How do the left and right dash speakers mount (1969 Charger)?

[MaximRecoil]

My car has the 3-speaker dash, but I've long suspected that the dash top is not original to the car. Either way, it has the grilles and circular holes beneath the grilles, but below the circular holes, an inch or two below, is just flat sheet metal. I don't see any provisions for mounting speakers in there, unless they are top-mounted right to the dashtop using the same screw holes as the grilles use. It doesn't seem like this was the way it would have been done from the factory. If that would even work, it would have the grilles sitting on top of the mounting flange of the speaker basket.

Does anyone have an overhead picture of one of the speaker mounting locations with the grille removed so I can see how the speaker is mounted? Said picture with the speaker removed would be even better. A description of how the speakers are supposed to mount / what is supposed to be below the speaker holes would be good too.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I dont have a pic with the speakers out but my setup is the same as yours. I mounted my speakers through the grill cover holes, the speaker if I remember correctly just barlely touched the metal plate when in place. Just enough to support some of the weight of it.

[MaximRecoil]

I dont have a pic with the speakers out but my setup is the same as yours. I mounted my speakers through the grill cover holes, the speaker if I remember correctly just barlely touched the metal plate when in place. Just enough to support some of the weight of it.

Interesting; so you top-mounted the speakers and then put the factory speaker grilles down over? What make/model/size speakers did you use? There's not much mounting depth there (about 1-1/4" at the shallowest point). Did you use the existing screw holes (the ones that the grilles screw into) or did you make new ones? It seems that if you used the existing screw holes you would need some spacers to put between the grille's screw holes and the dash's screw holes, else nothing would be tightening against the speaker's screw holes when you installed the grilles.

Also, can anyone explain what is going on with my rear package shelf?



(It's hard to take a good picture through glass)

Why are those speaker holes different from each other? Not only are the speaker holes shaped differently, but the screw holes are a lot farther apart on the passenger side speaker hole than on the driver side speaker hole. What size speakers do I need back there (I'd like some that I can install without any modifications)?

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I used a set of polk audio DB351 3.5" speakers in the existing mounting holes with small nylon bushings to raise the grill covers for mounting. With the covers you can barely see the washers, so it looks clean. The problem with the polk speakers is the center of the speaker is raised up so I had to use taller nylon bushings to raise the grill high enough. There are plenty of speakers that are flat so you can get away without raising the covers, I just didn't plan it out too well when I installed them and didnt feel like exchanging them.

[MaximRecoil]

I used a set of polk audio DB351 3.5" speakers in the existing mounting holes with small nylon bushings to raise the grill covers for mounting. With the covers you can barely see the washers, so it looks clean. The problem with the polk speakers is the center of the speaker is raised up so I had to use taller nylon bushings to raise the grill high enough. There are plenty of speakers that are flat so you can get away without raising the covers, I just didn't plan it out too well when I installed them and didnt feel like exchanging them.

According to Polk's site, the DB351 has a top-mount depth of 1.5", and you say they fit in there fully, with the magnet just barely touching the sheet metal below? That's good to know; i.e., I can look for speakers that have a top-mount depth of up to 1.5". I think I'll try the Polk EX351a. They are cheap ($20 a pair, shipped); the tweeters appear to sit low (though it is hard to tell how low from a top-view picture); and the mounting depth is 1.4".

[MaximRecoil]

I ordered the Polk EX351a speakers; hopefully they'll fit as-is. But I still need to know what is going on with the rear speaker holes (pictured above). Does the passenger side take a different size speaker than the driver side? Or is this a case of the car originally having a rear window defroster in one of the speaker holes?

[Fred]

I dont have a pic with the speakers out but my setup is the same as yours. I mounted my speakers through the grill cover holes, the speaker if I remember correctly just barlely touched the metal plate when in place. Just enough to support some of the weight of it.

Interesting; so you top-mounted the speakers and then put the factory speaker grilles down over? What make/model/size speakers did you use? There's not much mounting depth there (about 1-1/4" at the shallowest point). Did you use the existing screw holes (the ones that the grilles screw into) or did you make new ones? It seems that if you used the existing screw holes you would need some spacers to put between the grille's screw holes and the dash's screw holes, else nothing would be tightening against the speaker's screw holes when you installed the grilles.

Also, can anyone explain what is going on with my rear package shelf?



(It's hard to take a good picture through glass)

Why are those speaker holes different from each other? Not only are the speaker holes shaped differently, but the screw holes are a lot farther apart on the passenger side speaker hole than on the driver side speaker hole. What size speakers do I need back there (I'd like some that I can install without any modifications)?

Ok the rear package shelf passenger side is for the speaker and the driver's side is for the rear window demister (which houses the motor).   The slot in the centre blows hot air to the rear window.

[MaximRecoil]

Ok the rear package shelf passenger side is for the speaker and the driver's side is for the rear window demister (which houses the motor).   The slot in the centre blows hot air to the rear window.

