Speakers in a VC.

[SSGEN-3]

Where is the easiest / best place to install 6" speakers in the front of a VC Commodore?
Also, how do you get the best sound quality from 6x9" speakers in the parcel shelf? I have heard making your parcel shelf out of chipboard can help.

[vkberlina]

I have 6" speakers in my front doors I am currently looking at moving them as I am getting new door trims soon and dont particularly want to cut holes in the trim.
Just a tip when working out position in your doors make sure your window winder handle wont hit the speaker, also make sure your window can travel all the way down.

Rear parcel shelf is bet made out of MDF my brother has been working on a design for our cars if you go to a cabinet/kitchen making place they should be able to knock one up for you for around $100. We have cut slots in ours to allow for air travel from the boot tot he cabin else if you slam the boot it could do nasty things to speakers
All you will need to do is to take your standard shelf to them to use as a template.

You can get 3 out of a single sheet of MDF so if you have some mates who might want them also you should get them cheaper if you buy 3. As you have to pay for tooling up, measuing up the first one, the 2nd 2 are just copy cut.

cheers
Scott

[jacob1986]

I just replaced the parcel shelf and installed the speakers on my VC this weekend, I got a peice a MDF 180x70 I think...cut out the shape and holes with jigsaw, went in like a glove, black carpet (got both these from hardware store) stanley knife to cut it, looks nice...cost about $35 to do and just a few hours work,

[SSGEN-3]

If you put the speakers in the front doors do you have to use spacers? And how do you stop the back of the speakers getting wet when it rains or when you wash your car?

[vkberlina]

Yeah you really do need spacers it also saves cutting a huge hole in your door and trim also. im using 25mm mdf as my spacers.

At first I was really worried about the backs of my speakers getting wet but I just fitted them in without any cover over the back after 3 years no corrosion or evident water damage done.

[Demons1964]

Unfortunately I'm going to have to partly disagree with Scott on this one. I installed 6" Pioneer speakers in the bottom front of my front doors and the clearance is tight but ok (manual windows). But before you go and cut the bigger hole required check the clearance with the speakers you'll be using. In hindsight I would have used mdf spacers because it gives you something meatier to screw the speaker base into. The natural action of the door trims on the VC tends to pull against the screws, and with the age of the mdf backing in the doortrim they fall apart around the screw thread, leaving only thin sheetmetal to bite into.

As for wet speakers, mine have been in the car since 1998 and even with severely cracked window seals (and hence badly scratched glass!!) I've never had an issue. I've had the speakers out a couple of times since and there's no evidence of corrosion or water seepage. I imagine the glass is doing a good job of shielding the speaker from any contact with running water.

[vkberlina]

My Alpine speakers would not fit and owuld hit the window when fully down, I had to run spacers 10mm would have killed it. I guess it would depend on the speakers mine have pretty fat magnets. I do recall on speaker boxes they do specify the speaker dimensions.

My tip on the securing on the speakers
I predrilled my door trims with a larger hole so the trim wouldnt grab on the screw. Next the "wood" backing on the trim was painted with wood glue to help stablise it.
Next holes were drilled in the door and I used speed clips to secure the screws.

I used long screws through the speakers, spacers, door trim & door into the speed clips.

[kman31]

i used 6.5 inch responce splits in the front of my vb. i used a 3/4 inch plastic spacer to mount them because the magnets on the back of these speakers are huge. all i neededto do was file down the spacer to fit the speaker, and then mounted it the best way possible so it doesnt interfere with the winder and window. my winder has about 1inch clearance from the speaker and they pump!

cheers and beers

[jacob1986]

btw, bolting down the mdf came under the road worthy