Does Anyone Make Front Kickpanels with Speaker Mounts that fit a 70 B Body?

[soundhd]

Looking into installing a aftermarket sound system in my 70 RR. Going to mount speakers in the front either in the doors or the kick panels. Wondering if anyone knows of a place that makes or sells kick panels with speaker mounts for a 70 B Body. Have been looking around on the net but have not been able to find any for B Bodies........

 

[kiwigtx]

Year One must have stopped supplying them....maybe a new set with speakers mounted will help;

https://www.yearone.com/Product/1966-74-a-b-e-body/kkp66100

 

[tallhair]

Daaum. BTW there's a 30% discount on "BIG13"

 

[NJRR]

What you want to do isn't easy. In my first 70 Satellite convertible, I mounted speakers in the door panel. There was no room in the kick panels. The problem was that the only opening in the door meant that the speaker had to go right under the window handle. I had to rig an extension on the handle to be able to clear the speaker cover plate and roll down the windows. It wasn't pretty and it destroys your door panels, so best to try it on a spare set to see if you can live with it. Another option is to mount tiny surface mount tweeters on the windshield pillar on top. They are very small and unobtrusive and you can get great sound out of them with a small surface mount subwoofer under the passenger side dash up against the firewall. With 2 6x9's mounted in the trunk under the rear windshield (there are cutouts for that already), you should get some really good sound.

Looking into installing a aftermarket sound system in my 70 RR. Going to mount speakers in the front either in the doors or the kick panels. Wondering if anyone knows of a place that makes or sells kick panels with speaker mounts for a 70 B Body. Have been looking around on the net but have not been able to find any for B Bodies........

 

[Adam Nathan]

I just used a really good quality pair of 6X9's under the rear shelf. As stated by NJRR there are cutouts ready to go. With a decent powered head unit like a 50X4 watt it sounds really nice. Plus no need to cut any door cards or try to find kick panels. Good luck.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Do you have the centre dash speaker? it's an oddball 4X8 or something to that effect?

I swapped out that centre for 2 coaxial 4" so a better speaker getting twice the output now that the separate left and right for deck power are there. Also have 6X9's mounted to the rear decklid as the others do... sounds great!

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...-for-dual-in-dash-speakers&highlight=speakers

 

[Deleted member 214]

Found a set of kick panels cut out for speakers at a swap meet. No problem on the passenger side, but there is very little space between the panel and the parking brake pedal and I couldn't find any speaker thin enough to work. I would LOVE to find one that does!

 

[kiwigtx]

Do you have the centre dash speaker? it's an oddball 4X8 or something to that effect?

I swapped out that centre for 2 coaxial 4" so a better speaker getting twice the output now that the separate left and right for deck power are there. Also have 6X9's mounted to the rear decklid as the others do... sounds great!

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/mopar...-for-dual-in-dash-speakers&highlight=speakers

I swapped out my in-dash single speaker for two x 3-1/2" high power speakers, and combined with the rear shelf 6"x9" 320W speakers, and a 400W amp, I get great sound in the car....without upsetting the joyful music from the exhaust

 

[66plysat]

My speaker goof and fix

Forty plus years ago when I was in high school, I cut out holes in my door panels of my 66 Satellite for speakers. I mounted the speakers replaced the panels turned on my 4 track tape player and really impressed with the job I had done. The chrome gills looked great the music sounded fantastic, I thought I was really "bitchen"….then I tried to roll down my windows. The crank turned a half rotation and hit the speaker grills, I went from bitchen to stupid in about 30 seconds. I ended up buying another set of window cranks, cut off the crank arms and mounted the base of the crank under a full window crank and snugged it down with longer allen screws so the arm would rotate over the grill. Lesson learned.
Fast forward 40+ years I have another 66 Satellite (now a convertible) and needed to mount speakers in the door. This time I cut the holes in the panel, being careful not to cut a circle in the vinyl cover. I then sliced the vinyl like you would cut a pie, I then wrapped the vinyl pie wedges over the edges of the hole and glued them down to the backside of the panel. Then I installed a flat piece of speaker grill on the backside of the panel using small bolts that I installed in holes that I drilled thru the back of the fiberboard. I then placed the speaker on top of the grill, inside the back of the door panel and secured the with washers and nuts. I reinstalled the door panels and the window cranks work without any obstructions since the grill and speaker is mounted on the backside of the door panel. I did have to grind the metal of the door hole about 1/4" to open the hole so the speaker would sit flush with the door. Looks pretty good, the grill is painted white along with the door panel so it's not too noticeable. Sounds good too!:hello2:

 

[NJRR]

The only downside of using the center dash mount with 2 speakers is that you don't really get stereo separation since they're adjacent to each other. The tweeters on each side solve that. I guess it depends on how much of a stickler you are for sound. Like Kiwi said tho, you don't wanna drown out the beautiful rumble !!!!!

 

[kiwigtx]

The only downside of using the center dash mount with 2 speakers is that you don't really get stereo separation since they're adjacent to each other. The tweeters on each side solve that. I guess it depends on how much of a stickler you are for sound. Like Kiwi said tho, you don't wanna drown out the beautiful rumble !!!!!

That is too true on not getting serious stereo separation. However, when your hearing starts to fade later in life, that doesn't come into play as much as it used to.
The other thing to watch doing what I did with two small speakers is the depth of those magnets - they are awfully close to the heater controls, and it takes a bit of work to get good clearance. otherwise the heater control cable can get snagged up.

 

[HawkRod]

Found a set of kick panels cut out for speakers at a swap meet. No problem on the passenger side, but there is very little space between the panel and the parking brake pedal and I couldn't find any speaker thin enough to work. I would LOVE to find one that does!

