speaker Kick panel....bummer

[ChevyDude]

I am going to do my best to re-produce the 383 front molds with some slight adjustments....6.5" and 1" speaks slightly angled up and towards the rear. Wood molding rings were made today and Fiberglass Kit was ordered. This is going to be fun.

[GreyHoundSteve]

Originally Posted by ChevyDude

I am going to do my best to re-produce the 383 front molds with some slight adjustments....6.5" and 1" speaks slightly angled up and towards the rear. Wood molding rings were made today and Fiberglass Kit was ordered. This is going to be fun.

Sounds like your well on your way. Post pics when you finish them.

[68CST327]

This is awesome.

Alex, even though you get to do all the work :p, this thread is exciting. It's like a fun little adventure!

[ChevyDude]

Yeah Greg...who would have known??? I order some regular kick panels that I thought were going to house my 6.5" speaks and they won't work with the Kappa's. So...I'm determined to make them fit. I'm a Tile Contractor whom has been figuring out how to fit things together for the last 25 years. I've done some fiberglass work some years back so I'm not too worried. I'll start to build the mold skeleton this weekend. I know it will be alot of hot glue gun work and running back and forth to the truck to check the fit. I hope to have something by New Years or there about. Thanks for everybodys support and interest.

[TugOwar]

Originally Posted by ChevyDude

A BIG Thanks to all the replys!!!! Seems like there are alot of us who want nice Speaks in our trucks and need some nice workable panels. I really believe the nicest ones I seen so far are the ones that 383 Stroker had made. He sent me a pic of the drivers side which is below. He doesn't have the E brake problem because his truck doesn't have an E- brake....at least that's what I think he told me. The panel I'm going to make will be like these however will deal with the Vent rod, E-Brake, and Dimmer Switch. This will be a nice lil' challenge and project on it's own.

Those are very nice! Neat and clean looking. How are they attached to the wall though?

[72MARIO]

I have the kick pannel speakers and I was wondering could I just cut a hole in the kick pannel and weld a box that is 3 or 4 inches deep so that the speaker will not bottom out on the kick pannel ? I really dont want to trash the kick pannel housings.

[383 Stroker]

Originally Posted by TugOwar

Those are very nice! Neat and clean looking. How are they attached to the wall though?

With screws.

[4x4Poet]

Originally Posted by 72MARIO

I have the kick pannel speakers and I was wondering could I just cut a hole in the kick pannel and weld a box that is 3 or 4 inches deep so that the speaker will not bottom out on the kick pannel ?...

Yes. And the welded box would protect the back of the speaker from cowl and under-fender water spray and dirt. You will have cut kickpanels, though, which devalues the truck some.

Assuming someone looks under the speaker enclosures.

[72MARIO]

Cool I think that's My afternoon project. It's a good thing I did not take the cab and box down to get sprayed last week like I planned.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by 4x4Poet

Yes. And the welded box would protect the back of the speaker from cowl and under-fender water spray and dirt. You will have cut kickpanels, though, which devalues the truck some.

Assuming someone looks under the speaker enclosures.

Wouldn't someone that has the knowledge to spot-weld boxes within their kick panels be capable of simply reversing the process & not "devalue" the truck?

djracer This would help allot if you are to angle the speaker towards the driver! I strongly reccomend againest installing them without the angle. If you do this they will cancel each other out and have poor lowend!

Just how significant is the whole angle mounting excersize? I mean quality sound is the goal, but are you saying that w/o mounting the speakers @ an upward angle (not facing each other) it won't sound good?

