Bought my first car this week!

[Electronic M]

Back in mid October I managed to get and install a replacement bumper. A bunch of other parts came with it for the $300 I paid. I got a better set of all lamps except for the head lamps all the side glass (granted the 1977 it came off of had the power vent windows so the door glass won't fit mine), much of the chrome trim (including a small piece on the passenger a Pillar that mine was missing), nicer spare door handles, the plastic bumper fillers, the original compact spare mine was missing (+ duplicate tire changing kit), and the optional aluminum rims (which are made of light see picture).

Front plates are not mandatory here so I decided to delete the front plate and holder. Sure I could have kept it on and mounted my chewed up front plate, but I think the front plate throws off the visual symmetry of the front, and the car looks better without it. Here are some pictures.



Since it was unseasonably warm today I decided to troubleshoot the passenger door speaker....Which has been intermittent for the last month and a half, but mostly dead for the last month. Once I got into it I checked it's resistance...Wide open. Hooked an external tube amp to it, no sound. Turned on the car radio and connected a known speaker to it's terminals...It stayed silent, but the test speaker worked....He's dead Jim.
So I go to the auto parts store and get a $30 pair of 6.5" replacement speakers (might as well do the front pair for balance)....Jokes on me! That is too big, and the next size down is too small....Turns out good 'ol FoMoCo stamped the metal in the door for an odd ball 6.25" diameter round speaker to sink in to a shallow stamped well, and NO one seems to carry it....Also the modern ones tend to have tweeters inside that jut out well past the original and would prevent the door card and it's speaker grate from going on.....

I'm debating if I should order a 6.25" pair off the internet (and hope size is right and the center tweeters don't protrude), or fabricate mounts for a smaller pair (possibly made from the protective, center-perforated grates that were part of the original speakers to protect the cones from puncture)....I sure as hell ain't cutting up the door frame and or interior to mount those 6.5" speakers I bought!...

What are your oppinions?

[WISCOJIM]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

Front plates are not mandatory here so I decided to delete the front plate and holder.

Are you sure? I was pulled over for that not too long ago.

http://www.dmv.org/wi-wisconsin/license-plates.php

"Wisconsin law requires:

2 license plates on most passenger vehicles, displayed on the front and back"

Also see: https://www.google.com/search?source...9i57.16277j0j7

.

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by WISCOJIM

Are you sure? I was pulled over for that not too long ago.

http://www.dmv.org/wi-wisconsin/license-plates.php

"Wisconsin law requires:

2 license plates on most passenger vehicles, displayed on the front and back"

Also see: https://www.google.com/search?source...9i57.16277j0j7

.

Guess I'm wrong on legal grounds.....My dad's Accord that was bought in Fl, has never had a front plate holder (or front plate installed), and in the 8 years and at least 2 times he's been pulled over up here the officers never bothered him about that....I've passed by a number of radar traps (slow enough not to get bothered), and squad cars at the local fast food joints since the bumper change/plate delete and I've not been bothered either.....I suppose I could keep the holder and plate in the trunk and come up with some innocent story if I meet a hard-ass.

Perhaps the speaker could be rebuilt, but that is probably going to cost upwards of $30, and I think if I make an adapter plate and use cheaper 4" speakers.....
The factory originals are pretty cheap looking anyway. Just a single shallow cone with paper suspension with little travel....I'm surprised that they can out shout my engine with (effectively) no muffler on the highway. If I use smaller drivers (the perforated opening in the cone protector, and door card opening are both smaller than 4") I'll keep the originals so they could be rebuilt in the future.