dctrouant1995

For those wanting to upgrade to bigger speakers in the dash:
I got a set of pioneer 5.25 speakers for free from work today so I decided to install them in my dash, took about 1 and 1/2 hours.
Pull the dashpad off, gauge trim piece off, instrument panel off, take all the screws holding the top of the dash to the firewall off,take the left side defroster vent tube out, cover the whole with gorilla tape or duct tape (won't be able to reuse the tube).
For the driver side: There is a little hole in the top left corner that has to be opened up, use whatever to cut it. then once your able to get the bottom of the magnet in, mark the top mounting plastic where it needs to be trimmed, and trim it, then set the speaker in and leave it. No need to put screws in.
For the passenger side: nothing to modify, but you can only mount one tab of the speaker which is enough. Find a sheet metal screw that is larger in diameter than the stock screw and screw it into the factory hole on the left or right side.
Next is the speaker grills on the dash, cut out the centers and wrap with speaker cloth
Reassemble everything and enjoy!
Pics will be up later

dctrouant1995

Also to put the gauge cluster back in, on the far left holes, top and bottom, you will have to use longer 7mm screws like the ones in the back of the dash where the defroster vents are. It will raise the speaker up slightly, but once you put the dash on, it will be fine

dctrouant1995

Pic 1- the vent tube the needs to be removed
Pic 2- the defroster vent hole that needs to be sealed
Pic 3- the hole that needs to be cut (I used a leatherman that had the saw on it, a dremel would work alot better)
Thats all I have for now, will get more pics of the procedure, installation and final product.

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

I Can't believe your hacking up the dash for a speaker.

NowhereFast

I can. Nothing's a shock after being on these boards for 5 years.

soul.justice

It's not the size of the speaker that kill anything decent being in the dash, but the depth. You can mount whatever you like in the passenger side, there's room all day over there, but on the driver's side there's just too much stuff in the way. You get anything with a magnet deeper than 1.75" and you're gonna hit whatever that yellow doodad is on the back of the speedometer.

dctrouant1995

Mantaguy: Its a just a Trans Am (Its not something rare or desirable or expensive), you can find dashes for em everywhere, once you put it all together you can't tell its hacked.
soul.justice: Thats why I had to modify the dash, that little hole just had to be opened a little bit, not deepened. I have an electronic speedometer, not cable. But I did have to use a long 7mm screw

mantaguy

iTrader: (5)

Yea!!! but it's a 25 yr old Trans Am..

dctrouant1995

I know, I didn't want to hack the dash up but I cant afford new speakers and the pioneers were free and sound 10x better. I'm going to restore it back to factory original and add as many options as possible, so I'll be puttin a different dash in anyway