Installing the stepdown rear speaker option

48Sed
48Sed Senior Contributor
edited January 2013 in HUDSON
I installed the rear speaker option as per the factory instructions and my back is paying the price.There are a lot of holes to drill and that trunk space is small lol
I connected up the wiring and turned on the radio waited forever for it to warm up in the cold and enjoyed the music from the rear.

Comments

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Where do they run the wires to get back there?
    Roger
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    Before I put in the head liner I ran a couple of wires along the roof channel along with the tail light wires in case I would install the speaker at some point.Glad I did then as it was easy to connect it up.I am using the factory switch in the dash as well so you can have both speakers or either front or back going.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    very good thinking ahead liek that,
    Roger
  • duncan
    duncan Expert Adviser
    Is the speaker screwed to the body or just to the parcel shelf cardboard paneling. Ray
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    The speaker is held in place by the screws that go down through the grill and parcel shelf into the speaker that has clips attached.
  • Joe30Essex
    Joe30Essex Expert Adviser
    Here is what I did in the '54 Jet. The Jet had a 6 X 9 spot in the metal for a rear speaker. Cut the pattern in the shelf with a RotoZip tool. Made a pattern out of 1/4" wood, cut two circles for 4" speakers. The speaker unit is held in place through the holes in speaker grill.
  • barrysweet52
    barrysweet52 Expert Adviser
    The air operated drills are much smaller than the electric drills and would make the job easier for a lot of jobs on our Hudsons.
  • Hudsy Wudsy
    Hudsy Wudsy Senior Contributor
    My '50 C8 came with a rear speaker that was installed many decades ago. I personally think that it could have been installed at the dealership because this car had every thing that they could pile onto it. The wire to the speaker ran under the floor mats and entered the trunk behind the rear seat. As you look at the pictures you'll notice that the underside of the speaker was nested in brand new soft body shop rags and is shielded by a tin can like piece. It seems that the installer was intent on not letting any of that precious sound leak out. The tin can is actually an old potato chip can that's been sliced down the middle from top to bottom. (Before potato chips were packaged in bags, they were sold in large, perhaps a gallon and half sized tin cans). I came across a picture of an identical can and included a picture of it. The tin half-can was then painted gray or gray primer. Some prior owner of the car removed a lot of the dash components, so I have no ides what the original rear seat speaker switch looked like. Do any of you know what a correct switch looks like? Here's a few pictures of it.

  • SuperDave
    SuperDave Senior Contributor
    One problem the installer was probably trying to prevent was speaker cone "blow out". When the trunk lid is slammed shut and the gasket seal on the lid is functional.. The compressed air in the trunk could damage the speaker cone.. and that works in reverse too..That seemed to be a problem back in the day.
  • Hudsy Wudsy
    Hudsy Wudsy Senior Contributor
    edited January 2013
    Interesting, that thought had never occurred to me. I also meant to mention the carefully made little wooden spacers between the speaker and the body. Perhaps they were needed for height, but I don't see why. Maybe they were installed to isolate the speaker from the body, but there again, I'm not sure that I understand the need.
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    Could the spacers been used to let the trapped air escape from the truck area around the speaker if the home made shield didn't work?
  • Hudsy Wudsy
    Hudsy Wudsy Senior Contributor
    48Sed, you may well be right. In all of my decades of messing around with old cars, I simply never heard of speaker "blow-out" from slamming the deck lid. I could well have had cars that had bad rear speakers and simply blamed it on age. I'm still wrapping my head around the concept. It's sort of laughable, but all of the rusty Minnesota Hudsons I used to drive when I was young had plenty of places for compressed air to escape.
  • 48Sed
    48Sed Senior Contributor
    Do you remember looking at the rear pillar of a 4 door and seeing a black plastic vent looking thing on GM cars for sure,that allowed air to escape when you shut the door so as not to compress it.I think also it allowed air to escape when using the heater/AC so air would flow and not just pressurize the cabin.
  • Hudsy Wudsy
    Hudsy Wudsy Senior Contributor
    Just adapt a Hudson knob, brilliant!
  • onerare39
    onerare39 Expert Adviser, Member
    I posted some pictures of the Rear Speaker Kit over here...
    follow the link!

    http://www.hetclub.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&view=topic&catid=18&id=176&Itemid=594
  • onerare39
    onerare39 Expert Adviser, Member
    Tim,

    The speaker selector switch is sitting on the original paper bag, and the partial shroud is sitting to the left of the speaker. The instructions state that you need to drill 28 holes for the brougham and 24 holes for the club coupe. The paper sacks containing the small parts were stapled shut and had never been opened.

    John Forkner
  • Hudsy Wudsy
    Hudsy Wudsy Senior Contributor
    Guys, I'm puzzled by something, I don't understand what the holes are for. My deck shelf (see the above pics) has a normal oval opening, much as you would expect to see in any '50s or '60s car. Are you talking about a deck shelf that doesn't have that type of opening? When you talk about drilling 28 holes, I have to think that you are referring to holes to allow the sound to pass through. Is that the case?
  • Ric West IN
    Ric West IN Senior Contributor
    48-49's didn't have the speaker mounting hole. Deck stamping included speaker hole from 1950 up.
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