Vehicle: 1982 300SD
Project: Rip out the back dash boxes and then make and install a custom speaker platform.
I bought a pair of Cerwin-Vega 6X9 speakers a few months ago from a friend. This weekend I decided to install them. I took so long because I had no idea where I was going to put them. I ended up removing the two back dash storage panels. (I removed the seat and seat back to get the old boxes out.
Then, I took a wee trip to Lowe's. T
here I purchased:
- A 5/8 sheet of fiberboard. 8 - 7/16 X 3" bolts.
- box of washers and a box of nuts.
- 4 feet of black indoor/outdoor carpet(way more than I needed).
- 4 metal straps used for framing.
- 1 can spray glue
Then, I went home and cut a 38" X 10" piece out of the fiber board. Then measured the holes where the boxes had been and then using the speaker grill holder I traced and then cut the speaker holes. A little tweaking was neccasary to get the speakers to fit just right.(It doesn't have to look pretty, it just has to hold the speaker flat.)
AS you can see I have already drilled four sets of holes spaced evenly at 7" apart to put the bolts through that will attach beneath the rear dash to hold the shelf in place. Be sure to measure and acount for the shelf so you don't end up having to drill through the deck.
Also, I rounded off the edges to match the curvature of the glass and panel so it looks more uniform.
Here are 2 pictures of the materials I used and most of the tools.
Then I used the spray glue and applied the indoor/outdoor carpet and finished up attaching it with staples on the underside.
Next, I cut out the speaker holes using a star type pattern and trimmed off the excess. Made inscisions for the machine screws and put them all in.
Last but not least, I put the new panel down in the back dash and crawled into the trunk to put on the straps. ( did have to drill holes in them to accommodate the bolts. Wasn't hard.) After bolting it down, I hooked the speaker wires up directly to the corresponding sides 4 1/2" speaker wire.
The finished product looks like this.
and it sounds even better than it looks. I'm considering not even putting a 10" subwoofer in now.
When doing this project, it helps if you have already bypassed the fader switch in the center console. Huge difference in volume and the sound quality IMHO.
I had a pretty good time making this and installing it. Now, I'm going to go take a nice drive in the country and enjoy my newly working sunroof and new stereo upgrade.
