Rear speaker mounting

[kadowki]

I'm very new to DIY car projects and decided to replace the stock speakers that had finally blown with some new ones.

I bought Scosche (probably a mistake in the first place) rear 6x9 speakers from Wal-mart, and it seems that the speaker housing is too big fit the speaker in. Can't screw them in without drilling new holes, but putting them in the way the stock speakers came out is out of the question. I could grind away at the steel until they would fit, but this all seems like too much trouble. Is there some secret that I'm missing here?

My Sunfire is a 2004.

Here's a link to the speakers I bought.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Scosche-HD-3-Way-Full-Range-Speaker-6-x-9/17128653

Will exchanging the speakers for Song Xplodes be easier?

Thanks!

 

[melsg5]

you can try www.crutchfield.com to see what they recommend for your car

 

[Pyre]

when buying speakers, another site that I commonly use is the bestbuy.com fit guide tool. It will tell you if the speakers will fit or not.

I also will second the above comment about cruchfield. They know what they are talking about when it comes to thier products. They have never steered me wrong about fit.

I will typically check both for the sizes that fit, and then go looking from there.

Are you sure that the car was supposed to have 6x9s? I am seeing it had 5 1/4 inch to 6 1/2 inch ROUND speakers on the rear deck.

Your easiest solution is to spend $20 on a pair of boxes and put them in the rear window. Attach boexs where you want them with self tapping screws.

If you dont mind "customizing" a little try this trick I used on a car I had with sub box clearance issues.
-Lift the fabric off the board.
-Drill a 3/8 hole in the center of where the speakers should be.
-Use a jig saw with a METAL blade, and cut out a hole about a 3/4 inch smaller than the screw pattern.
-Sand the edges further out until your speaker fits propperly with no clearance issues.
-Put the fabric back down and cut an X into the fabric.
-Drop in the speakers, noting where / if you need to tidy the fabric a bit so it looks good.
-Trim fabric as needed, making sure to tuck the fabrick into the hole, then screw the speakers down and put the covers on.

You may also finish these steps differently. Instead of putting speaker over the top, you may place the speaker under, trim the fabric around the inside of the metal of the speaker so it uncovers the speaker, and then cover. This will keep the fabric inside and tight around the speaker.

To reverse this "customization", you just need to refabric the pice you cut. The new fabric will hide the cut outs if you remove them, and your factory brackets are intact. Unless they look in trunk, and look close you cant really tell it has been done at all.

If you want a stronger sound you can install the 6x9 boxes on the underside by trimming off the factory mounts, adding a little silicone to seal them and using longer screws. Just be sure that the 6x9s were intend to be placed in a box, and that they are not the "free air" variety that were meant to hang exposed.

This method of "customizing" is fine for newer cars, but I would strongly suggest against doing it to a classic car. It CAN damage the value of a classic.

Even if was not meant to use the 6x9 speakers, this will allow them to be used. I have used it to add extra speakers on SPL (sound pressure level) type car audio builds for extra decibles / or change over the type of speaker used for better availibility of quality speakers. You can do simular on door pannels but you need to be careful doing this on doors.

 

[kadowki]

Thank you for the advice. I ended up carving a hole into the rear panel with a razor blade.

This trick with an 04' Sunfire is that there are special mount on the actual stock speakers that MUST be removed in order for 6x9s to fit correctly and tight. I could have just drilled holes through the steel, but I don't have the proper equipment. (Even then, you would have a hell of a time screwing in speakers with a back window that hangs THAT low.)

Because of the way the mounts were, I was unable to put the speaker grill on due to the shape of the screws. So it's just a speaker with a sloppy-doppy hole (for now). I had to put ON those screws with a freakin' ratchet!

If I get the time, I'll post a picture of my embarrassing amateur work. At least it sounds REALLY good. I got some decent speakers.

______________________________

 

[Pyre]

Glad I could be of some help. If you have other questions, feel free to ask.