Rodger
True Classic
As part of my K20 build, I wanted to have a nice sound system. As most of you know, the stock tiny rear shelf speakers are pretty weak. I wanted to figure out how to install front and rear speakers, as well as a subwoofer. I have seen several installs of front speakers in the door panels, but I was never a fan of the look, plus I did not want to cut up my new custom made panels. In my ’79, I had once mounted a pair of small bookshelf type speakers to the side kick panels in the foot wells, but they were always getting the way or getting kicked when getting into the car.
Since the car was stripped down, I could really get a good look at what space was available. There is quite a bit of space in the rear part of the front fenders and there is just the sheet metal of the kick panel separating it from the foot wells.
It looked like there was enough room to mount a 4” speaker there. The passenger side was unobstructed, but the driver side has the mounting bracket for the frunk release lever spot welded right in the middle of it. I had the body shop remove the bracket and re-weld it higher up on the panel to clear the space for a speaker. It doesn’t seem to affect the operation of the latch or cable.
I lined the cavity in the rear of the fenders with some of the left over foam blanket from my firewall covering. I also put a piece of that on the back side of the plastic covers that separate that cavity from the rest of the fender well, then closed it up. I put some tacky weatherstrip material along the edge that meets the fender to seal it better.
I had cut the 4” holes previously in the kick panels and run the wires for the speakers through a grommet into the space. I put some foam speaker liners that I had gotten from Crutchfield, then mounted the JL Audio speakers. They are fairly close to the drain tubes so I don’t think I will be able to mount the speaker grills directly to the speakers once the carpet is in place. My plan is to attach the grills to the carpet with short screws. We’ll see.
The rear speakers are 3.5” JL Audio and are mounted in the Crutchfield foam cups in the stock locations.
The biggest challenge was finding room for a subwoofer. Most of the subwoofers that I have seen in other X’s in person or on the forum use one made to fit into the spare tire, or just get rid of the spare all together and put a stand-alone sub in the spare tire well. With the firewall mods to make room for the K20 intake manifold, a lot of the spare tire well is taken by the access panel box. JL Audio makes a 6” sub and a fairly small amplifier. I mounted the amplifier to the firewall in the space next to the access panel box. It just fit! I ran all of the wires, then made a custom subwoofer box below the access panel box. The box is a little smaller than what JL Audio recommends, but it was the best I could come up with. I had to make it in two pieces then assemble it in the well. I covered it with the same black vinyl that I had used to cover the access panel.
I hooked up the head unit to power to try it out. It sounds great! It feels good to get one project on this car pretty well put to bed.
Since the car was stripped down, I could really get a good look at what space was available. There is quite a bit of space in the rear part of the front fenders and there is just the sheet metal of the kick panel separating it from the foot wells.
It looked like there was enough room to mount a 4” speaker there. The passenger side was unobstructed, but the driver side has the mounting bracket for the frunk release lever spot welded right in the middle of it. I had the body shop remove the bracket and re-weld it higher up on the panel to clear the space for a speaker. It doesn’t seem to affect the operation of the latch or cable.
I lined the cavity in the rear of the fenders with some of the left over foam blanket from my firewall covering. I also put a piece of that on the back side of the plastic covers that separate that cavity from the rest of the fender well, then closed it up. I put some tacky weatherstrip material along the edge that meets the fender to seal it better.
I had cut the 4” holes previously in the kick panels and run the wires for the speakers through a grommet into the space. I put some foam speaker liners that I had gotten from Crutchfield, then mounted the JL Audio speakers. They are fairly close to the drain tubes so I don’t think I will be able to mount the speaker grills directly to the speakers once the carpet is in place. My plan is to attach the grills to the carpet with short screws. We’ll see.
The rear speakers are 3.5” JL Audio and are mounted in the Crutchfield foam cups in the stock locations.
The biggest challenge was finding room for a subwoofer. Most of the subwoofers that I have seen in other X’s in person or on the forum use one made to fit into the spare tire, or just get rid of the spare all together and put a stand-alone sub in the spare tire well. With the firewall mods to make room for the K20 intake manifold, a lot of the spare tire well is taken by the access panel box. JL Audio makes a 6” sub and a fairly small amplifier. I mounted the amplifier to the firewall in the space next to the access panel box. It just fit! I ran all of the wires, then made a custom subwoofer box below the access panel box. The box is a little smaller than what JL Audio recommends, but it was the best I could come up with. I had to make it in two pieces then assemble it in the well. I covered it with the same black vinyl that I had used to cover the access panel.
I hooked up the head unit to power to try it out. It sounds great! It feels good to get one project on this car pretty well put to bed.
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