i just bought some new speakers for my '84 maro and the 4x6s in the front originally had that little plug that connected them and the new ones have the little connector that slides over a metal piece on the speaker. my question is, do i have to sauder(sp?) the new wires in that came with the speakers, or can i simply take the little plug off the old wires and put the little metal sleeves on them to, thus saving me some work...

 

You can cut the original plug off and crimp the proper blade-style connectors to the wire, or you can tap off of the original wires and make a pig-tail connector. This will serve the same purpose, but will also let you retain the original plug incase you want to re-install the stock speakers in the future.

female blade terminal:


wire tap (in closed position):


The wire taps are hard to find, so you may want to order them from parts express (part number 082-140). The blade terminals are available anywhere.

Once the wire tap is installed, a standard 1/4" blade terminal plugs right into it. The speaker either has 2 large male blade terminals that the 1/4" terminal will fit, or it has a smaller, 1/8" size. In that case, the 1/4" terminal will still fit if you use a pair of pliers to snug the curled part of the connector a tad, and slide 1 side of it over the male pin. This sounds complicated, but if you take a look at it you'll understand.

 

awesome...i think i'm going to cut it off and go with the female blade connectors...thanks...i think i've seen them at the auto parts store and there were a few different ones...any suggestion on what i should be looking at?...

 

get the red ones. Those are designed for 22-18 gauge wire. The blue will be too large. I'd also get the insulated ones... they are fully insulated instead of just on the base like in the picture above.



Save your original plugs (plug them back into the stock speakers) and make sure that when you cut them off, that you leave at least an inch of wire so that you can reattach them if necessary.

 

can i crimp them with just a regular pair of pliers?

 

No. You'll probably mangle the connector trying to get it tight enough. Decent crimpers aren't expensive, and if you intend to continue doing this sort of stuff, they're absolutely necessary.

 

uh...funny you should say that...i ended up doing that to the ones on the back speakers...i think i have one of those crimper/wire cutters/strippers around somewhere...thank you for all of your help...