66 3.8S newspaper tray question
 

Friends,
I'm back to working on the restoration after a couple of years away from it. Memory has faded but thankfully I carefully bagged and labelled all the parts as well as snapping pics of almost everything. I've got one detail particularly annoying me however.

I'm fiddling with the center console and radio plinth at the moment. Last weekend I noted the two dimples, one on either side of the chrome central radio vent grill on the newspaper tray. I seem to clearly remember removing screws from there in the past but can't recall why? Were there brackets to support the radio or were they somehow supporting the top of the center console? I don't have any spare brackets that would fit although there are unused screw holes in the back of the radio wood insert. Can anyone assist my fading memory?

In addition, the right side speaker cutout area has two studs fore and aft of the speaker and I NEVER remember them doing anything. What are/were they for?

Thanx, Steve

Got it!
 

OK, I am not yet lost it. The spare parts manual shows two brackets that I am missing. Apparently I'm remembering from my 3.4 as I would NOT have misplaced these. Can any one provide some dimensions for them so I can fabricate something? If not, no worries. A simple weekend project.

I'm somewhat relieved as I've really been pondering what supported the rather flimsy top of console LOL

They are thumbscrews that go into the radio brackets. Same as hold centre fold down dash panel IIRC.


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Auto console ~ Manual is a different shape to fit different tunnel.


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I have two good brackets. Each bracket has two front and rear holes for supporting the Radiomobile AM radio chassis with four 8mm bolts, two bolts on each bracket.

Be aware that any other type of radio might not align with these bracket holes.

The beauty of the Radiomobile radios is that they can be set to Positive or Negative Ground.

In my car, I moved the on-off rear vent air valve back to be able to install a second speaker. Worked great. Took some surgery and patience but I did it.

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Hello Richard,

yes, you peel the leather until you see the rivets, you pry the rivets out, they are more like bend-type rivets with a flat head, reusable.

install the speakers. Then you know how far back the open-close valve needs to be located and the angle.

the rod is long enough and lets you move the valve back.

The speakers:
I used 3-way, 4 ohm, 4" inch Pyramid-brand speakers from a speaker seller on ebay. Also used foam baffles over the speakers purchased from another seller. Baffles are not necessary but they help with sound projection in such a tight space.

here are pictures and the original factory speaker which I still have.
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Motorola radios had the same fixings at the time. Came off the same production line as Radiomobile in the UK at one time. Also switchable polarity.

If you want some really good quality speakers, go for some Focal Coaxial Speakers, they are very good quality, not the cheapest but could well be one of the best.

These would be very good https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Focal-Acc...1EF:rk:11:pf:0

These are cheaper but not as good https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Focal-R-1...frcectupt=true

I went for better quality speakers, I am not a load music fan at all, but I do prefer better sound quality, but this is a very subjective subject.

These cars are set up for mono radios with at most a second speaker in the rear parcel shelf & a back to front balance control.

The Focals are excellent. Just be aware if you don't wish to see the speaker behind the grills that you will need to black out any bright work ~ easy to do!

If you just want a reasonable speaker that is black then RS can supply you with these from Visaton Germany ~ R7560149-01 ~ that perfectly fit the grill studs & console.

Don't expect them to sound as good as the Focals though. They don't, but are reasonable. Cheap as chips.


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Well I went slightly away from the original with my Audio !!!

1 main amp, 1 sub amp, 2 sub speakers 2 full range in the rear, and full scale in the front with crossovers and DAB radio with phone connection, DVD player and satnav connectivity etc. Not quite mono !

4 speaker Stereo for me too! I have 7.5" inch Clarion speakers in the kick panel recesses too! Perfect for bass reproduction !

TJ ~ I understand. I'm a high end audio fan, active Bi-amped Maggies with Audio Research SS on Bass & Tubes on midrange/treble in a full surround array. Servo Velodyne subs X 4 etc. I just gave up on overdoing audio in the hostile environment of a car ~ it's never right. My Benz has the premium audio package & that's good enough for me these days. So I understand your passion.

