Speaker fitment
Posted By : Stephen Airey, 11-Aug-2003, 06:58am
I have not long fitted 4 speakers to the front of my Spit - without cutting any holes - and they are all 'invisible'.
The two places I found where it is 'easy' to fit and hide speakers are:
1.) as false backs to the parcel shelves. (max speaker size though is 4.5 inches or so)
2.) as 'kick plates' in the foot well. (max size about 8 inchs - that's big enough for a good speaker)
Both of these require you to make cardboard templates and wooden/metal supports for the speakers. I have included one picture of the parcel shelf speaker but have lots more if you are interested. I haven't yet photographed the kick plate speaker but can if you like.
The difference is phenominal - I get enough volume to hear it on the motorway with the top down, and the sound quality is pretty good.
The kick plates run from the door pillar (fit it flush to the door pillar) right back to the bulkhead and from the ridge where the floor meets the sills (again fit it flush) right up to the bulkhead. I made up some brackets and bolted it though the bulkhead to secure it. I covered the brackets in black carpetlike material and fitted 17cm 2 way 150 Watt speakers. You really have to struggle to see them - I (as you can tell) delighted with them.
The two places I found where it is 'easy' to fit and hide speakers are:
1.) as false backs to the parcel shelves. (max speaker size though is 4.5 inches or so)
2.) as 'kick plates' in the foot well. (max size about 8 inchs - that's big enough for a good speaker)
Both of these require you to make cardboard templates and wooden/metal supports for the speakers. I have included one picture of the parcel shelf speaker but have lots more if you are interested. I haven't yet photographed the kick plate speaker but can if you like.
The difference is phenominal - I get enough volume to hear it on the motorway with the top down, and the sound quality is pretty good.
The kick plates run from the door pillar (fit it flush to the door pillar) right back to the bulkhead and from the ridge where the floor meets the sills (again fit it flush) right up to the bulkhead. I made up some brackets and bolted it though the bulkhead to secure it. I covered the brackets in black carpetlike material and fitted 17cm 2 way 150 Watt speakers. You really have to struggle to see them - I (as you can tell) delighted with them.
Speaker fitment
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Speaker fitment - FAO Stephen
Posted By : Philip George, 11-Aug-2003, 05:50pm
Thanks. I particularly like the footwell idea. I'll give it a try.-
Speaker fitment - FAO Stephen
Posted By : Mark Astley, 15-Aug-2003, 05:58pm
For front speakers, if you happen to have GT6 quaterlights and windows fitted then a 10cm (4") speaker (90watts max) fits nicely into the little carpet area at the front lower corner of the door trim, a small flap of the door inner metalwork needs cutting back and folding to clear the magnet though.
Careful positioning of the rear speakers in the trim panel let me get two 17cm speakers in. You need to select some with quite shallow magnets, around 50mm is the max I would think, but thats enough for 160Watts or so.
yours
mark
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Speaker fitment
Posted By : Alice Hickman, 11-Aug-2003, 06:04pm
Good idea! I have a pair of 9x6" Pioneers out of my old, dead car that I want to get into my Spit somehow! Could you please post a piccy of the footwell speakers? I might just give that a try.
Ally-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Stephen Airey, 12-Aug-2003, 06:54am
I'll try to remember to take a piccy tonight.-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Michael Davis, 12-Aug-2003, 10:31am
I have a pair of speakers in the footwell, they're just stuck to the body with their magnets!
I have to say I hardly ever use them but they do stay put surprisingly.
Mik
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Speaker fitment
Posted By : Chris Wilson, 12-Aug-2003, 07:49pm
Ally,
Hi! I think I may have seen you and Martin at Stanford Hall on Sunday? Regarding your ques about putting those speakers in the footwell - it's a pity I didn't meet up with you and show you mine! Not wanting to "disturb" too much of the car, I decided to put a radio/cassette plus 4 speakers in the car without too much drilling, cutting etc and that would enable me to remove the whole lot without leaving hardly any signs that it had been in there in the first place!
I paid a visit to the local scrapyard in Rugby and salvaged a complete system out of an old Ford Granada, (radio cassette, equaliser/amp thingy, 2 front door speakers and 2 rear shelf speakers. The lot cost about 25 quid! I then made up boxes for the speakers out of MDF and covered them with some buckshee vinyl. I made sure that the 2 front speaker boxes were the right size to fit into the recesses in each footwell, the drivers side one needs to be exact otherwise you could end up trying to rev the car up by pushing the speaker box instead of the accelerator! The rear speaker boxes are bigger (huge!) and they just sit on the floor behind each seat. I'll admit that by not fixing the rear speakers to the car, they do tend to "flop" foward if I have to brake suddenly but that's no big deal!
I've got some pics sumwher on this goddam PC that I did for the TTN site but never got round to posting them!
By the way, I run a 4-2-1 stainless steel twin sports full system, K&N filters etc etc and I can hear the music fine even with the hood down, which is 98% of the time! Except for last Sunday at about 4.30 after I had left Stanford Hall and got caught in that stupid thunderstorm! Got the hood up in 45 secs flat but still got a wet bum!!
