electric aireal and speakers

[2009poolesparky]

i want to put a radio in my spitfire and have an electric aireal on the rear nearside wing, has anyone got one of these and have you had any problems? (£45 is alot if its going to break)

also how have people mounted speakers in their cars? i was thinking behind the seats somehow, but in a way you can still hear them when the roof is folded down (ie the hood wont cover them up)

thanks
alex

[Fizzy]

mine are mounted quite low down on the backboard, in the middle. they do get a little bit muffled, BUT the cover you put on with the roof down hooks under and lifts the roof up a bit, and i think it used to clear the speakers ive got. cant remember, and i dont have the cover anymore.

[jamespworth]

i built two boxes which go behind the seats don't take up much room and just bolted to the floor

[2009poolesparky]

sounds good, i think i may have some old 6x9 boxes out of an old mini somewhere...

[jamespworth]

i made them kind of slope at the top so the sound is directed towards your head rather than backs of the seat. probs wont make much difference but they work well

[thebrookster]

I was looking at building a box onto the ledge behind the seats, but instead of fitting the speakers into the top, which then prevents you storing anything behind the seats, I was looking at putting then facing forward, and then in the space left behind fit a small amplifier, so I could actually here what I was playing!!

Similar to what James has done, but done as one box, and I was also planning on using some sort of catch, so if needed (like track days) I could simply unclip it, unplug the wiring and lift it clean out of the car.

The other options for speakers are in the seat headrests, or possibly down in the footwells at the sides (on the wings, you have a kinda ledge where it should be possible to fit a bit of woodwork and some slim speakers. People have also managed to fit speakers into the doors, but you need really slim speakers IIRC.

[Dicky Blighter]

Side panels behind seats - doesnt really matter you cant here the stereo when you are driving anyway ;D

[jamespworth]

Quote:

Side panels behind seats - doesnt really matter you cant here the stereo when you are driving anyway

thats great may change mine to there

[gfiandy]

Hi Dicky Blighter -

Does your seatbelt work well mounted like that as mine is mounted on the floor and twists so badly going in it doesn't recoil properly.

My speakers are also mounted here and seem to be OK, your never going to get HIFI over a spitfire engine.

Regards,
Andrew

[jamespworth]

Quote:

Does your seatbelt work well mounted like that as mine is mounted on the floor and twists so badly going in it doesn't recoil properly.

My speakers are also mounted here and seem to be OK, your never going to get HIFI over a spitfire engine.

Regards,
Andrew

mine is also mounted on the inside arch and doesnt recoil well either think probably just due to age, going to get some new belts

[Dicky Blighter]

2674 wrote:

Hi Dicky Blighter -

Does your seatbelt work well mounted like that as mine is mounted on the floor and twists so badly going in it doesn't recoil properly.

My speakers are also mounted here and seem to be OK, your never going to get HIFI over a spitfire engine.

Regards,
Andrew

It's not brilliant - tends to rub on the seat and twist a lot and intend to change to static belts or a 3 pont harness.

[gfiandy]

Thanks for the info.

The inertia reel in mine is so rubbish as it is mounted on the floor by the door. I think the 1500 had a mounting by the wheel arch for inertia reel which I might try. However I think the belt is too long to recoil properly if I put it there.

I might also change it back to static belts as at least they wont get in such a mess.

Back to speakers I find mine are OK even with the hood down you can still hear them. I am considering mat black paint on the grills though as they do stand out a bit with the hood up.

Regards
Andy

[2009poolesparky]

thanks all, any more ideas about the electric aireal?

alex

[Bainzy]

I have a semi-automatic one (Tochini?) bought new from ebay, looks really old from the box though. Only problem was it kept blowing fuses on fitting, later realised that's because it wasn't getting a good ground due to paint between the ground terminal and body. Since I fixed that it's been flawless, and fits neatly inside the passenger rear wing.

Also bought an automatic electric one, but have been unable to fit it's massive bulk through the rear wing cavity! Only chance it'll fit will be if I ever have to replace the passenger rear wing, in which case I'll then drill a different hole in the drivers side wing as it'd fit through that.

£45 is expensive for an electric one, £20 max is what you should be paying on ebay. I'm only aware of one type so they're probably all the same.

[2009poolesparky]

sounds good, any idea what one off ebay will fit?

thanks
alex

[Bainzy]

Not really, other than I know this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-Car-Aerial-Universal-Fit-Multi-Head-Antenna-Quality-Replacement-/250919610458?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a6bf9685a

...will fit in the driver's side rear wing, but not the passenger side one (UK RHD car).

If you don't have a hole at all then you're sorted, but still test to see it goes in before you take a drill to the car.

[2009poolesparky]

thanks, ive already got a hole in the passenger rear wing so was hoping to put one in there. why wont it fit on the passenger side?

alex

[Bainzy]

When I tried to feed it into the inner wing cavity, it was too large and bulky to go through the inner wing cutouts. It was *almost* there, but I didn't want to cut them open to let it fit through.

If you look at the drivers side cutouts, theres one massive rectangular hole that it would fit through a lot better.

Depending on where your current aerial hole is, you might struggle with height clearance even if you did get to fit through into the cavity, so always take measurements first.

[2009poolesparky]

ok thanks, will have a measure up and see what i can do

[rotoflex]

I saw Spitfire 1500s in the showroom, there were speakers fitted in the upholstery panels rear of the doors.

Those stereos were added at the dealership, but I'm assuming BL/JRT USA had some coordination & edicts regarding teh sourcing & installation of radios in the cars by the dealerships.

[bodders1]

If you want to hear the stereo with the roof down, put the sound source closer to your ears - in the headrests: http://club.triumph.org.uk/clubtorque/articles/may11/

[Bainzy]

I have a pair of new 4" Sony speakers up front in the glove boxes (cost about £20 on ebay?) which sound great, then for rear speakers I've got a pair of old home surround sound speakers nobody wanted - the little things you get with your 5.1 jobbies. They're just sat on the parcel shelf, they don't move about at all.

Sound is *fantastic*, actual surround sound and it's got enough volume that you can easily hear it at 70mph, despite having a very antisocial twin sports exhaust.

[2009poolesparky]

i think this is the route i may take and fit some small ones in the back of the glovebox's

[uksnatcher]

I have fitted these in my spit:




2x JBL GTO963E 6x9 3 way 300w speakers, did a bit of research on speakers and these have deep base so no need for a sub and sound superb, £10 off ebay.

Pair of 6x9 speaker boxes £18 off ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PAIR-OF-CARPETED-6x9-6-x9-BLACK-HIGH-QUALITY-SPEAKER-BOXES-ENCLOSURES-18MM-MDF-/150777177842?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item231b0526f2

Alpine MRP T220 250W amplifier £15 ex display from Halfords

Dead easy to wire in and more crystal clear noise than you can handle and fine with roof up, more than happy with it  8)