door speakers?

So...life is good...mg is running well...having fun. The sound of my engine at 3500 rpm is just about perfect. But, my enthusiasm for the sound from the original sound system is begining to fade. The radio is very cool, british leyland AM AND FM WOW! (not stereo FM). I'm not ready, nor really interested in high end sound but the Radio Shack speaker up under the dash just isn't making the grade. Been thinking that a couple of door speakers might allow the old radio to sound as good as it is able.

Question: are the door panels the best place to mount a pair of full range speakers? (1971 GT by the way) I only plan to put in a pair of speakers. Under the dash seams like a bad location for speakers even if it is unobtrusive. If the doors are a good location, how large can the speakers be without chopping up the door. I was thinking a pair of 5" speakers would be about right, but I don't want to do irreperable damage to the door itself. Again, not looking for great sound just decent and listenable.

Thanks, Manning

Manning,
I have a pair of 5" Kenwoods hooked up to a pretty nice Jensen am/fm c.d. player, they sound pretty good. The door is very narrow though, you really have to watch for the window crank mechanism. Even a thin speaker may not give you enough clearance. I used the original speaker covers as a "spacer" to bring the speakers about 3/4 of an inch closer to the inside of the car. They look and sound good, and there is enough room for the window to crank fine.

If you're keeping the same mono radio, how about just putting a higher quality single speaker in the original location? Then, how about adding a couple of those tiny tweeters under the edge of the dash on either side pointed toward you?

You've got two options in the doors: forward, below and slightly rearward of the window winder (facing your knee), and aft, pretty much facing the seats.
The aft opening is MUCH larger and would allow a larger speaker, but it's pretty much facing the seats, so much of your sound quality would go kaput. Either way, unless you get some really thinline speakers, you're going to need spacers to clear the window mechanism. However, in either position you can place them so they don't interfere. Be careful at the forward spot. You need clearance for when you wind the window... place 'em low, but not so low they interfere with the door gasket, which comes up almost an inch.

However, after saying all that, you may want to consider other options:
Pod mounts in the kick panels
GOOD speakers underdash
surface mount tweeters on top of the dash
Some custom pods filling the odd holes at the rear of the GT, where you could fit 6 x 9s
A subwoofer in the cargo cover (could be directly above the spare tire (flipped) and use otherwise wasted space
Some sort of speaker box where the generally pointless GT back seat currently resides, giving a flat platform all the way forward.
Fiero or miata seats with the speakers in the headrests.

There's probably more options I'm not thinking of.

Thanks for all the great info and good options. Just the kind of help I needed! Guess I should have realized that there is not unlimited space n the door but it would be just like me to put the speakers in and then close the door to find them behind the seats or preventing the window from closing.
Manning

Just a thought - you may want to make sure the radio can put out enough power! The old mono radios typically maxed out at 5 watts - which is probably not enough to get a decent sound from a modern speaker!

I think Eric has a good point. If you want better sound, go ahead and buy a recent cd or tape deck. Even if it's a cheapie, it will give much improved sound. I also think mounting speakers in the doors are the best bet for a simple system. If your speakers are too deep and you need to create space, go out and buy a piece of medium density fiberboard at the hardware store and cut a pair of baffles. Use the speaker covers as a template to make the right pattern. Sand them down and paint them, or cover them with vinyl, and they'll look just fine in there.

I had huge Kenwood speakers in my 74 1/2 B when I purchased it. They were put in the back of the seat on the shelf. Couldn't hear a thing at highway speeds. I Got a pair of door speakers and built some little boxes that they could fit in, then I secured them below and up front as far as possible with L brackets. They only stick out about the same distance as the little shelf at the bottom of the floor and they sound great. Best part is I didn't have to cut up my door panel or worry about window thingies and they're practically unnoticeable.