Fitting 6x9s An Ecr33

[Eug]

a mate of mine had an audio shop throw 6x9s into his 33 gtr on a custom mdf shelf.

after doing alot of research and having a look at elbee's photos, i decided to undertake this project.

here's some photos first, and if anyone is interested i might make this thread into a tutorial.

just thought i'd put the final word in what elbee has been trying to say for a long time - that it is possible

to fit 6x9 inch speakers in an ecr33 without having to hack into the parcel shelf or using ugly spacers and without fouling the hicas or battery.

note: all 6x9s are different, its best to go onto the website - measure the mounting depths and ensure you

have enough clearance. do your homework before buying or cutting anything and it will save you alot of trouble.

to get the mdf cut, and all the vent holes and rear windscreen wiper bits done and sorted took all up around

3-4 hours. i'm a pedantic person so i kept going back and re-fitting everything, cut and re-fit, cut and refit.

mdf

13mm mdf

clears the hicas easily

another angle of hicas

almost done

sitting flush, no spacers

clears the battery terminals

cheers

eug

p.s - all that's left is to carpet or vinyl the thing and fit it... soon-ish

search tag: custom parcel shelf MDF 6x9 spacer fabricate legal cutting

[leo2nv]

thats not badd.. soo all u do it remove the old parcel shelf and use one thats thicker???

[Eug]

leo2nv: dont really need one thats considerably thicker, you'd get away with 10mm, not to mention all those little lumps on the parcel shelf that the mdf sits on makes it sit a little higher. its all about the angle that the speakers sit.

ok got around to carpetting the thing, and finishing it off...

here's the final product.

[EMZ R33]

Aweseom job dude, must have taken a while, good on ya for persisting with the job. Ae you running a sub in your setup? Why did you opt for 6X9's anyways?

Regards Evan

[Eug]

cheers, cud be done in a day if u really sat down and planned it all out.

ran 6x9s because i dont particularly want subs. i'm not a big audiophile, and partly due to the fact that i'd need to build an install and lose some boot space - though now i may be considering a sub amps and deadening - i've caught the bug.

[slip]

BAD EUG.

Subs are bad.

I've seen the parcel shelf out, its a pretty sweet job.

But we all know why Eug is tricky and able to complete such tasks.

Now you just have to lower that thing dude. Really, it's not like youre going to landcruiser park anytime soon......

[RANDY]

Lol! It looks like my parcel-shelf, but with 6x9's.

I did the same thing about 8 months ago with 10 or 12mm MDF, and put 6.5" speakers in there.

Cutting out the slots for the air-buffer things was pretty difficult. How did you do it? I used a chisel for the bits where the plastic clips had to go in, and they wedged in there quite nicely. Where the metal bracket/clips were, I took off the metal dooby and bought some self-tapering screws that went into the little holes very nicely.

I replaced the two push-in clips with long bolts and big washers. The metal part of the parcel tray actually had bolts factory welded underneath, so it was just a matter of buying the right thread bolts.

Good job man!

[RANDY]

Oh, and I had to taper the edge that sits against the rear windscreen. The MDF was so thick that it hit the windscreen higher than the stock one, which put the whole shelf off by half an inch. I used a belt-sander and gave it a 30 degree angle.

[Logikal]

did both you remove the rear seats for better access?

[Eug]

did both you remove the rear seats for better access?

you'll have to. there's no other way to get the shelf in/out

[jlnewton]

Nice work.

[Eug]

Nice work.

jason, you gonna be doing one soon yeah? you want to have a look at it while its out?

i'll bring it tomorrow if so.

[r32line]

BAD EUG.

Subs are bad.

Why are they bad? I bought a very basic pioneer 12" sub in pioneer box for $95 and got a jvc amp for $200 which i also used to amp the rear pioneer 6" 3-ways. The box fit into my 32 boot with sub facing rear seat had to remove the rear wiper control motor thing to get it in though, then put it back on. So it doesnt take up much room and allows for far more sound adjustment than 6 x 9's.

