s13 -coupe- front speakers (4x6s), install problems

[emkkrem]

i bought some new front speakers for my 93 s13 COUPE which has 4x6s, not the 6.5s in the front. it was weird because they wont fit right. anybody here experience problems with installing front speakers on their s13 coupe?

[NCturbo75]

You bought some new 4"x6" to replace the olds one right?? If they don't fit into the mounting bracket, you can just remove it and make yourself a new template for your new speakers. It shouldn't cost you more than $10 bucks for the project if you already have some power tools.

[zerosum6]

Some 4x6's are too deep, as this is probibly the case just dremel or cutout the inside of the bracket where the magnet is touching.

[carcrazyguy]

You bought some new 4"x6" to replace the olds one right?? If they don't fit into the mounting bracket, you can just remove it and make yourself a new template for your new speakers. It shouldn't cost you more than $10 bucks for the project if you already have some power tools.

There are a several technical reasons why this is a bad idea, but to not bore everyone with them, I will point out the most obvious.

With homemade and/or Ebay "speaker brackets" that seem to be common these days, the back of your speaker will get wet every time it rains. If you will notice, the factory provision has a back plate to stop this phenomenom (for a reason). Also, the factory plate is angled for better imaging. With a flat plate, your speakers fire right into your feet. Worst of all, with the flat plate, there is a gap between the speaker cutout provision in the door panel and the speaker itself. With such a configuration, you get road noise from inside the door panel, and worst of all standing waves and lack of any enclosure make the speaker sound poor.

So bottom line, simply get a 4x6 that fits the parameters, and all will be good. Yes, retail market 4x6's will not bolt in perfectly. It takes all of 1 minute to make them do so however...simply take your old speaker as a template face to face with your new speakers, mark the difference with a marker, use some tin snips, and viola - see pics below.

Also, if you are a perfectionist like me, you will likely want to caulk any gaps and add new "speaker foam tape" to the front of the assembly, as the old will be worn out...not necessary, but it will help. I took a pic before I did that as you can see I had just cleaned off the old gasket at that point, but you will likely notice black caulking as the speaker has no front to back gaps.

One more note, make sure you buy some 4x6's that have the square frame already built in, and simply buy a speaker that has 1 3/4" top mount depth or less and you will need all of 1 minute to make the new speakers work perfectly.Or can spend $10 on ABS and half a day making a plate and hack in ill fitting and sounding speakers as the other guy suggested???