Rebuilding the 6X9 Speakers in your Vette (refoam with pics!)
03-20-2013, 11:06 AM
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Rebuilding the 6X9 Speakers in your Vette (refoam with pics!)
If you have a mostly original C3, you should count yourself lucky. Many of these stock stereos are long-gone, seeing how these cars have survived the cassette to cd, cd to MP3, etc. generations.
My 82 Collector Edition had been well cared for but the ravages of time took their toll on the fine foam surround of the rear speakers. Interestingly enough the fronts did not suffer the same fate. GM no longer produces these fairy rare 10 Ohm speakers and after ordering several NOS type 10 ohms 6x9’s (they were much lighter magnets and sounded horrible) I decided I could fix them myself.
Background to this:
In 1986 I got a set of Bose tower speakers. I was in junior high school and had an AWESOME (by 80’s standards) stereo system. Took it to college, etc. and finally into my own home years later. I turned them on about 3 years ago only to hear a metal on metal screech every time Plant, Bonham and Page would play “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. That’s when I learned the not too difficult art of speaker repair. A place in Florida called Simply Speakers popped up in a search engine and I am a loyal customer since. They shipped the set to the house, glue and all, and bam, bass is back!
So for the Corvette, I turned to the same folks. Here is a description of how I did my work. Feel free to use and/or share but understand I do not take ANY responsibility for you botching up a speaker or tearing a spider out! These are specific to my car but true for any 6x9. NOTE: There is only one replacement 6x9 foam set available, that I know of. Currently there is not a company I am aware of that produces foam for the 4x6 speakers in the front dash.
Terms I use (right or wrong)
Cage: Metal frame of the speaker
Coil: Part that is electrically reactive to the stereo, wound at 10 ohms where most car audio is 4)
Cone: Blue part of the speaker that moves around when you turn up the boogie
1. Remove rear speaker cover and speaker assembly. Be aware that the brackets that hold the rear speakers in place are about 30 bucks each shipped so be careful. They are made of a special “Corvette only plastic” apparently, and are called Fragileite. You are most certainly familiar with this material? It makes up about half of our cars and only a select few online retailers seem to know the whereabouts of the replacement parts. There should be 3 screws in each one, long buggers that go through the carpeted panel and into a threaded plate.
2. Separate the speaker from the speaker cover. Easy to do, probably can turn them with your hands.
3. Take a sharp razor blade and place under the acoustic cloth (looks like weed control fabric in the garden section…hint if you rip it). Slowly work around the cardboard surface and remove it all as one piece. From the INSIDE lip of that cardboard, use a utility knife to cut the cardboard ring away from the speaker cage (outer steel frame of the speaker). Should come off fairly easily with a sharp blade.
4. Use a razor blade now to remove all excess glue and remaining material from the frame.
5. With a box of q-tips at the ready, work the glue on the speaker cone back and forth until it comes off with Alcohol. I used the cheapo stuff from Walgreens and it works like a charm.
6. Wipe down and clean the surface of the speaker cage as well. That lip needs to be pretty smooth or you will get buckling.
Should look like this when you’re done.
Reassembly:
Do this in stages, and plan to take your time. These speakers have very thin cones that deflect with much pressure and bend the inner section of the coil fairly easily. You won’t hurt them long term but you will hear an alarming metal on metal sound.
7. Spend some time ‘centering’ the cone of the speaker. Move it in and out and get an idea where it sits in the sweet spot where nothing touches. I used two fingers from the top and two from the bottoms to move it around. That will help you feel where the speaker has to sit once it is done.
8. Test fit the new foam. I had to trim just a slight amount off the longer direction on my speakers to get them to fit nicely in the recession of the cage.
9. Using about a 1/8 inch line of glue (looks like model car cement to me) around the speaker cone edge, begin to rub down the inner ring of the foam. WARNING! The glue makes the foam GROW! It’s ok, just keep working it into place. I used one hand to turn the speaker around and one to push down. It will get smooth and calm down the growing within about 5 minutes. I did one of these a night. It sounds like it isn’t much but getting it to setup properly AND be centered takes some effort. This glue needs to cure for a full hour before you try the outer rim. Give yourself the time, you’ll love the results.
