flat12boxer

Did 10 speaker door panels only come in full leather, or did they make them in partial and all vinyl?

Also did they ever come in anything other than all black? Like all linen, or two-tone (like the standard black top strip w/linen panel and armrest, which I have in my '89)?

Riff

In my old S2 with 10 speaker, it was vinyl and maroon/burgundy colored.

Jrboulder

They were available in all colors and styles. You can still get them new if your really want to lighten your wallet.

MAGK944

Mine are vinyl black top with blue inserts and leather on the armrests only. I think they came in every color available. Yes you can order them still but some of the fittings are nla and hard to find, such as tweeter grille and plastic surround, mounting for the main door speaker, etc. These little nla parts dont dome with the door cards so you would have to search for used ones.

Olli Snellman

Few "exotic" colors are no longer available.

75ohm

I can tell you that you can paint these whatever color you want...

flat12boxer

So anyone have a pic of the 10-speaker panels in all linen with the black top section?

CurtP

These are black over linen in vinyl. The tweeter and tweeter grills are new OE, ordered from Sunset IIRC. The midrange and woofer are new too. The pockets were repaired and the carpet replaced.

CyCloNe!

wow those look nice

flat12boxer

Exactly what I was looking for so I could "see" it. If they were full leather, I don't think they would look good with my partial interior.

Okay questions now.

If you took the 10 speaker map pocket/pod assemblies out and were looking at the door card:

On the area behind the map pocket, is it the same depth as the standard panel but without the one large round and one little oval cutout?

The carpeted section (map pocket for a standard door) is modified on the 10-speaker door, correct?

And then the tweeter area is only cut out on the 10 speaker door, there's not even a template for it on the back of a standard panel, right?

Lastly, since I have a Reno and a BEA-80, if I got another set of standard panels to modify and I put the 10-speaker pods in along with the crossovers and then the larger rear speakers it would be fine without the tweeter, right? But I couldn't wire in the normal front door speakers, correct, unless I take those in to the free spots on the amp?

Thanks.

Constance83

In my old S2 with 10 speaker

CurtP

1. Yes, the area behind the map pocket is the same depth as a standard door card. There's quite a few cutouts. One for the woofer magnet, one for the wiring harness and I think there's two slots under the armrest for the brackets that hold the top of the speaker assembly. There's also three holes at the bottom where the screws go through to hold the bottom of the speaker assembly. Oh, and there's one more towards the leading edge of the speaker assembly for a screw. It's a bit of a PITA getting everything together.

2. Different map pocket. It has a grille for the speakers and what's left of the "pocket" is pretty much useless for anything more than a pen. The 968 door pockets have a deeper pocket than the 944/951. The 968 door card also has round tweeter grilles. The downside is the 968 never came in Linen.

3. There's a metal bracket on the backside of the door panel where the tweeter goes. It's for the tweeter screws and has notches to hold the grille in place. I don't recall there being anything on the back of the standard door cards that show where the tweeters went.

4. I would get the 10-speaker rear panels. They look nicer and have metal grills on them. You don't have to use the 10-speaker setup if you don't want to. I ran a set of German-made 6.5" MB Quarts back there for a while.

Bonus: You may or may not have the correct wiring in your door. With your door card off, follow the wiring harness where it goes up towards the mirror. Right above where the two wires come out for the standard speaker, look for another wire with two connectors taped to the harness. That's for the tweeter. Follow the harness along the bottom of the door. Look for a rectangular plastic connector taped to the harness. That's the connector for the speaker assembly. If those two connections are missing, you'll have to replace the door harnesses. And you have to be specific on which harness you get. Some don't have provisions for power door locks, others don't have provisions for the alarm LED. I can never tell what car has what either. I've seen some that had the 10-speaker connectors taped to the harness if they were unused. I've seen other cars that didn't have the 10-speaker connectors at all. No 1986 door harnesses will have the 10-speaker connectors and if you have a 1986 door, it won't have the dimples where the screws go either (but are easily drilled as needed)

MAGK944

Problems with modifying non-10 speaker panels are: you will still have a hole in the front panel where the old speaker was and the rear panel speaker will not fit into the sheet metal.

I have a complete spare 10-speaker system and panels. I'll post some pics of the pieces you are asking about.

flat12boxer

Responses to Curt's reply from above:

1. I think I am going to go nuts looking for the damn brackets. I can imagine it's not the smoothest install as the standard panel has its own nuances.

2. I really want to keep the 944 panel look but thanks for the advice.

3. Figured as much.

4. Yes, I plan on getting the 10 speaker rears panels, possibly before I get the rest of the system.

Bonus: I am pretty sure I have it since my car is an '89. I will have to double check. Always something to hinder forward progress LoL.

flat12boxer

Please post the pics. I know about the other hole haha, it would be obvious. I would actually "leave" the current speaker there to fill the void, I also have the late black mesh grills, not the standard funny 944 ones.

What are you talking about regarding the rear panel speaker not fitting into the sheet metal? If you mean the area under the quarter windows, I have a late car with the plate in the rear. If you mean part of the front panel, I don't see what you are talking about.