I am attempting to replace the front factory speakers in my 72' coupe. How do I get the upper dash pad out. I have removed all of the screws and am afraid to force it so as not to crack the dash pad. Any suggestions???

 

I will be picking up a 72 vert next week with the same issue. Hopefully someone will give a good description of this project.

 

Remove the windshield pillar mouldings, it will make removal easier.
But even more important....there is a screw under the dash pad
that connects the pad to a "brace" which is attached to the firewall.

 

Dont ask me I broke mine in half when I took mine out. #$%#&

If you use the advanced search feature and type in "dash pad removal" you should find a plethora of threads dedicated to just that. The topic has been discussed in lenght before and has a lot of good info for you.

 

exactly how much is a plethora?

 

Take off the passanger side dash panel to get access to that screw LT4coupe is refering to. The pillar trim is held on with what can best be described as "industrial velcro", so some tugging on them is necessary.

 

Plethora is a sh1tload, but I felt like using a different word. Actually I was wrong, if you search "dash pad removal" you only come up with 3. if you search "dash pad" you will find 98.

Use "dash pad" and you will find a plethora of posts. hahaha

 

72 should be like a 73..i just did it replaced w/ a new one from al knoch...take off the winshield trim..pillar post trim,,,,remove the screws that go from the map pocket to guages,,remove map pocket look up under there and you'll see a angle bracket that goes from the metal to the dash pad,,its a 45 degree angle brace,,remove the screws that go into the map pocket,,remove all screws that go from dash pad to dash and map pocket ,, 8-- i believe,, it now should pull forward now the trickie part,,,you have to bow the dash pad while pulling one side towards you,,as the pillar posts dont allow it to come straight out,,,if the pad is a origional chanches are its gonna crack,,,fact,,,u v rays have taken there toll,,the new pads are more flexable,,, im not saying it cant be done because i took mine out without cracking it,,but be care ful for there close to 500 bucks

 

Okay - I don't think this is something that I am not going to try. For sure, I will crack the dash pad.

For ease of installation has anyone disconnected their dash speakers permanently and just put in 4x6 kick panel speakers along with a couple of 6x9's in the back. Is there any improvement by adding these speakers and still using the Delco radio? Are 10 ohm speakers still available or is everything now down to 4? Will the 4 ohm speakers deteriorate the Delco radio over a period of time?

 

You can still get 10 ohm speakers but you may have to drill out the frame of the new speaker to mount to your original brackets. I believe any number of vendors have the 10 ohm speakers. You can also have the originals reconed for a price if you want to keep original.The passenger side should be fairly easy to access.

Lastly, regarding the dash removal. The only way to get it out without cracking it as described, is to do it on an 80 plus degree day after it has sat out in the sun so that there is some flexibility. It does not hav e to bow that much but trust me it will crack unless it is a 80 - 90 degree day. Once it is heated up it bends fairly easy even with the age.

Good Luck!




Bill

 

If you do what LT4Coupe & 1974ta posted, then the pad can be lifted enough to remove the dr. side speaker w/o taking the pad out. Pass side speaker out from bottom w/ map pocket cover off.


anypaws

I disconnected the dash speakers in the 70s (not fit for music) & did a custom rear setup. Stereo HU w/o amp. & separate amp.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=634468

I just recently got around to front speakers & did some experiments. C3 kick panel location works well when the speakers are installed properly. The dash location can work well for tweeters.

Home speakers are typically 8 ohm & car 4 ohm.
I have installed 2 car speakers to a stock 57 Chevy (57 was old at the time) Wonderbar radio & have installed 2 4 ohm to a stock 77 GM radio w/o any issues on any.

Kenwood eXcelon mask CD
Kenwood eXcelon 5.25 Components in kick panels.

 

You will need to remove several moulding pieces in order to get the dash pad out.
You will need to remove the sunvisors first, then the header moulding and then you will have easy access to remove the two pillar mouldings....once these pieces are out you will need to remove the oassenger side dash pad - this has to come out in order to remove one support arm screw. You cannot get the dash out unless this screw is removed.