10. Again, fit is everything. Practice exercising the cone in and out until you find the sweet spot on the voice coil. You’ll know you’re there because it will feel smooth and you won’t hear any metal or rubbing sounds. I found the cone deflects more if you are pushing from the top on the narrower (the 6 inch direction) than on the longer (9 inch) sides. I used four fingers on the outermost edges of the cone and found the spot. Note where you’ll have to either push or pull the foam to make it fit where you want it. On a round speaker this is MUCH easier. Still very doable on these, just be aware.
11. Spread the glue evenly (about the same as before, maybe a touch more as it won’t hurt anything to run down inside the cage some) and begin to attach the foam. It grows BIG TIME this time, as the outer edge tends to buckle up and lift and do all sorts of nastiness as you go. I put a paper towel down on the foam and rubbed that down. Seemed to keep my fingers cleaner and easier to slide around. The glue goes everywhere this time, both sides of the foam, as it hits the edge of the cage and comes up. Paper towel will be trimmed off later and then you will glue to cardboard surround right on top of that.
12. Now that you have them smooth, I placed the cardboard surround on top of the wet glue/paper towel and turned the speaker upside down. I let the assembly dry with the weight of the speaker magnet holding it down evenly on a flat surface. Wait at least an hour. I waited overnight.
13. Trim the paper towel away now, and re glue the cloth over the top edge. A little goes a long way at this stage. I again inverted it and let it dry overnight.
14. Reglue your acoustic cloth on the face and let that dry. I didn’t want the fumes of the glue to somehow warp the plastic grill so I waited for that to cure too.
14. Do NOT crossthread these cheapo bolts that hold the speaker on. They are really lightweight hardware and it is easy to mis thread the harder nuts onto the soft threads. I don’t think there is a torque spec here but slightly tighter than finger tight was my recommendation.
15. Reconnect and get your thrift store Eagles tape out. Rock on.
My 82 Collector Edition had been well cared for but the ravages of time took their toll on the fine foam surround of the rear speakers. Interestingly enough the fronts did not suffer the same fate. GM no longer produces these fairy rare 10 Ohm speakers and after ordering several NOS type 10 ohms 6x9’s (they were much lighter magnets and sounded horrible) I decided I could fix them myself.
Background to this:
In 1986 I got a set of Bose tower speakers. I was in junior high school and had an AWESOME (by 80’s standards) stereo system. Took it to college, etc. and finally into my own home years later. I turned them on about 3 years ago only to hear a metal on metal screech every time Plant, Bonham and Page would play “Since I’ve Been Loving You”. That’s when I learned the not too difficult art of speaker repair. A place in Florida called Simply Speakers popped up in a search engine and I am a loyal customer since. They shipped the set to the house, glue and all, and bam, bass is back!
So for the Corvette, I turned to the same folks. Here is a description of how I did my work. Feel free to use and/or share but understand I do not take ANY responsibility for you botching up a speaker or tearing a spider out! These are specific to my car but true for any 6x9. NOTE: There is only one replacement 6x9 foam set available, that I know of. Currently there is not a company I am aware of that produces foam for the 4x6 speakers in the front dash.
Terms I use (right or wrong)
Cage: Metal frame of the speaker
Coil: Part that is electrically reactive to the stereo, wound at 10 ohms where most car audio is 4)
Cone: Blue part of the speaker that moves around when you turn up the boogie
1. Remove rear speaker cover and speaker assembly. Be aware that the brackets that hold the rear speakers in place are about 30 bucks each shipped so be careful. They are made of a special “Corvette only plastic” apparently, and are called Fragileite. You are most certainly familiar with this material? It makes up about half of our cars and only a select few online retailers seem to know the whereabouts of the replacement parts. There should be 3 screws in each one, long buggers that go through the carpeted panel and into a threaded plate.
