I've done some serious thinking about reversible stereo installation on a B
Roadster with a friend of mine who is a professional installer. Depending
on what you want to do, what seems to be the best setup, with the least
amount of drilling / cutting is as follows.
Front: Install a pair of small (3 1/2") two-way speakers behind the radio
console. You can mount them either in a custom panel (like I did) or they
will bolt on to the existing holes for the console. Another idea is to
build a custom panel for the footwells, wherein you could mount just about
any speaker you want. If you're not shy about cutting in to the top rail
of the door (an easily replaceable part of the interior, incidentally), you
could mount a flush-tweeter there, to add presence.
Rear: You have options here. My car is a 72 with the twin battery
compartments and a 12V conversion, so I don't know if this would work on a
77: Build a band-pass box in to the empty battery compartment and mount a
8" subwoofer. It could be ported through the bottom and the top of the box
via the battery cover (another easily replaceable part). This would give a
nice smooth boost, without deafening your neigbors. Next, you can fit
flush mount 4" rectangular two-way speakers (like the type used in the dash
of GM cars) in the existing hole in the body behind the hood (convertible
top) mounts. An alternative to this (although not as pretty), would be to
drill a hole through the wall between the battery compartment and the
seats, and mount a speaker made by Pioneer there. They make a
self-contained 3-way band pass speaker that fits there nicely, and is
unobtrusive, as long as you're not a particularly tall person.
Amps/Crossovers/CD Changer: Mount these in a custom box, fitted to the
very back of the trunk. You can then attatch the box to the body of the
car with silicone sealant. It will stay put, until you want to take it
out, and you only have to drill one hole to run the wires up to the head
unit.
These are (currently) the best ideas we've come up with for a quality
installation. The price should be reasonable, too. BTW: Don't let anyone
tell you that that sort of installation in a convertible is
counterproductive: If you lay it out right, you WILL get a nice, full
sound, even with the top down at 60.
Regards,
J
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