Speaker un-delete

[Bonnewagon]

So my 83' Bonnewagon has the original Delco AM/FM stereo that works great but the front speakers are toast. Reading the manual shows that the entire dash must come down to get at the little buggers that mount under the far ends.
I really was not in the mood to drop the dash just for that so I popped out the center speaker grille to see what was under there and to my surprise I find a nice steel speaker delete plate. That gave me an idea and I dug out a set of speaker replacements that I had from an old Firebird sold by Classic Industries to replace the second gen front speaker. Sure enough when I removed the speakers from the F body mounting plate they fit the G body delete plate perfectly. They took 3" cutouts and are 40 watts each. I drilled some holes and mounted them and they fit into the speaker recess like they belonged there. Wired them in and I can't believe how great it sounds now. Best of all, compared to dropping the dash this was a cakewalk.

 

[84GP455]

Nice job MacGyver! They actually make a 4x10 to 2 3x3 speaker bracket for our cars, i have one in my car because i had the same dilemma. I can't believe they couldn't make a removable top mounted grille for the end speakers like they did for the middle one@#&**@! But anyways the 3 inch speakers work good enough so that the high frequencies bounce off the windshield and back to your ears to give some decent staging. You have to be careful though as to how much bass you send to them as they can only handle a little bass, if i were you i would put some bass blockers on them so they don't blow like mine did until i did just that.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Thank's 84GP455. I don't get much bass from the Delco and I'm not a big fan of bass anyway, I like clarity. But you gotta wonder why not put grilles on the end speakers like the Chevies have, right,?!?!?

 

[DSM]

I did pretty much the same thing on my GP - mounted two 4" coax Pioneers in the middle location, although I did pull the dash and replace the 3.5" speakers in the end locations as well.

 

[Bonnewagon]

That's even nicer!

 

[Longroof79]

Good solution for the hard to replace corner spkrs. Why the hell the General designed it that way is beyond me. If I ever put my GP dash in my wagon, I'll probably change out those speakers prior to the installation.

 

[killerbeachboy]

Good solution for the hard to replace corner spkrs. Why the hell the General designed it that way is beyond me. If I ever put my GP dash in my wagon, I'll probably change out those speakers prior to the installation.

youbetter be 'cause it's a pain in the *ss to take off that dash to get these speakers out

 

[Bonnewagon]

Jack, I've got a neat set of Pioneers that fit the corners but I'll be damned if I'm dropping the dash for that! Luckilly I had those two leftover from a Firebird.

 

[79GP6.6L]

I replaced the corner speakers while I was swapping dashes. My original dash did not have speakers in those locations (it originally had a single 4x10 in the center position) but the new dash did. I think it was out of an 84. Anyway, it looked as though I would never, ever be able to get to those speakers once the dash was in, so I purchashed and installed a rather expensive set of infinty 3.5 inchers. Hopefully they will last for a long time.

If you need to remove your dash for another reason (heater core, heater box swap, steering column repair) that would probably be the time to remember to replace the corner speakers as well.

In the past I have also run two 4" speakers in the center position.

Oh, and as others have already said, you aren't going to (and probably shouldn't try to) get much bass out of such small speakers. I get my bass from my rear speakers.