2. Separate the speaker from the speaker cover. Easy to do, probably can turn them with your hands.
3. Take a sharp razor blade and place under the acoustic cloth (looks like weed control fabric in the garden section…hint if you rip it). Slowly work around the cardboard surface and remove it all as one piece. From the INSIDE lip of that cardboard, use a utility knife to cut the cardboard ring away from the speaker cage (outer steel frame of the speaker). Should come off fairly easily with a sharp blade.
4. Use a razor blade now to remove all excess glue and remaining material from the frame.
5. With a box of q-tips at the ready, work the glue on the speaker cone back and forth until it comes off with Alcohol. I used the cheapo stuff from Walgreens and it works like a charm.
6. Wipe down and clean the surface of the speaker cage as well. That lip needs to be pretty smooth or you will get buckling.
Should look like this when you’re done.
Reassembly:
Do this in stages, and plan to take your time. These speakers have very thin cones that deflect with much pressure and bend the inner section of the coil fairly easily. You won’t hurt them long term but you will hear an alarming metal on metal sound.
7. Spend some time ‘centering’ the cone of the speaker. Move it in and out and get an idea where it sits in the sweet spot where nothing touches. I used two fingers from the top and two from the bottoms to move it around. That will help you feel where the speaker has to sit once it is done.
8. Test fit the new foam. I had to trim just a slight amount off the longer direction on my speakers to get them to fit nicely in the recession of the cage.
9. Using about a 1/8 inch line of glue (looks like model car cement to me) around the speaker cone edge, begin to rub down the inner ring of the foam. WARNING! The glue makes the foam GROW! It’s ok, just keep working it into place. I used one hand to turn the speaker around and one to push down. It will get smooth and calm down the growing within about 5 minutes. I did one of these a night. It sounds like it isn’t much but getting it to setup properly AND be centered takes some effort. This glue needs to cure for a full hour before you try the outer rim. Give yourself the time, you’ll love the results.
10. Again, fit is everything. Practice exercising the cone in and out until you find the sweet spot on the voice coil. You’ll know you’re there because it will feel smooth and you won’t hear any metal or rubbing sounds. I found the cone deflects more if you are pushing from the top on the narrower (the 6 inch direction) than on the longer (9 inch) sides. I used four fingers on the outermost edges of the cone and found the spot. Note where you’ll have to either push or pull the foam to make it fit where you want it. On a round speaker this is MUCH easier. Still very doable on these, just be aware.
11. Spread the glue evenly (about the same as before, maybe a touch more as it won’t hurt anything to run down inside the cage some) and begin to attach the foam. It grows BIG TIME this time, as the outer edge tends to buckle up and lift and do all sorts of nastiness as you go. I put a paper towel down on the foam and rubbed that down. Seemed to keep my fingers cleaner and easier to slide around. The glue goes everywhere this time, both sides of the foam, as it hits the edge of the cage and comes up. Paper towel will be trimmed off later and then you will glue to cardboard surround right on top of that.
12. Now that you have them smooth, I placed the cardboard surround on top of the wet glue/paper towel and turned the speaker upside down. I let the assembly dry with the weight of the speaker magnet holding it down evenly on a flat surface. Wait at least an hour. I waited overnight.
13. Trim the paper towel away now, and re glue the cloth over the top edge. A little goes a long way at this stage. I again inverted it and let it dry overnight.
14. Reglue your acoustic cloth on the face and let that dry. I didn’t want the fumes of the glue to somehow warp the plastic grill so I waited for that to cure too.
14. Do NOT crossthread these cheapo bolts that hold the speaker on. They are really lightweight hardware and it is easy to mis thread the harder nuts onto the soft threads. I don’t think there is a torque spec here but slightly tighter than finger tight was my recommendation.
15. Reconnect and get your thrift store Eagles tape out. Rock on.
