Keptin, there be 4 x 6's in the Kick Panels.....

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Blainethemono

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In the continuing effort to get some decent sound in my Dart, I finally got the last component to my front sound.. GRILLS....

Bought some Kick Panels which will only house 4 x 6's. Ordered speakers, lil kick-*** Rotten Fosburg T1462's, pieced together my ole Blaupunkt Nashville CM40 so I dont have to butcher the dash.... and then its where to find protective Grills. CHINA...... yeah China..... Only dang things that would fit w/o excessive overhang. Lil die grinding and they r in, except Tweeter is to aggressive and the grill tops wont fit.... In all honesty, I wasnt surprised.

So my question....... do I cut a hole in the grills, since the Tweets have their own grill, or I was wondering if I could heat the metal a lil bit 1/2" to stretch the metal??? Ill prolly just melt the metal and then Im at choice #1 lol

Thoughts?

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I'd cut a hole. BUT …… I'd try to make it just a little small so the grill has to "radius" over or hug the tweeter to where it looks like one piece. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
I would cut a hole to let the tweeters protrude,,,Or is it possible to use washers or other means to set the grill out a bit so the tweeters fit under the grill?
 
In the continuing effort to get some decent sound in my Dart, I finally got the last component to my front sound.. GRILLS....

Bought some Kick Panels which will only house 4 x 6's. Ordered speakers, lil kick-*** Rotten Fosburg T1462's, pieced together my ole Blaupunkt Nashville CM40 so I dont have to butcher the dash.... and then its where to find protective Grills. CHINA...... yeah China..... Only dang things that would fit w/o excessive overhang. Lil die grinding and they r in, except Tweeter is to aggressive and the grill tops wont fit.... In all honesty, I wasnt surprised.

So my question....... do I cut a hole in the grills, since the Tweets have their own grill, or I was wondering if I could heat the metal a lil bit 1/2" to stretch the metal??? Ill prolly just melt the metal and then Im at choice #1 lol

Thoughts?

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I would probably cut the holes in the grills, then line the inside of the opening with vacuum hose for the tweeter to seat in.
Should look nice and finished.
 
Can you mount the speaker on the inside, and the grill housing and grill on the outside?
The grey plastic/speaker looks separate from the black.
 
Can you mount the speaker on the inside, and the grill housing and grill on the outside?
The grey plastic/speaker looks separate from the black.
I was checking that earlier tonight. The side walls of the kick panel mount taper in as it rises off the base & the speakers long edges hit the inner walls about 1/2" before contacting the underside, so it cant be solidly mounted. I could make a washer/nut combo, but Im worried about speaker rattle, sound quality, and that also pushes the magnet closer to the inner fender wall... clearance concerns, though that may be a no biggie. I think a nice 1" hole cut around the tweeter would work/look fine and since its down low and out of the way, it wont be under too much scrutiny. Thanks for all your input..

Now the fun part, buying a 1" bi-metal hole cutter drill add-on. Since I just picked up a pretty sweet Dewalt 18v cordless drill off of Craigslist for $50, Im in a Tool Time kinda mode. lol :?)
 
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I'll get a pic of my 6x8 ovals that borrowed screens from something else. It had an open area for the tweeters. I'll post back in a bit.
 
I would get new speakers that you can cover properly. I bought shallow mount pioneers and cheap screens
 
I did the same thing you did buying Rockfords, but I was unhappy with how wide the speaker was. It pushed out to far behind the panel-magnet to big. So I looked shallow mount speakers. Used Pioneer #ts-g4645r, but they did not come with grills. So, I bought cheap ones from China. Looks real good now. Just a thought for you
 
I was checking that earlier tonight. The side walls of the kick panel mount taper in as it rises off the base & the speakers long edges hit the inner walls about 1/2" before contacting the underside, so it cant be solidly mounted. I could make a washer/nut combo, but Im worried about speaker rattle, sound quality, and that also pushes the magnet closer to the inner fender wall... clearance concerns, though that may be a no biggie. I think a nice 1" hole cut around the tweeter would work/look fine and since its down low and out of the way, it wont be under too much scrutiny. Thanks for all your input..

Now the fun part, buying a 1" bi-metal hole cutter drill add-on. Since I just picked up a pretty sweet Dewalt 18v cordless drill off of Craigslist for $50, Im in a Tool Time kinda mode. lol :?)

Just a suggestion.
If you have a Dremmel use that for making the hole and it's come out a lot cleaner.
 
I took 2 of the small drywall mud containers, and cut them down to both fit the contours of the kick panels and be as shallow as possible to fit the speakers.

Cut a hole in the 'bottom' of the container and fastened the speaker.

When I cut the container I left tabs on 4 sides, reinforced with small metal 90* brackets. One goes over the top of the kickpanel, the other 3 I cut slots in the kickpanel, riveted together, carpeted.
All done with stuff I had, including speakers.

You can see them in pic. No, I don't actually kick them, but the vent doors don't open completely.

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As matthon just pointed out - those Kick speakers interfere with the full opening of the fresh air doors (about the last 30% with just the original 4x6's). If you haven't already, you may want to check that out with all of the extra space those 6x9's will take up.

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Just a suggestion.
If you have a Dremmel use that for making the hole and it's come out a lot cleaner.

Im on it..... however, after 30 minutes of Dremel grinding trying to make a decently round 3/8" opening, my brain finally kicked in.. Isnt this one of those times when that step drill bit I bought 2 summers ago, and used only once, would come in handy??

DUH!! 20 seconds later a perfect 9/16" hole. Trouble is, I dont have a larger bit, Tweeter is 1", and Im not going to jury rig it, so Ill wait til next Friday when the larger bit arrives. So far, its proceeding along according to plan B, and Im not seeing any issues with clearance.
 
Im on it..... however, after 30 minutes of Dremel grinding trying to make a decently round 3/8" opening, my brain finally kicked in.. Isnt this one of those times when that step drill bit I bought 2 summers ago, and used only once, would come in handy??

DUH!! 20 seconds later a perfect 9/16" hole. Trouble is, I dont have a larger bit, Tweeter is 1", and Im not going to jury rig it, so Ill wait til next Friday when the larger bit arrives. So far, its proceeding along according to plan B, and Im not seeing any issues with clearance.

I think using a cutoff wheel on the Dremel to get the basic raw opening, then switch to the sanding drum to finish it would work best for you if you have those attachments.
I do a lot of Dremel stuff.:D

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I did the same thing you did buying Rockfords, but I was unhappy with how wide the speaker was. It pushed out to far behind the panel-magnet to big. So I looked shallow mount speakers. Used Pioneer #ts-g4645r, but they did not come with grills. So, I bought cheap ones from China. Looks real good now. Just a thought for you

Believe me, that has crossed my mind. lol..... but Im used to big sound in my old Detroit Iron..... and these can handle the Hifonics Odin Im thinking about hooking them up to.
 
I think using a cutoff wheel on the Dremel to get the basic raw opening, then switch to the sanding drum to finish it would work best for you if you have those attachments.
I do a lot of Dremel stuff.:D


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Way kool, I have one of those too, except the cluster is done with Cyberdyne digital gauges. Never made it to the Duster, so Im going to sell it. I did some dremel work back in the 90s when I was in car stereo, but not so much anymore. Love my Dremel though :)
 
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