Once this is done, remove the screws from the drivers dash pad top. Be carefull removing and reinstalling the screws, they sit in seats and can easily tear the vinyl cover of the moulding pieces.
You will almost have to "flex" the dash pad to remove but it will come out if you apply pressure to the middle in order to flex it out.
Note - be very carefully when installing the new speakers. YOu may want to have them attached to the original aluminum/allow speaker grills but be carefull becaue the alumimun cracks very east and a replacment is not made unless you get one from salvage!

 

Probably a lot of people wouldn't do what I did...

I replaced my 1970 dash. Of course at the left and right side, the original dash had all of those many tiny holes drilled for the loudspeakers. When a dashboard ages, all those tiny holes will just promote premature cracks. So.. I installed a 1969 repro dash in my 1970. The 69 doesn't have all those tiny holes. The 69 is a solid piece.

Now what about those underdash speakers? Actually I don't care. They weren't' high fidelity speakers, they were just about the cheapest things imaginable. If I were interested in high fidelity sound in my car, I would guess i could easily come up with better solutions. However, with my new engine and side exhausts for the 1970, I don't think a high fidelity sound system is going to be a concern. I don''t intend to be listening to music in my 68 and 70 Corvettes simply because I don't think it will be possible.

.....................

When you've removed all the screws at the front of the dashboard (that hold on the dashboard panels, and removed the vertical trim pieces along the side of the windshield (just to make more room), you should be able to pull the dashboard slightly forward. It has "tongue and grove" fittings under the windshield, so all you have to do is pull the dashboard slightly forward. Now at this juncture, you will have to lift the dashboard up (vertical)as I recall. I think the steering wheel gets in the way. Thanks to the curvature of the windshield and the inward slant of the vertical windshield pillars, a straight upward lift will not be possible. You will have to bow the dashboard slightly to get it free. If your dashboard is old and brittle, it may very well crack. Previous postings have recommended doing this on a hot day when temperatures will help with the flexing needed to get your dashboard out. This bowing situation caused the vinyl on my 1970 to crack (about 1 1/2 inch crack). Maybe some other people have good suggestions about how to remove the dashboard without bowing it.

 

I just got mine out of my '70 for what I think is the third time now about two hours ago. As mentioned in several previous posts, remove the side pillars, undo the screws from the left, center, and right side panels, pull out the right side panel, unscrew the support brace from the firewall, unplug the speakers and you're ready for the moment of truth. Support the bottom of the dash pad after you've pulled it away from the windshield base and push on the outer corner of it just enough to get it to clear the windshield pillar (I did mine on the pass. side) then pull it back past the pillar and out of the car. Mine's 36 years old; I parked it outside in the SoCal sun for four years (AAGGH!!) and I haven't cracked it yet. Old Chevys are TUFF.

 

I had mine out last year, a couple of times!

All you have to do is remove the six screws (three per side) that hold the upper dash to the left and right dash pads. In addition, there is a center screw that holds the a/c center vent up against the upper dash pad.

Once those screws are out, all you need to do if flex the pad's center section upward while pulling the dash towards you. The dash pad will need to be lifted up about an inch in the front to clear the lower pads.

You can remove the pillar trim pieces if you want to, but I just flex the pad slightly...it saves a lot of time.

Good luck...

 

I replaced my two front speakers without removing the dash pad.

You can easily get to the passenger speaker by just removing the lower passenger panel.


For the driver side speaker, I dropped the steering column so that the steering wheel rested on the seat. I then removed a bunch of screws and dropped the instrument cluster down a couple inches. I was then able to raise the dash pad on the driver side enough so that I could replace that speaker.

Jim

 

Jim, that's exactly what I was planning to do (add tweeters to front speaker location), so I assume (worst thing) the upper dash pad must come out. Thanks for potentially saving a 42 year-old dash! Once again the forum rules.

-Eugene

 

LEAVE it alone......put speakers in the Kickpanel location or some nice 6x9's in the back......then you don't have to worry about cracking it....

 

A little less than boucoup.

 

So, plethora in this case would be more than three?