[ChevyDude]

Hey, Guys....I've got a skeleton frame work made that will hold the 6.5" speakers and been out at the truck moving it all around trying to determine just how it would be best. If it's not the E-Brake rod...it's the freekin E-Brake pedal...and then if you lower the speaker pod the dimmer switch starts to Fulk with you. So I'm thinking I could put them Low out of the way of the E-brake/Vent rod Equip and fab out a dimmer switch extention towards the passenger side...nah...don't think I like that. Whatever is decided you ARE still going to have to screw the molds/speaker pods to the kick panel area. Then I thought, "Why not make the molds to fit the lower front corner of the door"??? You won't have to cut your door, E-Brake/Vent rod are NO longer a problem, and you can dance on the dimmer switch all day long. Molds for the lower door could follow the curve of the door and could easily be angled up at the driver and Passenger...plenty of room for your feet and those lil' 1" tweets and only 4 small screws would attch them to your non cut door. For that matter, would cover up the PO's cutting of the door if that is the case. Go sit in your truck and look at the lower front of the doors and see if you think this might be an option. I think if the molds/pods were nice and smooth and painted to match your truck...this may be my answer. Thoughts?

[68CST327]

It seems like the front area of the door would be a lot more prone to potential accidents... Just seems like they'd be more in harms way there. Plus, the asthetics of having a bulbous pod on your door when you open it up versus having them kind of tucked away in the kick panel area. This is all just one man's opinion, of course. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, in fact, it's a good one. It's a possible solution to the problems of placement. However, to me, it just seems more natural to have them in the kick panel area.

I have a '68, so I don't know exactly where the e-brake pedal is in the later models. I'm looking at 383 Stroker's pictures and trying to imagine where this would all fit in. I'll have to go out to my truck to get a better idea.

[chevyal71]

Why not build a box to face forward under the seats and use whatever speaker you want. Should be plenty of room!

[ChevyDude]

True...bulbous pod on door. Probably would only look odd when the door was open. I'm not done and still brain storming. I think I will make up a skeleton frame for both places before I decide to mix the resin.

[chevydog66]

This is how I did my speakers in my 72 GMC. It took about 3 hours to build this and I have Alpine's in it. If you look they are on the sides of the console, facing the doors. I have a 2.5" and a 6" pair or something close to that size. The truck is in winter storage right now so I can't look at it at the moment. I also built a sub box under the seat that houses a set of 8" subs.
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-11/497511/pic3.jpg

[ChevyDude]

I'm using 04' Yukon Denali seats which have 3" max under them...so that shoots that option down for me. I do have a 04' center console and could mount the speaks faces towards the doors on either side...don't know how the imaging would be with that arrangement.

[ChevyDude]

neat DoG...how does that sound with the speaks facing outward???

[SCOTI]

I tried searching for it but had no luck. There was a post w/pics of someone installing cut-down, late model (94-98?) chevy truck door panels on some 67-72 doors.

IIRC, these door panels have speaker pods built in them (I believe they're similar to the one's in our 02 Trans-Am's door panels). Does anyone know where that post & related info went?

[chevydog66]

It sounds pretty good to me. All I have is the sponge foam type cone around the back of the speakers in the console.

[70c10]

Crutchfield sells Q-form housings for 73-87 trucks that might work. The kick panel area should be pretty close to ours. Look at how the speaker is angled up for sound and also looks to have clearance from the e-brake. I went to the q-form site and got part number QL-K1006
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-0Iwf0Zt...sp?i=044K10061

[cableguy0]

dont be skeert just cut the doors the sound is great and its easier

[passthebuck]

I have 2 67's so the ebrake pedal isnt a problem for me. As for the dimmer switch, couldnt we move it in &/or up a tiny bit? I just like the fact that the kickpannels are out of the way & less visible to prying eyes (door open or closed). Thanks ChevyDude for your work so far!

[ChevyDude]

Yes you can move your dimmer switch but may cause the drilling of more holes...unless...I have an idea.... a dimmer switch relocation bracket that has 4 holes. Two that attach to the original floor bolts and two for re-attaching the dimmer with two new 1/2" bolts. This would move the switch 2-4" towards the passenger side without drilling any new holes in the cab floor.

[5150]

Maybe I missed it, but what is the allowable depth of the speakers that we could put in our kick panels. I have a friend that is an engineer at Harman Industries in Franklin, KY. He can get JBL and Infinity's DIRT CHEAP. I just want to know what the depth is that I can use.

Thanks,

[ChevyDude]

With the everyday AutoSound kick panels that the vendors all sell...max depth is like 2"...maybe 2.5"