The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Speakers and Antenna

I am at that stage where I am installing my sound system in my 1950 Chevy 1/2 ton PU. I am not concerned with making my truck like the original. I want to install a good antenna and a good set of speakers.

Where would you suggest to install speakers? Doors? Kick panel area? Has anyone put speakers in the doors?

What antenna would you recommend and where would you install it? The top? The left side?

Thanks.

rm:
I am looking at putting in a 8" sub-woofer in the stock speaker location of my '55 1st series. It will take some fitting but should work. I will put my amps under the seat, makes it harder to steal. I will likely put 3-way speakers in the doors (my doors have removable panels that look like they might be a good location for a speaker).

Don't forget that the inside of your doors are not weather tight so if those speakers are not outdoor speakers, you're gonna have some trouble the first time you wash the truck or drive it in the rain.

Has anybody seen a good replacement location for an antenna ? I can't imagine drilling a hole in a perfectly good cowl. That has got to be one of the bad design features of the original installations.

There are antennas you can mount under the dash. I do not know how well they work.

Take a look at this thread for some antenna talk.

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=000922#000008

Horvath has a link to his install of an antenna on the rear of the cab on the driver side.

I experimented with all kinds of combos in my truck before I actually did my stereo install and one thing I discovered was that a truck cab is too small for more than 2 speakers -- the sound just bounces all over the place and you lose clarity,

I installed 2 Sony X-plode speakers and a '55 Chevy stereo cassette/radio with great results. Check my site (link below sig) to see all.

I put the speakers in the side kickpanels (not done yet), left and right, and the sound-separation is great!

On the antenna, I went with what I think is the coolest looking antenna for a truck - again, see my site. My truck came with a power antenna in the top cowl -- BAD idea ... if the antenna was left up and I opened my hood I'd take the antenna out! Plus the power unit was way too visible in the cab.

The Truck Shop has the antenna I bought ... I bought mine from Chevy Duty and the mounts are really NICE chrome mounts, but Chevy Duty has since changed suppliers and the mounts from their new supplier are made of plastic! :mad:

I bought the dual-mount / side-mount antenna and put it behind the cab - driver side. The antenna extends to over 6-feet and I get plenty of stations ... it onlt cost like $20, too.

PS - Those under-the-dash antennas SUCK!

RM;
Did my '49 GMC easily. Bought two Pioneer "sub sandwich" size speakers from Best Buy. 100 watts total. Ran the wiring under the rubber floor mat and under the seat. Put each speaker in the hole at the side of the seat in the hollow space at the rear of the cab and just wedged them in there. Sound comes from behind and to the side of me and works pretty well. No water, no hard installation. But then again, with the 261 cranking, I have to turn it up pretty loud!

I have a nice set of 6.5" Coaxial Blaupunkts I picked up at a clearance sale a while ago. They fit perfectly next to the sun visors in the headliner area, they just need holes in the liner and mounting brackets, and the wires can be run up the windshield posts. I like speakers in that position, but then I have some high frequency hearing loss and I like all the treble I can get to even things out.

My buddy here in town has a really nice antenna mounted in the drivers side rear corner of the cab. It looks like it was made for it. Power antenna too

OK, well I brain-farted. I bought the aftermarket telescoping antenna and mounted it on the cowl. I had the hole drilled by the time that I realized that the hood would not open with the antenna there since it did not telescope down far enough. So I cut the antenna off and JB welded the ball to the cut top. I haven't hooked up a radio yet, so i don't know if it will work. My expectations are low. For the original-type antennas, how short do they get when they are pushed all the way in?