4" Front Speaker Upgrade in Vanagon with stock grilles

[Elliott]

A lot of folks have helped me on this forum, so hopefully this posts helps someone... This is how I updgraded the front speakers in my Vanagon, and kept the stock grills....personally I didn't want to modify the speaker holes in my doors (nor did I have the tools to do so), and I like the vintage look of the original grills..

I found these 4" Polk speakers on Crutchfield's website.

The specs are great, they had a handful of good reviews, based on the dimensions they seemed like they would fit, and I've always been really happy with Polk speakers.

FWIW, it took me a minute to figure out that this is how you remove the window crank to get into the door panel:

This is what the Polks look like:

The stock speakers just screw out of the doors, once you get into the panel. They look like this (the hacksaw is for the next step):

BTW, the original Blaupunkt speakers are glued into the plastic cylinder of the original grills. If you just carefully squeeze the edges of the cylinder in the back, the glue should crack and the original speakers will pop right out (at least they did for me)

So, next I used a hacksaw, and sawed the cylinders right off (sorry the pic is sideways...damn iPhone!):

Then, back in the vehicle, I installed the polk speakers by drilling them directly into the door panel like this, (using the included mounting hardware):

Note, DON'T be the bozo that I was, and install them like this the first time... Note, the "DON'T":

This is how they should look from behind:

Speakers are mounted, wires are connected. Next step is to glue the grill fronts straight to the door panel over the new speakers. You may need to sand them down a bit first. The best method I found was to just lay them facedown on a smooth patch of sidewalk, and slide them back and forth with my hand until they were smooth.

Then, using bath/tile silicone, I glued the fronts of the original grills to the panel...I used silicone so I can remove them fairly easily should I want to down the road. So far, they seem to be holding pretty well. I'll let you know in a couple weeks if they fall off! And you're obviously welcome to use a stronger adhesive.

One thing here is that it's a little tricky to get the grill to stay in place while the glue dries (without standing there for an hour). I used duct tape. But I realized after that you could probably close the door, and wedge a small book between the space between the speaker and the side of the dash to hold the grill firm while the glue dries...

Be careful not to get any adhesive on the speaker!

And here's the finished product. Those of you who are more handy, could probably make them look a little more seamless than me...I think I attached the grill just about half a millimeter too low. But overall, not bad. The cranks work fine, and I love the vintage look of the original grills.

The Polk speakers are a huge upgrade from the stock speakers. I'm really happy with how they sound.

I put these in last weekend....

THEN, I spent half of yesterday installing an amp in the space under the driver's seat, and am now officially blown away by the quality of these speakers. If an amp install might be somewhere down the line for you, know that these speakers will sound good now, and will sound even better once you get around to running them off an amp one day down the road.

Once again, hope this helps someone! Next project is to figure out how the heck to do the rear speakers!

Elliott

[IdahoDoug]

Nice - great timing as Im considering speakers this winter..
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1993 Toyota LandCruiser, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[b00t]

Great post, I have this on the list to do and was very helpful. I do hate to glue the speaker covers down but looks like there is just no way around that.
Good job, good write up, thanks

[purplepeopleeater]

Has anyone thought about cutting down the speaker itself? like the mounting ears and shape them a little? or is it still too big?

I have the same speakers stashed and need different ones but I am unwilling to have anything else besides the stock look

[MarkWard]

Very good documentation. Don't shoot the messenger, but I came across this link and actually purchased the speakers from Crutchfield as well when I needed to replace all 4 speakers. I post this in case someone comes across your thread and may not want to go the exact route you did to reuse the stock covers. These replacement speakers may also not sound as good as the ones you chose. mark

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=458623

[Elliott]

[chojinchef]

I did the same thing (cutting the rear of the grille close to the face) but I left a 1 inch tab on the top rear of the cover to locate and to add a bit of support. Still slid over and secured with adhesive, but its not completely relying on the adhesive to keep it up.

Should be great either way, tab may be overkill.
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Its a mistress; an expensive, whiney, needy bitch of a mistress. She is a chunky, dirty girl with bad skin, little motivation and yet she always makes me smile. She sure has been around before shacking up with me. She has a direct line to my wallet, plays with my emotions, is consistantly jovial yet with a sarcastic and sardonic side, is consistant in her inconsistancy, and every once in a while gives me a great ride and a fantastic memory.

