As an anal retentive engineer, I researched this for a couple weeks and found some great solutions that I'd like to share.
FYI, my 1979 Mustang Hatchback came with radio delete option & I wanted to maintain stock-ish early vintage look:
1) I found a set of speakers that fit the doors like a glove. A small, black mesh square-ish grill comes with these speakers & they are top quality. Many vendors on ebay....approx $20/pr shipped. The grill fits over the lower carpeted section of the door and looks totally factory. This solution actually allows you to cut plastic that's hidden by carpet. If you are really picky about your 25+ year old antique car, you can remove the glued-on OEM carpet for preservation & reinstallation later, replacing it with cheap aftermarket carpet. The plastic cutouts can also be saved and reglued on with a glue gun, if you're returning the car to show quality. Again, the cutouts are hidden by the OEM carpet.
The grill is 4-7/16"x4-7/18" wide square and the door carpet is 4-1/2" high...how exact is that fit? Speaker you need is made by Pyramid, 4" square frame coax, 160W, 438GS with massive magnet, poly, 1" voice coil, 4 ohms.
Be aware that most speaker mfrs are going to no grill or round grill and these will not fit.
2) A great match to these front speakers is Pioneer poly 6871 or 6881 6x8 rears. I cut my rear interior to exact configuration as OEM-equipped and fitted OEM $27 black reproduction 6x8 grills from Laurel Mountain Mustang. They are surely same as original one's, since I compared them to the gray grills in my 1986 car.
After installing the 6x8 speakers, I realized that the only reason to stick with 6x8 is OEM look. There is plenty of flat interior wall space and depth to mount a beefy 6x9. The flat interior wall section is a good 12" long.
3) I bought Scosche DINTKB universal Din radio trim ring kit for $5. It comes with 3 rings, the largest one is about 1/16" thick pebbled black PVC plastic that matches the door plastic and dash cover and it fits a 2x7 DIN radio, providing a 1/2" border around the radio. It can be cut to cover the original bastard dash opening that was designed for two knobs and a cutout center section that's over 2" tall and looks like crap when cut out to allow a DIN radio to slip in. The square front DIN radio with this 1/2" wide trim piece cut the proper shape looks very good.
4) Pioneer makes an mp3/wma CD player DEH-4800MP with IPOD-compatibility and GREEN lit buttons to match the early OEM dash lighting. The large display lights in tasteful white text instead of the gaudy, blinding blue fourescent screen that most have. $130
Imagine that, a classy good-sounding stereo system that befits the vintage of car & involves no hacking or clashing styles. My kids are happy.
Hope this helps somebody.
FYI, my 1979 Mustang Hatchback came with radio delete option & I wanted to maintain stock-ish early vintage look:
1) I found a set of speakers that fit the doors like a glove. A small, black mesh square-ish grill comes with these speakers & they are top quality. Many vendors on ebay....approx $20/pr shipped. The grill fits over the lower carpeted section of the door and looks totally factory. This solution actually allows you to cut plastic that's hidden by carpet. If you are really picky about your 25+ year old antique car, you can remove the glued-on OEM carpet for preservation & reinstallation later, replacing it with cheap aftermarket carpet. The plastic cutouts can also be saved and reglued on with a glue gun, if you're returning the car to show quality. Again, the cutouts are hidden by the OEM carpet.
The grill is 4-7/16"x4-7/18" wide square and the door carpet is 4-1/2" high...how exact is that fit? Speaker you need is made by Pyramid, 4" square frame coax, 160W, 438GS with massive magnet, poly, 1" voice coil, 4 ohms.
Be aware that most speaker mfrs are going to no grill or round grill and these will not fit.
2) A great match to these front speakers is Pioneer poly 6871 or 6881 6x8 rears. I cut my rear interior to exact configuration as OEM-equipped and fitted OEM $27 black reproduction 6x8 grills from Laurel Mountain Mustang. They are surely same as original one's, since I compared them to the gray grills in my 1986 car.
After installing the 6x8 speakers, I realized that the only reason to stick with 6x8 is OEM look. There is plenty of flat interior wall space and depth to mount a beefy 6x9. The flat interior wall section is a good 12" long.
3) I bought Scosche DINTKB universal Din radio trim ring kit for $5. It comes with 3 rings, the largest one is about 1/16" thick pebbled black PVC plastic that matches the door plastic and dash cover and it fits a 2x7 DIN radio, providing a 1/2" border around the radio. It can be cut to cover the original bastard dash opening that was designed for two knobs and a cutout center section that's over 2" tall and looks like crap when cut out to allow a DIN radio to slip in. The square front DIN radio with this 1/2" wide trim piece cut the proper shape looks very good.
4) Pioneer makes an mp3/wma CD player DEH-4800MP with IPOD-compatibility and GREEN lit buttons to match the early OEM dash lighting. The large display lights in tasteful white text instead of the gaudy, blinding blue fourescent screen that most have. $130
Imagine that, a classy good-sounding stereo system that befits the vintage of car & involves no hacking or clashing styles. My kids are happy.
Hope this helps somebody.