I'm still not sure what to do with the radio and speakers in the Cutlass. I want more than AM, and I'd like to keep the original radio. Since it is a vert I don't think spending a lot on a conversion is worth it. (too noisy) I don't want kick pannel speakers because they delete the vents. I'm thinking of using an antenna interrupt,(tap in portable FM radio and Sat. Radio) but what would you suggest for speakers? It only has the single speaker in the middle of the dash. I don't want permanent mods to the original interior. Am I asking for too much?

 

They make a replacement speaker that has 2 where the one used to be. I think I got mine from Year One.But whatever you do, don't buy the ersatz repo radio. It's a real POS. Becuase my dual speaker is hooked up to a POS radio, I can't tell ya how good they are. So I just drop the top and listen to the Flowmasters.

 

my kind of music!

to the OP, i wonder if you could wire in some kind of speaker box? i dont mean subwoofers, i mean that ive seen them where they are a little box that looks the same, but contains a 6x9 regular or three-way speaker. you wouldnt have to cut into anything to mount these as they could probly just sit behind the seat or maybe even under it. just a thought

edit: something like this. then you woulnd only have to deal with wiring, instead of custom fabrication to put speakers in

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_2366900...ch=speaker+box

 

Do you have speaker cutouts already in the rear deck? If so, you could mount some new ones there and connect to one of those "hidden" radios.
I have not tried those, but I think that would be the righ direction so you can keep the rare stock radio. Many of those have ipod inputs so connect an mp3 player and worry about the antenna later...

OR get an AM transmitter (do they make these?), plug in the lighter (or hardwire and hide), plug in your ipod and listen to your favorite tunes in the warm tone of your stock AM radio!

 

could also hide a radio in the glove box. ive seen that done before

 

Hey Rob:

It looks like he has the same rear deck you and I have, none. His avatar looks like a convertible. I would put a good radio in the glovebox and put two speakers in the current opening in the dash. In my Cutlass, I took a small piece of plywood and mounted two small speakers in it am cut it to fit the opening of the original speaker. Of course you can buy them ready to go.

 

redoldsman: Any pics of your set-up?

 

It sure looked like a vinyl-top model to me...
Even if a convertible, there might be some usable openings in there somewhere. The early 70's A-body 'vert's had the stock speaker openings in the rear "triangle", firing into the top boot (what the heck were they thinking/smoking in doing THAT design??)

 

No. I did it about 15 years ago. My car already had the dash cut so I have aftermarket radio with a cassette player (remember it is 15 years old). I used a thin piece of plywood and cut it about the size of the original dash speaker. I then layed the original speaker on top and marked the mounting holes and drilled them. I had two small round speakers and cut holes for them. I painted the plywood black so it would not be visible through the dash and then mounted the speakers and mounted the whole thing in the dash. You will not get great sound out of it due to the size of the speakers but you can still play oldies with the top down. I will probably add some kick panel speakers since my car has factory air. Let us know if we can help. I hope this gives you some idea.

 

The kick panel conversion seems to still allow the vent to work. Don't know for sure but looks like it in pictures. In my 70 vert I used a bass tube attached to the trunk torsion springs-nothing cut, doesn't interfere w/ roof and really doesn't take up any useable trunk space. Bass is better w/ roof up than down but it is strong either way. I can hear music clearly @ 70mph w/ top down. Amp is mounted flat on "upper trunk floor along w/ a capacitor-both partly/mostly covered by top well fabric.

Front 6" mounted in lower doors (same can be accomplished w/kick panels).

Problem comes in the back- a "no hole" install will pretty much leave you w/ speakers firing into the rear seat cushion/insulator which is going to really hurt performance. You could also go w/ speaker boxes but if you have kids or passengers regularly they will get old(& probably damaged) quickly. I managed to mount high end Alpines(deep/very large magnets) in my rear armrests but you are looking @ some LARGE holes, difficult layout & install, dying the grilles to match if your interior isn't black(mine is pearl) and you want them unobtrusive. With a lighter duty speaker it may not be that difficult an install but there is not a lot of room in that space that is not used by the top pistons to articulate. Remember the rear armrests are either available or at least not hard to come by so you could have a replacement set or modify the new ones to install & leave the originals unaltered.

I don't know about radio options other than I have read about a guy(s) who mods factory radios(don't know about an AM only) & can add an input jack for external source(ipod,etc) without obviously altering the face of the radio. I always just stick an old Alpine in & go w/ it-unbeatable unless it has to look OE.

Hope some of this helps you to weigh options.

 

The kick panel option says that it deletes the vent. It still might be the best way to go. I'll just keep the old kicks for future. Has anyone had good or bad results with a radio conversion (new guts in old radio)?

 

How bout original set-up...Delco am/fm wonder bar with original speakers. This is my setup and I love it. The way it was in 1969...WOODSTOCK...MOON LANDING & PURPLE HAZE.....YEAH....

 

I'm making a few guesses here, but this might be another avenue to pursue. I had the same problem with my '68 convertible - I wanted more than just the AM the car came with, and I wanted more than just one speaker. I discovered that allowances were made to mount a rear speaker in the '68 convertible, behind the rear passenger seat back. There was a cut-out that perfectly matches a 6X9 speaker. I also discovered that a rear speaker, and AM-FM and AM-FM stereo were options in '68 (didn't know that before; when I grew up, AM was king!). I see in one of my books that the '65 option list includes an AM-FM radio (U69) and a couple of rear speaker options (U80 and U84 - I don't know which would apply in your case). Anyway, I found a '68 factory AM-FM radio and an original rear speaker, mounted them and it works great - just as long as the top is up! When the top is down, the rear speaker is useless so I just switch the balance control to all front. Check the metal work behind your rear seat to see if there is a cut-out for a 6X9 speaker. If so, my suggestion would be to find a 1965 factory AM-FM radio with the rear speaker fader control, as well as a compatible rear speaker (need at least 10 ohms resistance or the factory radio will burn up the speaker), install them and use that method. The car still appears all original and you've enhanced your sound system somewhat! I thought about installing a factory AM-FM stereo radio but the stereo radios of that era are terrible, in my opinion - I like just straight FM with the same sound coming out of both speakers, rather than the patchy stereo sound that those radios produced. It appears that AM-FM stereo was not an option in '65; just AM-FM. Hope this provides a different insight.

 

There are a couple guys who take the original radio, gut it and build a new AM/FM radio with a jack for an IPod (which you can hide in the glove box). Can do 2 channel or 4. Here is one of the guys

http://www.joesclassiccarradio.com/

 

Thanks Rdrokit, but it looks like Joe does not do conversions anymore. I have found others who still do conversions. My problem is more with speaker mounting.

 

That's what I get living in Thailand and being out of the loop for so long. Being an old timer I get along with a 2 channel set up, one front and one rear and with the new 2 & 3 way speakers the sound is WAY better than when I was cruising in the 60's.