Mr. Speaker of the Car

I finally figured out my rear-speaker bracket problem.

First, some background. The hailstorm ended up completely holing one of my rear deck speakers, so I pulled them out and bought replacements. Upon recommendation from Jason, I picked up some CDT 6.5" speakers for something like $50 for the pair.

Apparantely these speakers have fantastic audio reproduction and are really cheap. The only problem is that they're 6.5" circular speakers instead of 6"x9"s, like the factory speakers.

My original intention was to fabricate some brackets out of wood at my parent's place in Los Alamos. Six months after the hail storm, this still hasn't happened, so I gave up on that plan.

Alternatively, I looked on eBay and in Albuquerque for plastic adapters, but the factory system uses odd three-bolt plastic brackets already, which precludes the easy transition to new plastic adapters. One company said they could order Camry-specific adapters, but it would take a few weeks and would cost something like $40. Screw that.

Now, I hadn't thrown out the original factory speakers in case I needed the brackets (which were undamaged). Cleaning out the garage today, I took a closer look at the brackets, and realized they worked differently than I had originally thought. I separated the speakers from the brackets and test fitted the new 6.5"s; they worked. Fantastic!

I did have to flip the brackets over, and I need to use an adhesive to hold the speakers to the brackets (instead of the usual bolts). I originally used silicone sealer because the speakers will eventually be under pressure from the deck cover, and all I really need is something to keep them from sliding around inside the brackets. After sealing everything in place, they popped out when attaching the driver lines. Bummer.

Anyway, here are the installed speakers. I'm going to put the deck cover on in the next week or so.

I also installed the remote subwoofer control line. I've just been using the fader on the stereo to control the sub audio, because it's hooked directly to the rear speaker lines. Since I have rear speakers now, I figured I could use the extra controller. I pulled apart Yet More Trim and installed the knob in the glove box. Not the ideal location, but it's good enough for now.

Here it is, installed.

Not counting an hour devoted to a freshly downloaded Top Gear and around 40 minutes spent weeding, the car took nearly all my time today.

Damn. Now, on to the homeworking.