Drive in speakers for car audio

Has anyone used old drive in movie speaker boxers for car audio on their rod? I know they only accept 4 inch speakers, but their the same mounting as modern 4" automotive speakers so you could get good sound. And the old metal drive in casings can be had really cheap.

I've been thinking of running 1 on each door bolted from inside the door for theft/high-speed loss prevention. And then 2 more with the rear door brackets removed and mounted to a panel that will cover my stereo receiver recessed into the dash. that way I can turn a knob and swing the front speakers down to reveal a more modern stereo.. Plus I can use one of the potentiometers (volume control dial) on the dash speakers to adjust volume on all 4 speakers saving me from having to reveal the receiver often

From quick pricing I could buy the 4 drive in speaker casings, modern 4" speakers, A decent AM/FM/CD receiver, And have only spent $150-200 for a hidden system with a bit of fun to it.

Here's a quick idea of what I was thinking. I also Added a do***ent pocket in it in the picture so I had a place to put my reg and ins.

 

No, I have never done it but I think it is a cool idea. Think I'll do that myself.

 

Heh go for it. I knew if i posted the idea before I made it It'd get copied.

oh and to stop it from rattling a couple of glove box rubber bumpers would help keep tension on the door reducing any possible slop in the setup. and they can be pulled straight out of almost any modern car at a jy and pocketed while hunting for other parts

 

I've been thinking about doing the same thing, actually. There's nothing new under the sun.

 

A friend of mine did this and it looks trick...in addition he put remote audio jacks and has an extra pair that he hangs off his tailgate at swapmeets and shows...

cool tees: www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236347

 

Good Idea! it's no like it'd be hard to wire a set with jacks to be removable. I'd just want to have rubber plugs in the jacks when not in use to stop water from shorting em

 

His are in the rolled rail at the top of his bed and he took a couple of those snap in chrome caps and tapped a hole in them in the center...

cool tees: www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236347

 

probably not how i'd run the jacks but neat idea

 

I doubt they would sound very good. Speakers like that are usually very low wattage with very small voice coils resulting in almost no b*** and probable distortion at even a fairly low volume.

 

that's why he is installing new 4" speakers and only using the casings.

 

Sounds like a good idea, the only concern I would have would be resonance inside the tin enclosure. Wouldn't happen all the time, only with certain frequencies. Every enclosure has a resonant frequency and because those are so small, it's probably going to be high in the spectrum and could be very annoying. You can most likely avoid it by using a good sound dampener inside the enclosure to absorb the resonance and lessen it. Also on the outside of the case where ever its going to come into contact with any other metal. I think Dynamat still makes some spray dampener that would work great. I've worked at a car audio shop for a little over 11 years and anytime I did anything on a older car I used dampener anywhere I could.

 

They would look really cool with some chick in a poodle skirt dancing with some guy engraved in your side windows.

 

My dad used to steal them and use them in his cars when he was a kid.

 

wouldn't rattle can bed liner do the same thing at a fraction of the price. i'm sure the dynomat stuff is super nice but they can get sorta pricey though. and what about water proof trailer pig-tails for the connections.

 

Never used it, but don't see why not. I was also going to suggest some stuff at Lowe's. It's used to patch tin roofs. It's comes in a roll, it's called Peel-n-seal. Smells bad for a few days, kinda like tar. Cheap and if you the surface is clean, will stick really well. Just peel the backing and stick it where you need. Makes a good dampener, used it on the floor and inside the doors of a Ford Ranger I used to own. Really deadened the doors and floor.

 

yeah or undercoating. 3M does a nice undercoating that actually dries... doesn't stay tacky. Part number 8883.

 

used that stuff before it's super cheap compared to dynomat (like 1/3 to 1/5 the price)

that's what I planned on using inside the cases anyhow lol

 

got one in my 66 c10, hooked it up and turned it on. sounds good enough considering that the drive in has been torn down 25 years. remember that the speaker will probally weigh a couple of pounds . i dont have much trouble with it bouncing around.

 

Hey wait that's what I have in my truck! Who's copying who?

 

I be thinking of putting two mounted were the head rest was. Make the mount that will use the holes, and can be taken out when not in use....

 

gotta tell you guys,they will sound like ****! You need X amount of air space to make a speaker sound correct and put on top of that that it is a sealed unit it may look kinda kool but it will sound like a POS A/M radio.....just my opnion but then again I was in the car audio biz for about 15 years..........good luck,

 

Before you do anything permanent try it out. 4" speakers aren't too hard to find and if you already have the box, put a set together and loosely attach them how you pan to with velcro or whatever and see, scratch that... HEAR how they sound. Unless you are totally tone deaf, you probably won't like it. I am not trying to be negative, just realistic as my experience and others on here have proven. I think the idea is cool and maybe you could use a modified version of this idea. Perhaps run main speakers in the doors and then these as aux./ fill, but I wouldn't recommend them as main speakers. It sounds like you have some creative ideas just expand on them a little. I second the sound deadening and use some polyfill inside too with a high pas x-over.