Just thought I would explain some options without cutting up the car for those that bother about originality.

Just to add info to the excellent pics above, those radio brackets are part numbers BD.25367 and BD.25368. Someone may be searching for these same answers in the future ;-)

Absolutely Glyn, my post was more by apology than anything else, all my speakers will only be noticed by perforations in the parcel shelf and side panels in the footwells, the stereo is pretty obvious unfortunately, try as I did, I could not think of a way to hide it away, but I wanted the bluetooth connectivity for the phone and DAB and the headset I have used before in another car and really like it so unfortunately I sacrificed the radio panel !

When I have finished, I will see if I can come up with another solution, but I was limited for depth without hacking the heater channel about which I did not want to do.

Richard, Clarion makes 7.5" marine speakers that are a near perfect fit for the kick panels.

Here's how I found the circle for the speakers:

1) I removed the upholstered panel and traced it over a cardboard. Tried it for fit, compared to the original, etc., until a perfect copy was made.

2) I measured from the firewall to the beggining of the hole horizontally, and from the carpet to the hole vertically.

3) I cut a hole in the cardboard smaller than the finished hole will be, but big enough for my hand to fit.

4) I placed the carboard panel in place, inserted my hand thru the hole with a pencil, and traced / scribed the hole from behind the cardboard. The other hand pushing the cardboard towards the metal wall.

5) I cut the hole in the cardboard as traced, checked for fit, perfected it.

6) I traced this hole unto the upholstered panel placing the upholstered panel BEHIND THE CARDBOARD PANEL and cut the hole an inch smaller than the traced hole in the cardboard. I did not cut the Vinyl, I made an X with a blade and pulled the vinyl back and taping it. This will be obvious later.

7) repeated the procedure by reinstalling the upholstered panel complete with the original screws and retracing the hole unto the upholstered panel from behind.

8) finished by removing the panel again and cutting and perfecting the hole as traced. Then I folded the 4 vinyl strips over the hole and glued them.

You can use the same cardboard template for the opposite side, just cut the hole smaller to begin. Perfecting the hole to match the hole in the metal wall is the last step.

Since the mounting holes in the speakers will not match the 4 existing bolt holes, you have to drill new screw holes by pushing the speaker into the cutout and marking them. I used 2 o'clock, 5 o'clock, 7 o'clock, and 10 o'clock points to drill new holes.

And of course all this depends on the size speakers you decide to install. I fitted the largest speakers that would fit the existing hole, the Clarion 7.5" ones. But others have fitted 6.5" speakers which will require a lot more concentration when cutting the hole so it is perfectly centered.

And if you want to be totally unobtrusive you can use underseat shallow mount Subwoofers from people like JL Audio, Pioneer, JBL, Infinity, Kicker etc. and just use decent midrange/tweeter units on either side of console behind the original grills & you will have great sound. Bass is not directional so your ears will co-locate it with the high frequency.

Then you don't have to cut anything.

Top sounding (for car audio) hideaway systems are now possible in your classic car with state of the art head-units built into your period radio. Everything can be hidden from view.

http://www.billtheradioguy.com/contact.html





BILL NEWMAN

BILLTHERADIOGUY

301 E WALLACE KNEELAND BLVD STE 224-22

SHELTON WA 98584-2985

If you give Steve a ring at BAS, and ask him very nicely you can mark the hole on the back of the panel, and send the 2 panels back to them and they will cut it out and perforate the face of the trim so you don't actually see the speakers at all, just the perforated holes.

They did this for me on the parcel shelf, but in my case I gave them the panel already cut out and they did the perforations and covered the panel at no extra charge. I will take a picture of the rear parcel shelf so you can see the effect if you would like me to.

I forgot to get the kick panels done, so I have to do the same thing, so if you want you can send the panels to me and I will take my set up to them too and get them all done.

The guys at BAS are fantastic, and will do anything to help, I was getting problems with my sunroof and they offered to come down and help me if I needed it, I cannot recommend them highly enough, great family run business with some amazing staff, super helpful and great products.