1 or 3 speaker in 71 cuda dash?

[culp71]

hey all,

Looking to buy new dash pad for 71 340 cuda w shaker, it is a no AC car and org dash i have very rough is from a 1970 car, what is the deciding factor that sets apart weather its a 1 or 3 speaker dash?
will any other options tell me if its a 1 or 3 or do all 'cuda or certain trim tell me, like billboards,go wing shaker etc? or is it just coupe, gran coupe thing?

thanks

[Jamiez]

It's based on the radio the car had. This information should be on the fender tag/build sheet. For example the R11 was a mono radio so it had only a single speaker. 
Simply put mono = 1 speaker
stereo = 3 speaker.

All stereo units would have shipped with a crossover box mounted on the driver's side outside of the glove box.

[usraptr]

What if it's an AM 8 track?

[Jamiez]

There are 2 sets of wires on the back of the radio.  One has Red/orange wires.  These are for the light/power (all radios have the same connector).  The other is either:
Black with a plastic connector and green with an exposed spade or
purple/green/black going into a single 3 wire plastic connector. 

2 wires = mono = single speaker dash
3 wires = stereo = 3 speaker dash

I believe the AM 8 Track had a 3 wire connector so that would be a 3 speaker dash.

AM = 2 wire connector = single speaker dash:


FM = 3 wire connector = 3 speaker dash:


AM 8 Track = 3 wire connector = 3 speaker dash:

[culp71]

So there's 71 340 'cuda shaker/ rallye wheels, rimblow wheel, with billboards and go wings, that have one speaker and ones with three speakers, so really i can put either one in, just personal prefference. mono or stereo.

thanks all

[Jamiez]

I believe all the speaker options were available in all the years.  You could also get optional rear speakers.... 1 with mono (driver's side) or 2 with stereo, so the actual choices are:

Dash = 1 Speaker, Rear = 0 Speaker, Total = 1
Dash = 3 Speaker, Rear = 0 Speaker, Total = 3
Dash = 1 Speaker, Rear = 1 Speaker, Total = 2
Dash = 3 Speaker, Rear = 2 Speaker, Total = 5

I'm not sure if radio delete came with 0 speakers, it would make sense but I've never seen an original radio delete car with the original dash pad.  Maybe someone who has one will chime in.

Note that the Rear Speaker fader for mono and stereo units is different and not easy to source, if you want it to be functional that is.

I believe the dash frame will support any of the speaker options, it was only the dash pads that were different.

If you are going for a factory correct restoration, the fender tag/build sheet will contain the radio options which will tell you what speakers your car would have had.

[JayBee]

I'm not sure if radio delete came with 0 speakers, it would make sense but I've never seen an original radio delete car with the original dash pad.  Maybe someone who has one will chime in.

I don't have one but I've seen one. A friend of mine is doing a '70 Challenger vert that came radio delete, and the entire dash is out of the car. The dashpad only has the center grille and when we turned the whole thing up-side-down, sure enough, there was a speaker mounted in there. We just scratched our heads, why put a speaker in there in a radio delete car. After some thought I guess it was smart to do so in case someone put a radio in later. They're a pain to install or replace.

[burdar]

It's possible the center speaker and grill were pre-installed on the dashpad and shipped to the factory that way.  It's just one less thing the people who were assembling the dashes would have to deal with.

I used to have an 82 Cordoba with one of those thick puffy vinyl tops on the back 1/3 of the roof.  When I removed it, I was shocked to see 1/4 windows underneith.  The glass was there and everything.  I guess it was cheaper for the factory to install the glass then design/build a plug.  Same thing could be true about the speaker.