[Love My Westy]

I think I would like to use the Boston Accoustics S45 speakers and install them using the original grills as discussed in this thread. Can anyone give me a reason that it wouldn't work? They would be installed on the rear of the door panel and from inside the A/C cabinet with the original grills glued on.

I managed to pick up a Boss 600 Sub from Amazon for $96 which will go under the drivers seat and I'm going to order 100 sq ft of Fatmat to lower the road and engine noise.

I still haven't decided on a head unit but I don't think I need a big amplifier with the S45's.

[goffoz]

[purplepeopleeater]

[denwood]

Adding a 6" mid drive in the door makes a substantial difference..providing you've got some clean power driving them. This door setup, two 4x6 three ways in the rear AC cabinet, and a 12" sub mounted in the closet with a few amps thrown in sounds awesome. The silver amp is bridged and fires the sub, the purple amp is a 4 channel and does the front/rear. About 800 watts.

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Cheers,
Dennis Wood
The Grape

[BetaVan]

It's all about the power in the end. Clean and properly rated amps make all the difference. I cringe at Boss amps. No offense - cause I've had one before. Then I stepped up to Fosgate, Pioneer, and recently Orion. Sooooo much better. You can get such good deals nowadays. Crutchfield is great, but a bit overpriced IMO. Go to amazon or sonicelectronix, get last year's model for 1/2 off. There's a fosgate 5 channel amp for $200 right now, and you can find 4 channels of great pedigree close to $100. Play it loud, and play it clean!

[Hendoo]

To the original poster...did you try the grills the speakers came with? They don't look that thick, but can't tell by looking at the website. Just curious.

[goffoz]

[bosruten]

I spent the weekend sorting my power lock issue and since I had the panels off, I decided to fix the cracklin coming from the front speakers. I used the op's approach except I substituted these : http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/CarAu...?locale=en for the polks...Wow! sounds great and looks stock! Thanks for the inspiration.
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'87 Syncro Weekender

[benandmj]

The idea of gluing on the speaker grills seems terrible to me... Why not just run the screws through them so they are removable?
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85 Westfalia Weekender
91 Syncro Westy

[bosruten]

[benandmj]

so running the screws in from behind makes more sense. I certainly understand your goal.
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85 Westfalia Weekender
91 Syncro Westy

[devesvws]

so I called Crutchfield's to see if they have the polk speakers, and they did not living far from them i went down and picked them up on sale. I was very impressed the care they took packaging the speakers & the outstanding quality they seem to be, it was very easy installation and took about 15 minutes to install all four speakers. thanks op for suggesting these
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THE FEW THE PROUD THE ORIGINAL VW WATERBOXER -> looking for a original 91 vanagon owners manual with 1991 on the cover http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmuiG2tUsP4&feature=share https://picasaweb.google.com/101290228103300323836/BostonBobFlywheelVideo#5543000332201103922

[WillSharp]

I recently installed GW ABS plastic door panels and moved my front speaker down from the original location. The speakers are 5.5 in KAPA Infinities and they sound great. Hope this helps anyone thinking about moving their speakers.

Notice the speaker taped in place with a red center point. Make reference points on the sides of the door to transfer the center point onto the panel. I then drilled a pilot hole in the panel and hung it over the speaker to see if my hole alined.

Use a tape or a straightedge to get your center.
Put the speakers in without the door panel as seen in the first pic. use tape on the actual door edges the make a X shape cross-reference. Take out the speaker and put on the panel and make your middle mark.

Depending on the speakers you are installing finding a hole saw that will work can be hard. I bought a adjustable hole saw on Amazon for $18 that worked great on the panels. My speakers were a 120mm hole, a hard size to find.

Before you drill your hole, make the same mark on the other panel to save time of having to redo all the measuring. I recommend checking your pilot hole before drilling though!

In order to put the speaker lower and also be able to use the window crank I had to move there map tray. This was not overly difficult. I made a template of the screw pattern and then transferred it to the new panel.