Hi all, I wanted to upgrade the stereo system with some modern speakers, does anyone know the speaker sizes for the 2 behind the front window and 2 in the tailgate area? I hope I can just pry the covers open gently with a screw driver? Cheers!
I replaced the front speakers on my '73 Custom Cruiser. As I recall, yes, you just pry up the covers carefully with a screwdriver. As far as size, I believe they're 3-inch diameter, but the best thing to do is to take one out and take it with you to the store so you can match it up exactly with whatever you're considering buying as, in addition to matching the size, you want to make sure the mounting hole locations match up. Or, if you're mail-ordering speakers, take one of yours out and measure it both for size and mounting-hole location. My wagon doesn't have factory rear speakers, so I can't help you there.
This doesn't work very well. First, Custom Cruiser isn't a choice if you select 1976 Oldsmobile (or any '71 to '76 Oldsmobile). So you choose Delta 88 or 98, figuring at least the front speakers are the same. But, no, Crutchfield's site thinks the front speakers are in the front doors and are 6-inches in diameter, not on the upper side of the dash and 3-inches in diameter. And it's no help for the rear speakers as it has those mounted on the rear shelf behind the rear seat, not in the rear wheel wells or wherever they're mounted on the wagons. As I said above, the best thing to do is just remove your old speakers before buying anything and take one each of the front and rear with you to the store to match them up with anything new. You can't get more definitive than that.
pretty sure you pull the rear panels out to change the rears. They bolt up from underneath the panel attaching to it
At least on a 72 Buick Estate, the fronts are 3 1/2" and rears are 4"x10". If you reuse your stock radio, you MUST use 10 OHM speakers. Modern 4 OHM speakers will blow the finals in the amplifier section of a stock radio.
Thanks Brad some good info, I was planning to install a Retrosound radio with new speakers (Boss or JBL). Will have to look into the install depth for the speakers and bezel for the radio to see which ones fit.
thanks for the good info on the speaker sizes I need to replace my right rear one in my 72 kingswood estate
There is a warning sticker on my stock speakers that says: Caution, these speakers are not grounded. Why is that relevant?
The rears on my '77 Buick Estate B body are 4X10, probably the same as yours. GM seems to like this size, my Fieros had them in the dash. Unfortunately, the readily available 6X9 speakers won't fit. Replacing them is not a small task, it takes time, patience and a fair amount of luck. Speaker selection is limited, but I scored some 'Better" (good, better, best) Pyramids from the flea market audio vendor. The speakers are mounted on metal brackets that are mounted to the D pillar behind the plastic panel with screws. The job gets more complicated because any decent aftermarket speaker is going to have a much larger magnet than the stock one. You'll have to cut away some of the steel on the inside of the D pillar for clearance. As far as removing the rear panels, once you remove the spare tire cover, pry off the upper window trim, and the upper rear window trim, you can pry off the rear corner trim. Be VERY careful not to break or tear the old plastic! The metal trim is held on with plastic clips which will probably break. The plastic panels are probably brittle, so be very careful! (I can't stress this enough.) I plan to use self tapping stainless steel oval head screws when I finally get to put the window trim back. Ford does it, so it'll look fine. Bottom line, you're dealing with 35+ year old plastic that isn't very flexible anymore, so be careful, take your time, and pick a warm day to start this project. It isn't as easy as replacing speakers in a sedan, so be prepared to have the project drag on for a while. I'll post some pics as I slowly progress. The OE speaker magnets will fit in a hole the size of a half dollar. Aftermarket speakers need a hole more like the size of a Krispy Crème donut.
Since I already started this topic I think I might extend it a bit more. The front 3,5 inch dash speakers really sound a bit thin and I want to take it to another level. My previous car, a 96 Impala also had 4x6 inch speakers in the front doors. Looking at my front door, this would be a great fit, and the depth would be fine too. Since I do not want a cheap aftermarket look, I also found a correct matching color 4x6 speaker grill from an other vehicle. Now here comes the trivia: 1. Guess the car in the last picture 2. Even with the color matching speaker grill, do you think I should cut up the front doors? 3. If I decide to do it, wouldn't the hardboard door rattle a bit since the speaker does not mount exactly in a metal door frame for support?