I was afraid of that. By the way, I assume you meant that the driver side is for the speaker, and the passenger side is for the defroster motor, because the driver side is shaped like a normal speaker hole with screw holes where you'd expect them to be for a speaker, while the passenger side has a weird-shaped cutout (mostly oval but with a straight section), and screw holes that wouldn't line up with any speaker ever built.

What size speaker fits in the speaker hole? 5x7? 6x8? 6x9? Any solution for mounting a speaker in the other hole aside from cutting?

[Fred]

Ok the rear package shelf passenger side is for the speaker and the driver's side is for the rear window demister (which houses the motor).   The slot in the centre blows hot air to the rear window.

I was afraid of that. By the way, I assume you meant that the driver side is for the speaker, and the passenger side is for the defroster motor, because the driver side is shaped like a normal speaker hole with screw holes where you'd expect them to be for a speaker, while the passenger side has a weird-shaped cutout (mostly oval but with a straight section), and screw holes that wouldn't line up with any speaker ever built.

What size speaker fits in the speaker hole? 5x7? 6x8? 6x9? Any solution for mounting a speaker in the other hole aside from cutting?

No definitley the passenger side is the speaker hole. They had a specific size speaker at that time but I'm not familiar with it. I put in 6x9 but had to pack them up.

[MaximRecoil]

No definitley the passenger side is the speaker hole.

Isn't the defroster sitting in the passenger side hole in the Daytona in this thread?



It seems to me that the weird shaped hole on the passenger side would be for the defroster, and the one that looks like a normal speaker hole on the driver side would be for the speaker. But regardless of which is which, I'm pretty sure a standard speaker would drop into that driver side hole, if I only knew what size to get. I don't know of any speaker that will drop into that weird hole on the passenger side though.

I wouldn't even want rear speakers if the car had mounting areas for a pair of decent-sized speakers up front (such as 6.5"), but it only has mounting areas for a pair of 3.5" speakers on the dash, along with the useless (useless for stereo purposes anyway) center 4x10 or whatever it is. Whoever designed the audio system in my car was an idiot. 3 speakers in the dash and 1 in the back? Brilliant. I guess I'm somewhat lucky that I can at least have stereo in the front (albeit through puny 3.5" speakers) without any modifications; some people only have 1 center speaker in the dash (and only 1 in the rear too for the ultimate in bad audio design).

[Fred]

Yes it does but it looks to me like it's been modified as it seems to sit above the package tray rather than flush. 
When I got my car the speaker was on the passenger side and that is what I'm going by.   

[MaximRecoil]

Yes it does but it looks to me like it's been modified as it seems to sit above the package tray rather than flush. 
When I got my car the speaker was on the passenger side and that is what I'm going by.   

Here are a couple more pictures from this thread:





The defroster is on the passenger side in the weird shaped hole, and it appears factory to me.

Either way, I guess it doesn't really matter, since I don't have a defroster nor do I want one. I just want to get a couple of speakers mounted back there, preferably with no modifications to the package shelf (or as little as possible). I might order a couple of these el cheapo 5"x7"/6"x8" speakers and see what I can do with them.

[Fred]

I do see what you mean going by these pics but as I said I can only go by what I have.
I think having a play to see what fits best is the solution as you don't want to be hacking into your package tray metal if you can help it.
Sorry I can't be of more help.  Good luck.

[MaximRecoil]

I do see what you mean going by these pics but as I said I can only go by what I have.
I think having a play to see what fits best is the solution as you don't want to be hacking into your package tray metal if you can help it.
Sorry I can't be of more help.  Good luck.

Yeah, I think I can bottom-mount 5"x7"/6"x8" speakers without any significant modifications to the package tray (aside from making a few new screw holes). It appears that that's what someone did in this picture that I just found in this thread:



He says those are "Kenwood 6 x 8 rears KFC 6889ie". So hopefully 5"x7"/6"x8" speakers will do the trick in my car. I'll probably order those cheap ones that I linked to before, because spending big money on coaxial speakers that will only be powered by the 12 to 18 watts per channel that a head unit's wimpy internal amplifier can muster is a waste of money in my opinion.

I've spent big money on car speakers in the past, but they weren't coaxials; they were a ~$400 (retail) pair of 6.5" component speakers with voice coils and motor structures bigger than many subwoofers. I fed them 400 watts RMS per side from a big 1990s-era Rockford Fosgate amplifier (800a4 bridged dual mono) for about a dozen years, and when I retired them to storage, they were still working perfectly. Those things were seriously loud and clear when cranked up (plus there was 1000 watts from another big RF amplifier [1000a2 bridged mono] feeding a pair of 12" subwoofers), but my ears can't take loud music for very long anymore, so I'm out of the multi-kilowatt car audio hobby. Plus I don't want ~300 lbs. worth of audio equipment in my Charger, nor do I want to make the type of modifications to it I'd need.

[Fred]

Sounds good 

I had to drill some extra mounting holes for mine............I went with 6x9