Good morning; I did a search and did not get a definitive answer. Can you replace the drivers side dash speaker without removing the dash? I've read the Willcox dash removal procedure about 10 times and it looks like a total PITA!

Thanks for any input

Tom

 

I did mine on my 72 and I loosened the front of the dash and had enough room when I moved it back. It was a pain for sure. It has been several years so I cannot remember exactly, but I did not take it out of the car.

 

Thanks for the reply; at these that gives me hope

 

It IS a PITA job, but can be done. Remove LH door sill plate, driver's dash panel screws, drop steering column down (remove 2 dash area mounting bolts). Then pull dash panel out and down as far as you can without screwing stuff up. You should be able to reach the nuts on the speaker frame and remove it.

If you need a bit more room, you could do same disassembly on right side, then remove right side mounting screw for upper dash pad. Then pull upper pad directly rearward (without lifting). Once it pulls out of the retaining clips, you can probably lift the upper pad up a bit more. BUT...don't bend the upper pad any more than you have to. That pad is old, weak, and very brittle. It will snap rather easily.

The more important issue is what speakers to replace those original 4X6's. If you still have the original Delco radio in the car, buy 8 ohm speakers with less than 50 watts power capability. The output impedence of the radio [to each speaker] is 10 ohms. If you install 4 ohm speakers with the Delco head, you can fry the output components if you turn the volume up very far.

Or, you can also install speakers in the kickpanel areas. Then, all the speakers can be 4 ohm speakers, and the two speakers on each side can be wired in SERIES mode. That will give you an 8 ohm total impedence on each side...AND you will get MUCH better sound from your stock radio.

If you are replacing the Delco unit, the speakers you install must match the output impedence of the radio head.

 

Pull the upper dashpad carefully and do the job right. Some moderate heat with a hair dryer will ease the kinks.

 

And it's probably the easiest of the 2 ways.

 

That can't be easier than changing them without removing the entire upper dash. And, there is a significant risk that the upper dash pad will crack and/or break during removal.

Change the right side first. That will give you the 'learning curve' for how to do the left side without good access or visibility.

But, the choice is with the OP. Small hands? Leave the dash cap as is. Large hands? Might be best to pull it. Or, if you have a talented kid or grandkid.....

 

Thanks for all the replies. Might just pull the pad but wait until it gets real warm around here and even kick the garage heater to make its sweltering. Good think I sweat a lot!!

Or just get a feel with it on the right side and try to get my hands in the left without removing the pad. I'm sorry to report I have small hands.....

As for the stereo, I purchased an Antique Auto that is the exact replica of the original but with modern electronics. Looks like a great unit, and top notch quality. 4 ohms with 4 ohm Rockford for the kick panels and Polk for the 4x6 dash

Jud; thanks for the picture. Gives me a better idea what I'm up against

Thanks again guys!!! All I need is some better weather around here....

 

[QUOTE=1975Stingray;1589119263]

Jud; thanks for the picture.

/QUOTE]

Thanks but pic was courtesy of Paul 74. Good luck with the job.

 

[QUOTE=Jud Chapin;1589119411]Opps, thanks Paul. Thanks again guys!! Pray for nice weather

 

Your speaker choices sound fine. Just be aware that it would be best to wire each side (2 speakers) in SERIES rather than in PARALLEL. Wiring them in series will yield 8 ohms per side. That will present no problem to the radio head, as higher speaker impedence (than amp output rating) causes the reduction in max current that the speakers get. And, that means that the amp doesn't work as hard and that the sound quality will be better when turned up high. But, it also means that the max volume level will be reduced at that same volume setting.

The other alternative, wiring them in parallel, would yield 2 ohms per side. This will cause the amp to work twice as hard; and when the volume is set high, it could cause the final stage of amplification to fail due to excessive current draw. If it doesn't blow the amp, you will get a lot of distortion with a high volume setting.

With what you are doing, I highly recommend wiring them in series.

Good luck with your project.

 

What if the head unit has a front and rear right and left channels? I was thinking of wiring the front dash speakers to the front channel and the kick panels to the rear. This way I can use the fade to control them based on how they sound and the speakers total output.

Thoughts? And thanks for your input

 

Yes sir!! That's the way to do it. Then all 4 channels are happy at 4 ohms!!

If for any reason you want to add a amp in the rear, use the phono jacks

 

This in the first paragraph. Forgot about lowering the colum. A pain, but not a horrible pain.

 

Do you have rear speakers in the back? I am running 6x9s back there in my 1980. I've got a set of Sound Storm Labs SSL GS469 3-ways that are going back there as soon as I make some small mounts as they are too big to fit under the stock grilles. Right now I've got some cheap crappy smaller 6x9s mounted on the stock grilles kinda wedged in place back there. I have SSL GS246 4x6 2-ways in the dash. They fit under the stock grilles w/o problem. I've thought about putting some SSL GS365 6.5" 3-way speakers in my kick panel area, but I think volume will be more than adeqate with just the 4 speakers and my head unit has only 4 channels (20W RMS/40W peak per channel) so I don't think I will, plus I don't have to chop anything up this way.

I think if I was going to add the kick panel speakers I'd put them on the front channel and leave the back ones by themselves... the 6x9s can definitely take more power than the 4x6 in the dash or even the 6.5s. I wouldn't wire the kick panel to the back channel unless you aren't planning on running speakers back there or you are going to put a separate amp for the back speakers. Adding an amp in my opinion probably is overkill in a C3 unless you want way deadly amounts of bass or something.

 

If you have 4-channel outputs...each at 4 ohms...then you could wire each speaker to one channel: fronts to dash; rears to kickpanels. That will certainly work. That will also let you set the 'balance' between the dash and kickpanel speakers, as well as use different tone settings for them.

 

Thanks again for the replies. No speakers in the rear, just a 10" powered subwoofer, which has output control that I'm going to mount in the console. Might add additional in the read if I don't have enough sound output in the front. But for now it's just the dash and kicks.

So I've read through the pad removal and thought about just doing the job with the pad in. I think removing is the lesser of two evils. The thought of removing the Instrument panel and not breaking it sounds just about impossible, not to mention I need to drop the column as well.

All I want is warmth. I was going to continue removing interior parts last night, went in the garage and turned right around!! It was 15f. Wednesday's up to 50 so maybe I can get out there

 

You don't have to remove the [center] instrument panel to remove the upper dash. You have to remove the mounting screws from that instrument panel (all of them) to move/remove the facing dash panels. And you have to remove the windshield side frame padded covers. But, at that point you can just pull the top dash pad straight back (about an inch or so) to release it from its retaining clips, then tilt up a bit and pull it out (with somebending required).

The two lower mounting bolts/nuts on the instrument cluster do NOT need to be messed with. (But, if you need to do work in the cluster area [bulbs, gauges, wiring, A/C hoses, etc], now is the time to do it.)

 

One more question. I purchased (3) RATTLE Cans of Dye from Mid America and im second guessing that purchase. Should I send them back and go with SEM? My interior is in pretty good condition as the car only has 38K on the clock, but there are a couple of parts that could use a refresher.

Let me know your thoughts and thanks

 

Thanks for your reply. I will be replacing the radio so I assume the center console needs to come out