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I just put new speakers in my '86 GL Wagon. The fronts were 5" stock but as I said, I made 5.25" fit with some minor modification to the metal bracket. In the rear door I put 6.5" shallow mount pioneer Cheapo's. Top mount depth of 1.75". Fit just right and bolted right up. I ran all new speaker wire because I added an amp as well. If I had it to do over again.... I might try to put something bigger up front. There was quite abit of room behind the bump out for the map pocket in the door. You would have to get creative with mounting tho. I would also put in componet speakers with a passive crossover and mount the Tweets up higher for better imaging. This is actually the plan for my '86 as soon as I get some cash together. Hope this helps.

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I believe the door shell cutouts can physically accept up to 6.5" for both front and back. However, most of the models I've seen come with adapter brackets that drop the size down to 4.00" (usually on the fronts only).

 

Obviously, 6.5's would be the best choice for 2 or 3 way speaks. The problem is that to mount 6.5's on the fronts, they must be mounted against the door shell. On your model, the standard speaker cutout on the trim panel is 4", and raised. In other words, there is a considerable gap between where you can mount a 6.5, and the actual sound hole in the trim panel. Also, the hole is too small, so the sound quality suffers.

 

The best compromise (if you dont want to chop up your door trim panel) is to install 4"'s up front, using the stock brackets, and 6.5" in the back. These are probably your existing sizes, but if you buy quality replacements, they'll sound MUCH better than the OEM Clarions you have now.

 

If you are upgrading your stereo too, you'll also have to address the speaker wiring. As you may know, the OEM rear wiring is not compatible with modern stereo units.

 

good luck, John

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I put in a new stereo system last summer, and went through the same questions. I've got an '88 GL which had everything stock.

 

Front and rear speakers were identical: 6.5" (only 10W each, IIRC). For replacements, any well-known make (Kenwood, Infinity, Pioneer, etc.) with the digits 16xx specifies a 6.5" or 6.75" speaker.

 

Two things to watch out for:

1) Most of these speakers are dual size (both 6.5" and 6.75"), with break-off tabs. You break off the mounting tabs for a 6.5" mounting -- which is what you want to do for your GL.

2) Speaker depth.... I can't remember exactly, but I think front was 1 7/8", back was a bit deeper.

 

I got a pair of Pioneer TS-A1670R for the front, and Kenwood KFC-1679ie for the rear. Nothing magic about those models, but if you check out these speakers on the internet, you'll see dimensions and specs.

 

These speakers fit without any modifications to the door mount, door panel, or speaker grills. (Well, not exactly true, I had to put a 1/4" bulge in the rear grills....)

 

You probably know that the stock setup uses a common ground ("-" wire) for each side. If you're putting in a new head unit, you should re-wire the speakers with their own "-".

 

-- Mark

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On my 86 wagon, I pulled out the stock speaker and bracket in the front and also removed the grill in the door panel. I then mounted 5.25s in the door panel and they fit with a very very minimal gap aroud them (with the grilles on, you cant tell) Widen the hole a tad and you can fit most 6.5s out there. This way you also will get better highs and vocals because the speaker isnt mounted an inch or so inside the door panel and sound doesnt have to filter through the small stock grill.

 

Another note...when rewiring for a new deck, it is not necessary to run wires through the door jams. Trace the two wires from the speaker through the door jam (by color) and into the body. you will run into a clip that you can unclip and run the new head unit wires to. this way is much easier than running wire through the door jam...hope this helps...

 

eric

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You can fit shallow 6.5's in the front and rear. Stock is 4 on the front with some kind of factory bracket, and the rears are 6.5. Pleiades has replaces the stock RX ones with some walmart 'yellow lighting' speakers, which are quite good...thats my current RX that I got from him. And in the Grassroots car, he got the 4 inch version, so the interior could remain stock...and those fit into that stock bracket faily easily.

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