 

spray on bedliner helps a LITTLE, but products like Dynamat do MUCH better and help with heat, too. There are product with similar properties as Dynamat at much cheaper prices. You are, in part, paying for the name.

Yeah, but these cars came with AM radios originally, so it will kind of sound authentic no matter what CD you're listening to! I mounted a speaker in the stock location in my 59 and it sounds great, but still sounds like an old car. If I wanted a high end stereo, I'd drive a modern car.... but that's just me

 

Walmart sells a VERY nice line of inexpensive auto speakers that I've used on large scale model trains with great effect. One would be perfect in a drive-in speaker.

Most of the old drive-in speaker housings I've seen are diecast... rattle should not be a problem unless they are mounted poorly.

But why not use wireless headphones for outside the car? As long as you had a fairly modern receiver that would be easy, eh?

Not to Hi-jack this thread... why not use wireless headphones for both in and outside the vehicle? It could be used for everything, like CB, intercom, radar detector, stereo, Nav/GPS, cell phone etc... just like the touring motorcyle guys do? They even have inter-bike intercoms. And this gear is small and light weight. Instead of putting the mic and headphones in a helmet, you could use a small head phone set with a boom mike or even a cell phone ear / mic piece.

I've been thinking of using one mono speaker under the dash for crusing around town (unless you have really quiet pipes) and using wireless headphones for the driver and p***enger when on the road.

Like stuff found here... http://www.aerostich.com/catalog/US/index.html

Gary

 

Ditto. it's not like I don't know 9 inch speakers in the door would work better. I just want it to stay looking more original. and a modern system with door speakers ISN'T. But as it has already been attested to on here people did Use them. I'm just going a step further and running modern speakers inside, with deadening material.

All the ones I find are die cast too. I don't see why the "car audio know it alls" expect the *tin* that isn't there (their cast aluminum I_am_who_I_am) to resonate. Cast aluminum that is going to have low if no resonance. what little is there will be blocked by dynomat and padding the backsides so the don't rattle against the dash/doors. look inside one sometime in an ebay auctions pics these things are THICK as a speaker enclosure for their size, especially compared to a sheet metal dash or thin door pannels.

And someone else mentioned it being too small for a speaker box.....IT IS A SPEAKER BOX. It's not a freaking sub, it's only four inches across.

On the headphones mainly cause I think it would look odd. But also because in a car it is VERY illegal to be wearing headphones while driving. Motorcycles get a slight waiver on this as this is their only way to receive music, gps, and communication between riders/bikes. I have a helmet for my tourer with this stuff, and you can still hear the road because it's not pressed into your ear, With ear buds or noise canceling headphones you cant as much.

Trust me I have been pulled over twice for it and got out of it both times (barely).


At this point I'm so posting a video with good audio when their done . their one of the things i'm prebuilding along with the engine anyhow, to keep the workload low later.

 

Maybe I am just tired and taking your post wrong, if so please forgive me, but it sounds like you already had all the answers before you posted.
Good luck

 

Mainly I was looking for opinions, and to offer up the idea for other members. I just have issue with the typical guys who'll post saying they know all, yet leave big gaps in their statements proving themselves wrong. just sounds like a someone trying to puff their ego anonymously to me (ego ************ lol)

I know it's not going to sound like a big modern system. I just want enough sound to not be bored driving. If I want a little more oomph I'll put a small sub under or behind the seat where it's hidden. I just want to keep the appearance of whats going to be visible on a more vintage level. I don't want to go to a strict show (like billetproof) and get booted for my stereo

I'm going to have enough issues with my motor choice if anyone can recognize it after I'm done disguising it.


If in that earlier post I steped on toes I'm sorry. Not my intention.

 

There is always the speakers or the complete stereo in a suitcase system too. I think the woofer would be okay in the suitcase and run the drive-in speakers for the highs.

 

instead of tryin to make this so hard,why not just hide the mid's behind some speaker cloth or perf the fabric?...kinda dig the suitcase idea.good luck keep us posted

 

Do you have an "inside" shot of those???

I've been planning on using a pair of drive-in speakers for a while too.
The upside is,I can fit a 6x9 in the center of the dash and another in the center of the "package shelf"(there's a factory speaker there already).
The drive-in speaker housings would "hang" from the rear 1/4 windows to balance out the sound.