[67drake]

I’m planning on putting a factory AM/FM radio in place of my non functioning original AM radio. I already have the radio, and it’s also converted to Bluetooth capability.
I’m SURE the original dash and package tray speaker could use replacement. I want it to sound good and fit in the factory positions with no cutting.
Any recommendations?
BTW, if this thread has to be moved, I understand. I just figured it would get overlooked in the electrical forum.

[Greg Reid]

I seem to recall a company that was re-coning old dried out speakers.

[Greg Reid]

Found this one- http://jvrestorations.com/car-speaker-repair-service/

[gto4ben]

I've used JV restorations for restoring ten of my original speakers. The last time I used his services was in may of 2020. The cone cover matched very well and the sound was great. My cones are 10ohm impedance. He has both the shallow rear cones used for my '67 as well as the deep cones used in '66 and earlier. Here are some examples of his work as well as what the speakers looked liked originally.

[67drake]

Thanks guys.
I guess I should add, it doesn’t have to be a concours match. I figured a modern speaker with tweeters would sound better than the plain AM woofer speaker. I want to to mount as a original would though,so I don’t have to hack or modify anything for mounting.

[Bill Hanlon]

Before you go too far, explain what is meant by "factory AM/FM radio" and "converted to Bluetooth". Old factory radios are pretty sensitive to speaker loads.

Many of the GM radios used 10 ohm speakers and can be damaged by using modern 4 ohm speakers. Was your factory radio gutted and whole new insides inserted (4 ohm speakers should be OK) or was the Bluetooth input just wired into the factory radio guts (better stick with stock-rated speakers)?

[62posbonny]

I had the Aurora FMR conversion done to my stock AM radio and replaced the dash speaker with a custom autosound 6x10 with dual tweeters for stereo sound. It leaves a lot to be desired, and i will soon be replacing it with a conversion plate and dual 3.5"s of a better quality.

[JLMounce]

Originally Posted by 62posbonny

I had the Aurora FMR conversion done to my stock AM radio and replaced the dash speaker with a custom autosound 6x10 with dual tweeters for stereo sound. It leaves a lot to be desired, and i will soon be replacing it with a conversion plate and dual 3.5"s of a better quality.

This.

If the radio has been converted to modern mosfet electronics, you should couple that radio with some modern 6x9's in the rear and ditch the mono channel in the front dash.

A dual voice coil center speaker will be okay, but they tend to be muddy and you're bouncing sound off the windshield. It's just not that great for clarity. In fact I'd go as far as saying that having two great quality 6x9's in the back would trump having two good 6x9's in the back along with a dual voice coil speaker in the dash.

The next step up is to go with componant speakers in the doors or kick-panels. If you can get a 6" component speaker installed, that is best, followed by a 4" component.

A further step up from there would be a divorced component setup with again a 6" mid-range woofer in the door or kick panel with tweeters up around the top of the dash, near or in the A-pillers.

I have 6x9's in the rear deck and 4" components in the kick panles. a kenwood deck powers everything without any external amps. It's simple, works decent and provides decent sound from the Focal speakers. It could be a lot better, but it's passable. It's IMHO the minimum type of stereo that should be in these cars if they don't need to be or also look factory.

[67drake]

Originally Posted by Bill Hanlon

Before you go too far, explain what is meant by "factory AM/FM radio" and "converted to Bluetooth". Old factory radios are pretty sensitive to speaker loads.

Many of the GM radios used 10 ohm speakers and can be damaged by using modern 4 ohm speakers. Was your factory radio gutted and whole new insides inserted (4 ohm speakers should be OK) or was the Bluetooth input just wired into the factory radio guts (better stick with stock-rated speakers)?

PY member Jim Shepherd did the Bluetooth conversion. I believe the Bluetooth just goes through the stock Pontiac AM/FM radio innerds. I should probably email him just to confirm though.

[Bill Hanlon]

Originally Posted by 67drake

PY member Jim Shepherd did the Bluetooth conversion. I believe the Bluetooth just goes through the stock Pontiac AM/FM radio innerds. I should probably email him just to confirm though.

I can't remember when GM ditched the 10 ohm speakers (I can't remember what I had for breakfast either), but I'm pretty sure it was after your radio came along. Stick with 10 ohm speakers unless you replace the radio.

[Brentco]

Yeah you first need to confirm the watt/ohm output of your radio. That will tell you what ohm speakers you need, and also whether you’ll need an amp or can drive them directly off the head unit.

Jlmounce outlined all your options perfectly. As he said, forget the front dash speaker. You won’t be able to get one that will fit there and also keep up with the rest of the speakers. The only thing I would add is that (IMO) you need some sort of subwoofer.

[Bill Hanlon]

... or you could just listen to a sub 14 second Pontiac.

[67drake]

Originally Posted by Bill Hanlon

... or you could just listen to a sub 14 second Pontiac.

Oh I do!
Just that on those longer road trips it’s nice to have some music. In no way am I cutting the doors or kick panels, or even putting speakers on the floor. Just want to replace the original 2 with ones that may sound better than the stock 50+ year old ones, in the original locations. If nothing is available, I’ll keep it originals.
Thanks guys

[shaker455]

Kicker KS series speakers sound real good.
This season I put a set 6x9's in the rear and a pair of 4" round in the front in place of my factory mono speaker in my 70' Camaro.
I used the factory speaker frame to mount the pair as I had altered it back in the 80's.
I have a Kenwood shaft deck KRC-3006

[OG68]

Our sponsor sells upgraded factory speakers for front and rear. Rears are currently out of stock unfortunately

https://www.amesperf.com/parts/25328/

[61-63]

I have a brand new in the box never used Electro-Tech 4x10 8 ohm uni-fb jn410cd-8a speaker that I will give you for the price of shipping if that will work for you. I bought it for my '63 Catalina but then decided to take it radio delete. I think I paid $35 for it or something like that and have tried to sell it but no takers.

[Vid]

Interesting that the factory speakers are 10 ohm, that’s an unusual rating. Probably the most common are 8 ohm.

Not much to do with Pontiacs but the vast majority of my guitar amps are 8 ohm, and my bass amps tend to be 2 or 4 ohm. These are largely vintage tube powered amps and not solid state.

You can safely go higher than 10 ohm if you need to, say 16 ohm but there will likely be a drop in volume. Never go lower, say down to an 8 or 4 ohm, that’s inviting amplifier failure. I had to replace the transformer in a rare Hiwatt bass amp once because I used a really cool speaker cabinet but wasn’t sure about the ohm rating. I used it anyway. Turned out to be a 2 ohm speaker and the amp was 8 ohm. It took a while but I noticed that the amp was gradually losing volume and punch. That was the transformer going out.

Good luck with the project!


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