I am thinking about installing a pair of kick panel speakers for my 68 convertible. My question is what brand of kick panel speakers have some of you installed and if you had to remove the emergency brake in the process? Is the sound ok? I do have a new dash speaker that I purchased from Electro-Tech but I failed to run the speaker wire to it and put all the a/c ducts and radio in already and I would rather not take all that stuff back out. I called Classic Car Stereo about their kick panels and they could not give me a definitive answer that the emergency brake needed to be removed. I have no desire to remove it. My car does have a/c. These are the kick panels I am looking into.

https://www.classiccarstereos.com/19...h-ac-pair.html

Any suggestions is much appreciated.
Gary

 

I have those in my car. No problems with the e-brake.

 

Thanks

 

Something to be aware of is the finish on these is very shiny. I was tempted to spray them with SEM semi gloss black paint to decrease the glossiness, but I admit to being lazy and I never followed through.

 

In my '72 convertible,I had to slightly relocate my e-brake handle to the right (essentially just drilled another mounting hole for the bracket). You may not have to do that IF you use the Pioneer speakers that typically come with the full panel kit however they aren't very good and I opted to go with a set of Alpines which are just slightly deeper in total mounting depth - but waaaaaaaay better in sound quality. the Alpines ended up costing less than the set off in cost between empty panels and full kit.

 

Did you buy yours from the company I posted on my inquiry/thread?

 

if you're just buying empty panels you can get them anywhere - they all the same from any vendor who carries them.

CCS is one vendor, Ken Harrison is another, numerous others can be found in a simple google search for 'chevelle kick panel speakers' (all 68-72 GM A-body cars use the same panels) - just need to specify if your car came with factory a/c to be sure you get the correct-fitting panels. Even Ebay has them.

I bought my Alpine speakers separately from the panels - the Pioneers that typically come in the full kit are fairly cheap to buy new but marked up a lot when added to the panels in 'kit' form. You can get a much better speaker set on your own through Crutchfield, Walmart or any local car stereo shop of choice. My Alpines rock!

 

Good information. Thank You!

 

I opted for the more laborious custom fit. 1971 CS Convertible AC & all electric windows.
When you remove each kick panel, you’ll notice two rectangular holes in the body sheet metal separated by a piece of body sheet metal. I cut out that piece of body sheet metal w/ a fine toothed pipe/metal blade in my saws-all. This provided a very nice large recessed hole to accommodate the magnet of each speaker. I used the OEM kick panels. I cut out the appropriate sized hole in each kick panel, assembled each speaker to each kick panel, reinstalled each panel and that was it. On the rear speakers I only needed to remove the panels, cut holes in panels & reinstalled the panels. Finding a suitable location with the right sized speakers was the biggest issue in the rear since the convertible top ram cylinders pivot and occupy space, but no worries, they fit just fine. My speakers are Memphis. I can dig out the model numbers probably, but both the fronts & rears are about 5 1/4” to 5 1/2” diameter. The rears have a larger magnet for more depth than the fronts. I’ll dig out a couple pictures. Sound quality is excellent.

 

 

I've not been motivated enough to cut my rear piston cover panels up for speakers - instead I have a pair of Pioneer 3-way surface mount speaker boxes sitting out on the rear seat wired in with quick-disconnects so they can be easily removed when I carry rear passengers. Ran the wires under right side carpet to where they come out between the rear seat cushions separation, so they're completely hidden until I remove the speakers. Plus they seem to have a lot more sound substance to them than a set of small 5" speakers - great compliment to my Alpine kicks up front.

 

https://www.memphiscaraudio.com/speakers

 

I do like how those rear panel speakers look they way you installed them. Post the model# info if you can, as I'd be interested in total mounting depth specs. do you recall what measurements you took in deciding where to cut?

 

https://www.memphiscaraudio.com/speakers

PRX50C

Recovering from a hurricane house and man cave are like a war zone at the moment. This was the set for the rears. Absolutely no clues on measurements. That piece of paper w/ my measurements is in a waste yard somewhere.

 

I gave you the wrong model number. Either the PRXS60 or PRX60C. I have no internet and working from a phone is a nightmare, sorry.

 

My first car was a 1967 4-4-2 I bought in 1969 ($1695.00) perfect condition - I was 17 years old. I had some big thumpers in the rear deck and tweeters in the kick panels. I believe I went through 5 or 6 (minimum) 8-track tape players. Times they are a changing.

 

Love how the speakers fit in the rear I want it on my ride. Just installed some on a 66