If i had gone to the trouble of putting in 6 x 9's i would go the extra bit to get a 10" or 12" sub and amp it and the rears. just my opinion.

Edited July 11, 2006 by r32line

[Robert Knight]

Great Job Eug, Pity you didn't make a cardboard template while you were doing it ,shame to have to duplicate all that hard work individually ourselves.

Your speakers missed the battery by a mile and it looks like the hicas was more of a problem whereas mine looks to be only a problem on the battery side, also it looks like you have installed the speakers rotated 90 degrees from normal set-up, or is it just an optical illusion??

My 6x9's are 100mm deep, how deep were yours?? Cheers awesome job mate.Rob

[LatinR33]

OMG!!! thats what I want!!!!!! How much you think it would cost to have something like this done?? I want splits up front and 6x9's at the back. Man im jealous =( If you were in sydney id pay you to hook me up. Looks schmick az and complete stock looking. Im impressed. Any easier ways of putting in 6x9's and making it look this good?? or is custom parcel shelf the only way to go.

[Eug]

Great Job Eug, Pity you didn't make a cardboard template while you were doing it ,shame to have to duplicate all that hard work individually ourselves.

Your speakers missed the battery by a mile and it looks like the hicas was more of a problem whereas mine looks to be only a problem on the battery side, also it looks like you have installed the speakers rotated 90 degrees from normal set-up, or is it just an optical illusion??

My 6x9's are 100mm deep, how deep were yours?? Cheers awesome job mate.Rob

thanks.

it is a shame i didn't make a template, however each speaker basket will be slightly different anyway.

you are correct. i have mounted it on an angle, not so much as 90º though.

if you look at the actual steel shelf under the mdf the holes are elongated length wise on an angle (kinda like a 'D' shape). you can see this in the 4th picture of the 1st post.

this is what most people cut up to make them fit in the usual left to right orientation. not only is this illegal but it weakens your structural integrity because the struts are supported by the shelf. a side impact or even a strong hit to the gutter might fold the whole shelf!! by having the 6x9s angled, they sit much much deeper into the hole. i tested it out and with my particular speakers you could have gotten away with a 5-6mm thick parcel shelf and not required spacers.

p.s. - can't remember how deep mine were.

OMG!!! thats what I want!!!!!! How much you think it would cost to have something like this done?? I want splits up front and 6x9's at the back. Man im jealous =( If you were in sydney id pay you to hook me up. Looks schmick az and complete stock looking. Im impressed. Any easier ways of putting in 6x9's and making it look this good?? or is custom parcel shelf the only way to go.

expect upwards of $400, thats what my friend was quoted when designing something similar. it's just a little time consuming, a great DIY project that won't cost you any more than $50~100 (not including speakers of course).

you will also notice that using a solid MDF platform will enhance your bass and sound quality. i have by passed the treble frequency to the rear and often get asked if i have subs.

[R338OY]

I've never been in to 6x9's. They're good for a mild setup, which is what you wanted, but nothing beats ampped splits and a sub...

Top work mate, looks very clean.

[LatinR33]

Yeah ive had the whole big subs in the boot in my old car but just too much for me. I would be happy with an amped up simple system with splits up front and 6x9's at the back. Would give me enough for my driving pleasure. No need to shake sydney while I drive or win sound offs. I like my boot space too much.

[Eug]

I've never been in to 6x9's. They're good for a mild setup, which is what you wanted, but nothing beats ampped splits and a sub...

Top work mate, looks very clean.

appreciate the comment.

i agree you for a mild setup 6x9s are perect, and yes you're right you will hardly be able to replicate a real sub. however the compromise is that one 6x9 speaker has a woofer area of slightly more than an 8" sub, times by two and you have enough bass for the average driver.

hope to see more people doing this project. it annoys me how many audioshops/backyard installs complain how they dislike the look of spacers and end up hacking the parcel shelf without thinking outside the square.

[Stock GTR]

Not sure how its possible guys, but when I brought my R33 GTR it had 7x10s on the rear parcel and they look stock. Don't foul on the battery or anything. They even follow the contour of the rear screen. I'll take some photo's and post them soon.