As I understand it the original speakers are under the dash pad on the left and right (not the center). How do you get to them though? Does the pad just come off?
Philip, First off, I'd suggest a 1974 Buick Service Manual if you don't already have one. LIKE THIS This one is cheap, about $11 shipped but they commonly go for between $15-35 in good shape. I haven't removed a '74 dash yet, however the only differences as I know it are the passenger side of the dash is different. I have a '74 manual and can reference it for you later today with the necessary procedures. The panel below the steering column with the vent needs to come off, it has six phillips screws if I remember. Once removed you will see two large phillips screws, one on each edge of the driver's side portion of the dash (where the cluster ends on the right and left). The passenger side requires you to remove the glovebox liner. There are four phillips screws holding the liner in. There are another four holding the glovebox door in. Once these two parts are out of your way you will have to reach up and find two nuts holding the dash to the metal subframe. I think they were 3/8, might 7/16 I can't remember. But this is also on a 71-73 dash. I'm not 100% sure it is secured in the same fashion. This is all that is required to remove the dash. Carefully pull the dash pad straight out. There is a large clip at the center of the dash. As long as you pull it straight out you'll be fine. Don't pull to much though because the speakers are connected. Also, I'd set the front seats all the way back so you have some room. Hope this helps for now.
actually that sounds easy enough. What size are they BTW? I couldn't find much info in my search through old posts but it seems like they're 4.5''? The head unit has been swapped out with something newer already and a previous owner hooked them up to some speakers that resemble really cheap, early '90s computer speakers sitting under the dashboard
they are 3.5 inch. make sure your dash pad aint cold when you do it ir its gonna crack. the area of a 74 pad at the ends and the ceneter are the most sensitive to cracking ...the upper corner left side near the wiper switch ...and the right end from its bottom to above the right vent.. and the middle speaker area. try to make the room and car interior be 75 degrees or better for an extended period of time. here is a pic for the screw removal from the buick manual. there are none at the defrost vents. just spring clips, so pay attention to how they work for a better/less rattling re-install. if you are doing aftermarket speakers... i like blaupunkt RL3522 with a non-polarized 220microfarad 35+ volt capacitor inseries with the positive wire(either wire can be used .. its best to do the same for both R&L sides ... so i always do the positives) to relieve them (or any other 3.5in 4ohm speaker) of having to try to play bass...= less distortion&cleaner volume. if you cant find those old blaus try to use a name brand 2-way (pyramid is NOT a name brand ) that has poly drivers since they will be living in a vert. cheap brands mean going back after a summer or 2 and replacing again ... and your dash pad dont like a lot of R&R like you and me do. lemme know if you need any more pics!
BTW ....Rob is right ...jump on that manual. that low of a price dont come along very often. you will not regret it at all. the wiring diagram in those things is excellent. and just like he said before ... the lower dash piece with (crotch) vent comes off first... the biggest problem i have had with these cars is gettin that silly duct back on the crotch vent.
Thanks yuk and 455. I have a year-old pair of 5.25'' Pioneers that I just took out of my boat (as in Bayliner)...I didn't have much of an idea of the size of the speakers in the dash of the Buick. Removing the dash seems pretty straightforward. I'll pick up a name brand pair of them on ebay soon and will wire in a couple capacitors as you (yuk) mentioned. I'm not much into car audio myself but I understand that bigger speakers tend to handle bass more, so I'll let the rear 6x9''s handle that (will replace those too..originals back there were Pontiac-branded?)
dont expect bass from the rear speaker holes behind the seat on the vert. since there is no cavity ... bass is about zero. on my first 74 vert i had 6x9 speakers in a box with a bracket that let it hang over the rear seatback facing forward. my old 74 hardtop got speakers (6.5 inch)put in the rear arm rests. it worked pretty good. they were right in the corner where the seat back met the seat bottom. but they got blocked with by rear seat passengers. on a vert, top down they would suck i bet. i have seen the dash on those cars get large holes cut in the dash pad and speakers mounted from the top. it sounds about the best .... but i couldnt bring myself to cut up a dash pad. fiber kicks are difficult because of the lack of depth and the parking brake and hood release. lower door panel shape makes putting in the doors pretty time consuming. upper door panel mounting means cutting holes in hard to replace panels(which are the same lowers as the other big GM cars).... once again. i couldnt do it. ear upper panels ... same story except you are more limited on the depth of the speaker ... so building the panel out is needed ... ick!! you can build a pnel that goes between the rear seatback and rear upper side panel ... with proper design the speakers face you and with good speaker and good power decent sound can be achieved top down and good sound top up. one of my favorites is slim boxes under the front seats with 4x10 speakers ( i like pioneer, kenwood and old AURAs if you can find them) facing forward into the floorboards. gives really decent sound top down at 90 mph(uhh... so i have heard). using this set-up with a couple bass shakers can make a nice system ran from ONLY a pioneer 4000 (like a DEH-P4100UB)and up indash cd radio. that radio can run the 4x10s AND a sub or pair of bass shakers. no external amps needed if you have good stock exhaust. if you use this concept you can "swell" the box and have it flare right in front of the seat and use 6x9 speakers .... even better. if you use an external amp for you speakers ... look into a MAXXBASS unit. google it and get ready for you head to explode .. but its neat.. subtle, but neat. fools you into thinking you are listening to bigger bass than you are. there aint nothing like it. when my nephew toured last summer opening for Tesla .. it was used at many of their shows. later.
I would second the idea of waiting until it is warm outside. I removed my dashpad alright, but putting it back in was a challenge. I would agree on putting in quality parts up there...You do not want to be pulling the dashpad out on a regular basis changing out crappy sounding equipment. Once you start taking that thing out, you can start to develop rattles and noises that weren't there before. I did not put filters on my front speakers as I did not think about it at the time. I listen to music very loud and never had a problem with them, but it is a good idea. Those small speakers don't put out much bass anyways.
