Kick panels

[Tmac]

I put my dash pad in my 70 today and i do not like the way it fits over the dash speakers. They are aftermarket 3x5 ish and set way to high and the drivers side i had to leave the dash out a little because the magnet pinches against the gauge cluster. ( i remember it was like this when i tore it apart and i half wondered why) so you can see the dash pad  thru the windshield doesn't fit right. Thinking about eliminating these and putting in new kick panels with speakers in them. Any suggestions, problems, tips? it is a factory AC car.

[cny first gen 71]

There is a speaker that will fit that left side, it was on another thread somewhere a while back. Hopefully someone else will chime in with the spects. It's a little smaller magnet I believe. 

[FrankOC]

12 minutes ago, cny first gen 71 said:

There is a speaker that will fit that left side, it was on another thread somewhere a while back. Hopefully someone else will chime in with the spects. It's a little smaller magnet I believe. 

Steve,  it might be these:  https://www.smelectrotech.com/product/4-x-6-oval-single-/9?cp=true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=4

[Tmac]

44 minutes ago, cny first gen 71 said:

There is a speaker that will fit that left side, it was on another thread somewhere a while back. Hopefully someone else will chime in with the spects. It's a little smaller magnet I believe. 

yeah that's what i need. kind thinking about just doin kick panels and being done. i dont know.

[jft69z]

Look here:

https://www.firstgenmc.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19368-new-guy-here/page/5/#comment-212258

As I also said on your FB post, when I asked about kick panel speakers a few years ago, someone here responded that they're great...if your ankles have ears. I didn't go that route.

[Tmac]

2 hours ago, jft69z said:

Look here:

https://www.firstgenmc.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19368-new-guy-here/page/5/#comment-212258

As I also said on your FB post, when I asked about kick panel speakers a few years ago, someone here responded that they're great...if your ankles have ears. I didn't go that route.

lol! my head barely has ears soooooo.......

[Marks71]

Were you still running a factory radio or aftermarket?

[DragCat]

The PO installed these, I believe from OPGI. Aftermarket stereo, amp in trunk, with fade and balance they sound good. Maybe my parking brake pedal is out of adjustment but that's my issue, the pedal with the pad won't clear the speaker 

[BobW]

8 hours ago, jft69z said:

As I also said on your FB post, when I asked about kick panel speakers a few years ago, someone here responded that they're great...if your ankles have ears. I didn't go that route.

I've had 4x6 Kickers in the front with 6x9's in the back. With my hearing loss (and exhaust) I was constantly adjusting the volume as cruising speed changes. I bought a pair of the speaker kick panels from Classic Car Stereos (https://www.classiccarstereos.com/1964-1967-chevelle-speaker-kick-panels-with-ac-65-pair-no-speakers.html?rrec=true) and installed them at the same time I installed a Dakota Digital dash. Needless to say, the 4x6 just barely fit with the DD dash, but, the magnet interefers with the volt meter (it pegged the needle).

Finished the install with the new kick panel speakers and no dash speakers. Took 40 mile ride today, and barely changed the stereo volume fromin town to highway. I'm very pleased with the new setup. I'm going to see about getting some small tweeters to put under the dash, hoping the magnet will be far enough away to not effect the volt meter, and give me some more clarity. 

[BobW]

43 minutes ago, DragCat said:

The PO installed these, I believe from OPGI. Aftermarket stereo, amp in trunk, with fade and balance they sound good. Maybe my parking brake pedal is out of adjustment but that's my issue, the pedal with the pad won't clear the speaker 

On my install I was able to slightly trim the rubber on the pedal pad to clear the speaker.

[jft69z]

26 minutes ago, BobW said:

I Needless to say, the 4x6 just barely fit with the DD dash, but, the magnet interefers with the volt meter (it pegged the needle).

 

The speakers I used didn't affect the Dakota Digital in my car, volt meter works fine.

At the time, I ordered a bunch of speakers from Amazon to test fit for the dash. All had too big a magnet to work, which ultimately led to the installation of the ones in my post above. (thankfully, Amazon has a very good return policy 🙂).

[BobW]

While I am happy with the kick panel speakers, I hoped I could do a bit better. Talked with a friend that does hi-power stereos. He'saware of my hearing difficulties and understands that pure volume is not the answer for me. He suggested I try some tweeters in the dash position, and he was right on! A pair of Alpine tweeters fit with no intereference and deliver the sound quality I wanted.

 

[kpcsgasp]

On 2/25/2024 at 6:13 AM, Tmac said:

I put my dash pad in my 70 today and i do not like the way it fits over the dash speakers. They are aftermarket 3x5 ish and set way to high and the drivers side i had to leave the dash out a little because the magnet pinches against the gauge cluster. ( i remember it was like this when i tore it apart and i half wondered why) so you can see the dash pad  thru the windshield doesn't fit right. Thinking about eliminating these and putting in new kick panels with speakers in them. Any suggestions, problems, tips? it is a factory AC car.

I had to put in kick panel speakers after I installed the Dakota Dash as the driver side speaker wouldn't fit anymore.  I am thinking of finding some dome tweeters as the sound from the kick panels is good but I miss the sound from the top of the dash

[Blackhawk]

The kick panel speakers need to have a depth of less than 1-5/8" to not space the driver's side out or clearance the support behind it. My speakers have a 1-13/16" depth and I had to take a dead blow hammer to get the speaker to not hit in the back. I really recommend component speakers to put the tweeter up high, then you'll get the high notes up high and the midbass will be lower where it doesn't matter as much.