[frostie_122]

The main question is how far do you want to go on the stereo...you are putting a ****-ton of work in to the body, so you better make the stereo up to par...
Everyone has there own opinion. I am part owner in a high end shop here in bend or. so here is my 2 cents.
-Garage sale the gear you have and start with some new gear.(you are going to have shiny paint so why not have shiny amps)
-Dont cut the doors. Speakers will sound way better, imaging and staging and over all midbase performance in the kick pannels. Build some basic, or wild, kick pannels for a 6" seperate. I prefer not to cut the kick but to make a mold w/ fiberglass and build from there. I prefer Boston, JL, and Hertz as far as high end. The Hertz will blow you away. Dont worry about rear fill you wont hear it in a convertable...keep in mind everone has their own opinion on brand name. you have to pick out what you like.
-As far as amps go once again how wild? One good 4 channel running fronts and 2 10", 2 12"? Two amps bi amping the fronts and a mono running subs?
I like the blazer that you found at diy but once again with no rear speakers.
The amps are in a good location.
-USE DYNAMAT!!!

For example I have a 72 and JL is sending us a "DEMO" system for it. I am using all of JL's new marine gear, incase I get stuck in a little weather.
Im using a Kenwood kos v1000 system w/ a 7" touch screen that is flushed in a floating console. Two...yes two sets of 7.7" marine seperates in the kick pannels. 4 10" marine subs that will be in a molded downfire box in front of the rear fender wells, two on each side. 1 600/4 marine HD amp running the front stage and 2 750/1 HD mono amps running 2 subs each. The amps will be in a amp rack on passanger side behing fender well(like the blazer you found but a little more angle and i have to fit another battery under the rack.

As you can see I took the wild aproach so I can show my customers some custom work.

Decide what the overall vision is and budget and remember skys the limit.
If you have any questions feel free to call the shop.
Soundsfast.net (just a homepage as of now)
check out fiberglassfoums.com for ideas
and consider the marine gear. just incase. it sounds incrediable as well.
JLaudio.com
here are some pics of our canvas...
console and under hides usb in/av in/12v/and 110 converter

hope this helps remember actual value of my 2 cent may very...