Like you did, I was planning for kick panel speakers too on my 1970 Road Runner but realized I would have a problem with the parking brake pedal.
As has been mentioned, you can put two small speakers in the original 4x10 speaker opening. I also believe there is a 4x10 speaker you can buy with two small tweeters built in to it. The 4x10 is mono for deeper sounds, and the tweeters are stereo. Of course, as mentioned, the stereo separation isn't so great.

I have heard that a number of people mount speakers under the dash pointed towards the floor boards. I haven't heard an installation like that, but I assume bass would be OK but higher frequencies would not be so good.

So in the spirit of brainstorming: Bass is not directional, so how about mounting under dash speakers and/or a 4x10 in the dash, followed by tweeters (or smaller speakers) in the kick panels? If they are small enough, then they could be mounted behind the kick panel and not interfere with the parking brake pedal.

Not sure how well this would work, but maybe the idea will spark some possibilities that I can use later when I am lucky enough to be worrying about my stereo system!

 

[HYRDGOON]

The only downside of using the center dash mount with 2 speakers is that you don't really get stereo separation since they're adjacent to each other. The tweeters on each side solve that. I guess it depends on how much of a stickler you are for sound. Like Kiwi said tho, you don't wanna drown out the beautiful rumble !!!!!

I also agree that you don't get the stereo separation and that really depends on what quality you are looking for... mine on deck power only sounds pretty damn good and if you weigh in the exhaust/road noise of these old cars and if like me driving 99% of time with the window open it really shouldn't be a factor... when I was a young brat I was bigtime into the stereo scene and had a competition S-10 I had a lot of luck with... I think with these old cars it's one of those things where you have to pick your battles as far as how much you'll get from the extra $$ and work involved... If I was to make any changes to mine I would just add a small amp and possibly a higher quality set of 6X9's

 

[440+6]

I used a dual voice coil 4x10 speaker in the dash, sounds great, was easier than two small round and you can use the original 4x10 bracket. It's tight but the heater controls clears.
And then I used a pair of quality 6x9's in the back.

Here is a link to the dual voice coil speakers
http://www.casmfg.com/DVC_Speakers.htm

 

[HT413]

When I build my stereo system, I plan on using 2) 3.5" midrange drivers in the center dash, 2) surface mount tweeters in the upper corners of the windshield, 2) 6x9"s in rear with directional tweeters that can be adjusted to increase stereo separation. I will probably go without the sub until I listen to the system first to see if it's necessary.

For me, it's all about maximizing stereo separation and clarity while maintaining a stock look. But it's a compromise either way because IMHO, there is no room for a quality speaker in the kick panels with a large magnet, especially the drivers side with the e brake. Even if you did get em in there, that's really not the best position for sound quality. I suppose mounting the midrange drivers in the doors and the tweeters in the upper windshield corners might be sonically better, but again,the drivers side speaker will be a foot or more below your ear and might be where your knee rests. Besides, there are fitment and aesthetic compromises there as well, as noted above, not to mention hacking a perfectly good set of door panels.

This is the setup I plan on going with (and just disconnect the tweeters on the 3.5"), but I haven't checked fitment yet, as this will be sometime this coming year for me.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R3002CX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-3002cfx.html?tp=96#details-tab

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108K1011T/Infinity-Kappa-10-11t.html?tp=107

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_091690CA1S/Focal-Access-690CA1-SG.html?tp=91

 

[NJRR]

HT- Sounds like a good setup. Keep us posted !!!!

When I build my stereo system, I plan on using 2) 3.5" midrange drivers in the center dash, 2) surface mount tweeters in the upper corners of the windshield, 2) 6x9"s in rear with directional tweeters that can be adjusted to increase stereo separation. I will probably go without the sub until I listen to the system first to see if it's necessary.

For me, it's all about maximizing stereo separation and clarity while maintaining a stock look. But it's a compromise either way because IMHO, there is no room for a quality speaker in the kick panels with a large magnet, especially the drivers side with the e brake. Even if you did get em in there, that's really not the best position for sound quality. I suppose mounting the midrange drivers in the doors and the tweeters in the upper windshield corners might be sonically better, but again,the drivers side speaker will be a foot or more below your ear and might be where your knee rests. Besides, there are fitment and aesthetic compromises there as well, as noted above, not to mention hacking a perfectly good set of door panels.

This is the setup I plan on going with (and just disconnect the tweeters on the 3.5"), but I haven't checked fitment yet, as this will be sometime this coming year for me.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R3002CX/Infinity-Reference-X-REF-3002cfx.html?tp=96#details-tab

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_108K1011T/Infinity-Kappa-10-11t.html?tp=107

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_091690CA1S/Focal-Access-690CA1-SG.html?tp=91

 

[themechanic]

Nobody mass produces what you are looking for. Your best bet is to buy a pair of used kick panels and take them to a good custom car stereo shop and have them build you a custom set with quality speakers. Something like this:

 

[Deleted member 214]

Nobody mass produces what you are looking for. Your best bet is to buy a pair of used kick panels and take them to a good custom car stereo shop and have them build you a custom set with quality speakers. Something like this:

View attachment 160997

What does the driver side (where it has to clear the parking brake pedal) look like?

 

[HT413]

What does the driver side (where it has to clear the parking brake pedal) look like?

Great question, I was wondering the same thing.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

What does the driver side (where it has to clear the parking brake pedal) look like?

x3!

I was originally wanting to mount my speakers in the kick panels and like most of you guys I abandoned that idea when I saw the parking brake haha. I haven't taken a real good look at everything yet but I figure I'm going to try and replicate what I did with my chevelle, a 6 1/2" in the lower forward corner of each door, and a pair of 6x9's and all of them with built in direction adjustable tweeters. I used this setup with Alpine type-r's in the Chevelle and it sounded great. Really interested to see what setups you guys come up with too