers are mounted to them. You want the speakers mounted solidly to the frameworke behind the panels. You also want to put some sound deadener in the area behind them and have some way of venting the area behind them.

If you mount speakers to the metal framing in the body, you can then cut a hole in the kickpanel and mount the speaker cover to the panels. If you don't like cutting the panels up, just do as GM did in '68 and '69...let the sound come through the holes in the panels. The sound quality won't be a good, but the panels will still be "correct".

It's really up to you to decide the issues of "configuration correctness" vs. "sound fidelity". But, you know, the inside of a C3 passenger compartment isn't really designed for accoustic accuracy....

80Baby

[/QUOTE]But, you know, the inside of a C3 passenger compartment isn't really designed for accoustic accuracy....[/QUOTE]

You know... this is so very true. I mean, anything you do above and beyond the stock set-up is an improvement. But really, how much better can it really be when your cruising down the highway with the T-Tops off on a warm and sunny day with the wind whistling all around you? The sound of the engine through dual exhausts is music enough for me.

my 76 ray

I have 4x6 speakers also. They are mounted in the access hole for the #2 boy mount bolt. No need to modify the kick panel in any way.

Paul L

With shallow magnets they do fit easily.



And with a reinforcing ring on the back (not shown in my original pic) they don't move. It is not a flimsy installation.

7T1vette

No problem, if you don't get any resonance/buzzing at specific frequencies. But, not the 'usual' way to mount speakers.

Nice work, though, Paul.

jtl1567

so on the panels you just cut them out? i am looking at a full sounds system with a rear speaker and sub enclosure for about $500

persuader

Nice install on those Polk's. The interior of your car looks just as good as the outside Paul74. I also dig were you put your fire extinguisher.

74Ken

I built a custom box to fit the jack compartment instead of taking up room in the back. The max you can get in there would be a 10" with some work. I used an 8" infinity I had lying around.

I have the plans if you need them. You can see the set up in my albums ( just created a stereo one).

For rears, I could have built small boxes to go up on the side, but I bought Fiero seats, so I am using the speakers in the headrests for now. Those I can hear driving down the road with the t-roofs out.

Ken

Paul L

It's a nice setup (Halotron not chemical). Doesn't get in my way at all.

persuader

Very cool idea. And when you really think about it, what better place for it to be.
I hope you don't mind if I copy the idea.

Vince'82

here are my kickpanels.

I started with a pair of old school Rockford Fosgate 5.25" speakers.
magnets are really big and barely clear the body mount access hole.
in fact they're too deep so I had to add a spacer ring under the speakers.

there's a 1/4" reinforcing plate between the kickpanel and the pillar


and a 5/8" spacer under the speaker/grille




everything is attached (screws) to the birdcage/pillar.
I'll add more screws so it doesn't vibrate. the one you see on this picture is in the stock location.


I built speaker plates for the dash with a 1" tweeter and a 3" mid and speaker boxes in the back with 6x9. I'm using a 6 channel amp

Paul L

Vince,

Nice system. And well-documented post!

jtl1567

Awesome thanks for the pics! i found a custom enclousre that is only 5" deep and says standart 10" subwoofer but i am gonna modify it a bit and put in a 12" sub. i am not sure on where to put the amp, behind the seat? i want to replace the carpet as well. does anyone know anything about a site called full throttle corvette? is it any good?