# '68 speaker questions



## wishihaditback (Jun 9, 2011)

Recently bought a '68 GTO with some restoration already done. It has the "speaker" bezel on the dash for front to rear adjustment. In a box of original parts not re-installed is a speaker that looks about 4"x10 or so and an enclosure box. So far i haven't located a wire from the bezel to the trunk area. I assumed that the speaker bezel set up adjusts the sound front to rear on single speakers. The package tray was replaced in the restoration and looking up at it, the speaker perforations and openings in the sheet metal are on either side, like a set up for 2 speakers. Now i know that restoration catalogs aren't the end all of what might be correct or original, but one catalog makes the distinction of a one speaker tray up to '67, then for '68 up the tray is for two 6x9's. Did the F to R speaker option control two 6x9's in the back and one in the front? Again, there is no speaker type opening in the sheet metal in the middle.


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

There was a single speaker in the rear with the F/R fader control.

The fader switch should plug into a 3-wire connector on the mono radio. Coming from the connector there should be 3 wires; light green, blue and a black wire with a white stripe; that last one is the rear speaker feed. The original connection was a single (blue) wire that ran under the driver's side carpet in the plastic wiring conduit and comes up through the rear seat/trunk partition.

Mono radios had a front speaker only or a front and read with that dash-mounted fader.

The 68 Chassis Service Manual shows that the full-size Pontiac and Firebird had dual rear stereo speakers available with the stereo radio, but it does not show any dual rear speaker option for the LeMans/Tempest/GTO.

A stereo radio was available in the A body, but it apparently only came with one speaker in the dash and one in the package tray.

You could certainly add rear speakers; the mounting pattern is for a standard 6X9 speaker. If you use aftermarket speakers with large magnets, the OEM style cardboard enclosure won't fit.


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## wishihaditback (Jun 9, 2011)

Thanks for your response. Fader....that was the term i was looking for! I think maybe i need to clarify. I've attached photos i just took. Two of them show the 6x9 openings in the sheet metal and you can see the perforations in the package tray. The third pic show the center of the sheet metal where i assumed the stock speaker would have been mounted. Does that look correct? If it is, you'll note no perforations in the tray. Not an insurmountable issue, but it made me wonder why OPGI made the distinction of the '68-'73 package tray being for two 6x9's and not offering a tray for a single center mounted speaker, which they say is for '61-'67 models. But again that's just them, but it's the only catalog i have at the moment.


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## wishihaditback (Jun 9, 2011)

Ok, i guess i just found the answer to my own question. I checked Ames online and they offer the trays for a '68 in either configuration, single or dual speakers. So if the sheet metal has the correct openings for a single, i guess i'm good. I need to search better before clogging up the forums. Thanks again.


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## jmt455 (Mar 26, 2012)

he center openings are not for a speaker; they are the inlet and outlet holes for the optional rear window defogger.

If the car was ordered with a single, rear seat speaker, the speaker was installed in one of the 6x9 openings. IIRC, the single rear speaker was installed on the passenger side.

The sound absorber under the package tray should be perforated so you can easily cut out the material in the speaker opening. If you have a "mesh" package tray, there is no need to cut the tray itself because the speaker opening is pre-cut and it's covered by an acoustically transparent fabric.


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## wishihaditback (Jun 9, 2011)

Just the info i needed. It's all clear now. It is a mesh tray. I had just assumed (wrongly) that the single rear speaker mounted in the middle. Thanks again.:cheers


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