Regards
Chris
1975 1500-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Alice Hickman, 12-Aug-2003, 11:20pm
Thanks Chris
We got caught in the damned storm as well, the trouble being that we had a new exhaust pipe wrapped in cardboard sticking up out of the back!Took a bit of manoevering to get that out, then hood up, then exhaust back in by dint of unzipping back window, then zipping said window back up round pipe.....we were soaked! (Spitty mostly dry though).
We had been thinking about trying to make some speaker boxes, shall look into it asap. Seems the easiest way to do it anyway.
Btw what colour is your Spit? Trying to work out which it was on sunday....ours was the Emerald green Mk IV second from the end of the line on the left.
Cheers Ally-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Chris Wilson, 13-Aug-2003, 06:40pm
Ally,
Looking at the line of spits from the TSSC club stand, mine was the mimosa yellow 'P' reg one, 2nd from the left, with chrome wire wheels and twin sports exhaust. If you were lucky enough, you may have seen it without the black tonneau cover on! I fitted the tonneau cover due to those sporadic "thunder showers" that kept occurring during the day! I think I remember seeing yours tho!
Regards
Chris
1975 1500
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Speaker fitment
Posted By : Stephen Airey, 14-Aug-2003, 06:47am
Alice,
This is the best of the pictures I took (not the worlds best photographer I'm afraid). You can see the speaker in the front passenger footwell and - just about make out the one in the parcel shelf.
Both of these are mounted on just a front plate (i.e. flat piece of plywood or MDF) and covered with the best matching material I could find (still a bit ligther than the carpet though) - this was acoustic felt.
The boards are held in with brackets made up just from bending pieces of aluminium. I then covered the bottom ones (you can just see it in the picture) with more material to hide them after screwing them to the car. They are solid as a rock now and - unless you are looking for them - pretty much invisible.
I am running also a sports exhaust, K&N's etc and also have no problem hearing the radio (4*40 Watts) with no extra amplification.
I hope this piccy helps. I have some of the 'work in progress' for the parcel shelf mounting if you need those.
Cheers
Stephen
Speaker fitment-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Barry Huffer, 14-Aug-2003, 01:47pm
Can I throw another couple of ideas in.
I bought my MK IV from Micheal BIrd, he then got withdrawal symptoms and bought an even older one, and he had fitted two speakers to the rear board covering the fuel tank. Useful if you have a four speaker system and want to site two rear speakers. I have since beefed up the board with some waterproof ply that was in the garage, no car but plenty of "indispensable" bits and pieces.
I also spotted some Pioneer speakers already fitted in plastic pods that I have fitted on the front parcel shelves(Model No. TS-44 Approx £25).
Regards
Barry
1973 MK IV Yellow (Still trying to find out which one)-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Michael Davis, 14-Aug-2003, 02:06pm
I have a rear "fuel tank" board in the garage with two holes already cut in it for speakers if anyone fancies doing this conversion but doesn't want to cut up their trim panel.
Not sure what condition its in though. It's been lying around for quite a while.
Mik-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Stephen Airey, 14-Aug-2003, 02:40pm
I looked at mounting speakers in the rear fuel tank blanking panel when I was fitting mine. The problem I found (on the 1500 at least) is that the depth behind the panel is not sufficient to house the depth of a reasonable speaker - so you have to also build up the front. Personally I thought it might look a bit naff - hence resorting to the footwell.-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Craig Gingell, 14-Aug-2003, 03:57pm
Another point to consider, is that when the hood is folded down, it will cover the speakers...
Craig
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Speaker fitment
Posted By : Alice Hickman, 15-Aug-2003, 08:20am
Thanks Stephen you're a star! They look great....think I'll definately be trying it with mine.The speakers we currently have look as if they came original with the car in 1973 so we are in dire need of some new ones!
Thanks again, Ally-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Gordon Davies, 15-Aug-2003, 10:17pm
Ally
Just a thought, but have you considered fitting the speakers in the side panels behind the seats. Might save a lot of time and trouble. No messing about with brackets, or cutting metalwork. The holes in the inner bodywork shell are big enough to accomodate speakers - all that is needed is to cut the right size opening in the side panel(s) to line up with the spaces and then fix the speakers to the panel. Leave a "flying lead" from the speaker with a suitable connector ,then run the wires under the carpet to the radio.
Gordon
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Speaker fitment
Posted By : Martin Robinson, 25-Oct-2003, 11:15pm
Hi Stephen,
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but what's the silver "handle" sticking out of your dash in the pic?
Thanks,
Martin-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Barry Huffer, 26-Oct-2003, 00:20am
That's no lever that's a map reading light.
More importantly what's he done with that big round thing that you use for pointing the car.
Barry (right hand drive spit)-
Speaker fitment
Posted By : Martin Robinson, 26-Oct-2003, 01:14am
Maybe he's had so many barneys with his missus over directions he's given her the wheel and decided to read the maps himself! :c)
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