Show me your rear shelf speakers — 911 coupe and Targa

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Starting this thread to help myself and others who may find themselves in the same situation.

I took my Targa on the local PCA Holiday charity drive last weekend and while enjoying Christmas music along the route I noticed a clunk or rattle coming from the rear parcel shelf area. I thought something had come loose around one of the rear Blaupunkt speakers that were installed in the car by a previous owner.



I pulled off the speaker grill and much to my surprise it was the speaker itself that was rattling. It seems the flexible material that connects the speaker cones to the speaker enclosure had rotted away over the years and the speakers had started to rattle, hiss, and pop during the Holiday drive.



I removed the speaker enclosures to see what sort of holes had been cut in the rear trim panel. Luckily the holes themselves are only about 4 inches in diameter with the screw holes spaced about 4 1/2 inches apart.



I decided to remove the rear trim panel expecting the worst but surprisingly the backside was clean and looked almost like new and the sound deadening material beneath also looked very good minus the areas that had been "excavated' to install the speakers. Luckily they had not cut any metal during the install but sadly they did run some sheet metal screws into the rear shelf metal.



I also looked all around the base of the rear glass and did not find any signs of rust, just shiny Albert Blue plaint all around. I did find one area where the rear glass seal was puckered. Otherwise it was surprisingly clean.



Any ideas how I can fix the warpage in the top center of the rear trim panel while I have it out? Heat/steam perhaps? If I can get it straight I could always apply a bit of fiberglass to the backside for strength and to help stop it from warping again.




I will also need to figure out a solution for speakers that fit the holes and depth without causing any new damage. I could possibly replace the speakers in the old Blaupunkt enclosures to maintain a somewhat vintage look but I am guessing there are better alternatives. On my Targa the biggest issue is the depth of the speakers. Even with some of the sound deadening removed under the stream panel there is still only about 1 1/8 inch of depth, the rest is above the surface of the rear trim panel inside the 1 in tall speaker housing.

Show your rear shelf speakers solutions!

[Mixed76]

Google "speaker recone kit", you can get replacement foam surrounds (the rotten part is called the surround) for cheap. They are fairly easy to replace and made of more durable material. Carefully peel/ crumble/ slice off the old surround, clean the cone edge with alcohol. Glue the new surround to the cone, let cure, then glue the surround to the basket.

Clean carefully, center carefully, will sound like new.

That's if you were happy with the sound of the speakers before.

Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk

[Jack Stands]

Clover Speaker enclosures were another option back in the day. You could also fabricate a flat panel out of plywood or MDF to fit over the rear shelf to accommodate other speakers. However, reconing your speaker would be the easiest and cheapest option.

[jac1976]

Pairs of NOS A/D/S and Nakamichi plates come up for sale from time to time.

[spedrcr]

The speaker looks to be modular to the mounting plate. Try removing the speaker with the four screws at the corners. I bet it will come right out. Then you can take the 4” speaker with you to a local budget car stereo store to find a match for the mount.

The Blaupunkt separate plate speaker is very period correct. I’d want to keep that intact as much as possible

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Crutchfield was having a Day-after-Christmas sale so I picked up some new component speakers (woofer & tweeter) to replace the deteriorated originals. Plan is to install the new speakers in the old Blaupunkt housing. Picked up a matching 4x6 to replace the old 4x8 dash speaker as well.

If I get it all to work I will be sure to post an update.

[joe payne]

I have Boston Acoustics plates that look very similar to yours. I bought them mid 90's. Maybe they're still available.

[Travis Neff]

I was able to fix up my front door pockets and I am sure that the same method would work on that back panel.

I took a small dishrag and put in a cup of boiling water, wrung it out (damp, not dripping) and placed where I wanted to take out the bend. I clamped some small, long pieces of wood over the top of the rag and the same long strips along the opposite side and and let it sit. repeat as necessary. Once you get it back into shape you want to hold the clamps on until the panel dries. For weak spots I mixed up some fiberglass resin and painted it on the back side.

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

Originally Posted by Travis Neff

I was able to fix up my front door pockets and I am sure that the same method would work on that back panel.

I took a small dishrag and put in a cup of boiling water, wrung it out (damp, not dripping) and placed where I wanted to take out the bend. I clamped some small, long pieces of wood over the top of the rag and the same long strips along the opposite side and and let it sit. repeat as necessary. Once you get it back into shape you want to hold the clamps on until the panel dries. For weak spots I mixed up some fiberglass resin and painted it on the back side.

Thanks Travis. I was thinking of trying a similar approach. Glad to know it works. Will definitely try and report back.

[Hi_Fi_Guy]

I picked up a set of Polk component speakers at Crutchfield’s day-after-Christmas sale. The measurements online suggested these could be made to fit. The old Blaupunkt speakers featured a built in crossover attached inside the enclosure. The new speakers come with an external crossover box I will need to hide behind an interior panel. These new speakers are rated as dustproof and waterproof and recommended for convertibles/Jeeps so should be perfect for the Targa.



The trick will be to get the new speakers to fit in the old enclosure.





I disassembled the old speakers and cleaned up the enclosures.



I test fit the woofer and it looked like only minimal trimming of the mounting tabs would be required to make these fit.



The old tweeters were epoxied in. The new tweeters come with ingenious "X" brackets that help clamp them to the original mounting plate. I also used a bit of epoxy to eliminate vibrations like the old tweeters.




I used a Dremel tool to grind away some material from the woofer mounting tabs and the speaker dropped right in. Perfect fit. New woofer and tweeter in the old enclosure.


Next I took the time to carefully install everything into the car. Speakers wired up, and hidden behind the old Blaupunkt grills. I also purchased a matching 4x8 dash speaker but that may be a project for the future since my car has a plastic dash cover hiding the original dash and speaker grill.




How do they sound? The speakers are driven directly off the RetroSound head unit offering up 24watts per channel. I would say the clarity and loudness is at least double the old speakers if not more. There is a noticeable boost in bass response but maybe not as much as one would imagine. That said they are a massive improvement over the old speakers and they sound terrific considering they sit directly on the rear deck.

I can not imagine anyone but audiophiles used to the high-end audio in modern cars being disappointed with these speakers. I have a feeling if these speakers were mounted in some sort of an enclosure they would probably sound twice as nice.

For me the goal was to maintain the look of the old Blaupunkt speakers while improving the sound and from that standpoint these are a major upgrade. My wife and I should be able to enjoy music at all speeds top-on or off and we could not say that before. Should make all future road trips and long drives more enjoyable.

Next, I will have to deal with that old dash speaker!