mounting small speakers inside origonal ones?

[burdar]

73 Challenger with stock AM radio.

I got a quote of $50 per speaker(one front and one rear) to have them reconed.  That seems steep to me since I will probably never turn the radio on.  However, I'd still like it to work.

Has anyone gutted the factory speakers and mounted smaller speakers inside the origonal cases?  It wouldn't really matter for the front speaker since it's hidden but you can see the rear speaker from the trunk.  I thought that if I could mount a small replacement inside the rear speaker, it would still look stock from the trunk.  I'd also want to have it accept the stock speaker wiring connector.  Any thoughts?  Thanks

[sloop]

i was able to get the correct size speakers for the rear at a local stero shop.  For the front, i used two 3.5 " speakers monuted in a plated cut to fit the factory hole, (single front speaker) works great

[Bullitt-]

I'm surprised that there was a rear speaker, mine only came with the single dash 4X10.... Does your car have a fader on the radio or elsewhere?  You might leave the rear speaker recone until everything else is complete.

[burdar]

Yes, there is a fader switch just to the right of the heater controls.  Dad ordered it the way he wanted it.  I guess he wanted people in the back to be able to hear the farm report.   

I took the dash assembly all apart over the weekend.  I wanted to get the entire assembly done at once but I didn't count on $100 for speakers I may never use.  The rear speaker is shot.  The paper cone is ripped in multiple places.  The front speaker looks better.  The cone is intact but one side came loose from the metal frame.  Do you think I can just glue  that side back onto the frame for now?  That would let me get the dash back together.  I could then worry about the rear speaker a little later.

[Bullitt-]

I've heard that the paper cones can be repaired with Elmer's Wood Glue.  Dad shoulda got a AM/FM while he was at it.

[burdar]

 

He said there wasn't much on FM back then.  He remembers the salesman asking him what radio he wanted.  Dad told him he didn't really care since he'd have the windows down most of the time anyway.(no air)

I'll try to glue the front speaker for now.  Thanks for the tip.

[jforest1]

For anybody else reading this just looking to replace the 4x10, here's one, although it doesn't look super hot.

JF

[chaps70rt]

I have also heard that torn speaker cones can be easily repaired with clear silicone.   It has some flexibility to reduce the chance of it tearing off.  Hope that works for you .....

[burdar]

I ended up sending the speakers out to Jackson Speaker Service anyway.  I tore the front speaker trying to carefuly remove it from the metal frame.  The rear one was in really bad shape.  Pretty expensive for what they are IMO but I couldn't leave them like that. 

[Jamiez]

Were both your harnesses intact?  I still have a set of originals in good shape that I swapped out when I converted to AM/FM

[burdar]

Yes, all the harnesses I had to reuse were in good shape and looked new after a good cleaning.

I just realised I never took "after" pictures of them.  Oh well, too late now.  There isn't much to look at anyway.