Free Type 44 speaker upgrade.

[rob hod]

    Ok, a bit of an exaggeration. However I have today carried out a
cost-free upgrade to the factory front speakers on my '88('89 model year
i.e. facelifted)  100.

    I took off the speaker covers on the top of the dash (pry up the
trailing edge that faces you and slide out backwards) and saw that not only
is there the mesh grill and a plastic chassis that its formed round, but
also an,  ahem, 'acoustic' cloth membrane between the two. About as acoustic
as a peice of felt I should say. I could guess that the reasons it is used
would be 1) to stop dust/dirt getting through the grille and bouncing around
on the speaker etc, 2) prevent rattles between the grille and the plastic
chassis. Unfortunately it also has a third preventative property and that is
to stop me hearing my stereo.

    What I did was to ease back the tangs that hold the grille onto the
plastic chassis and remove the grille with the acoustic cloth still in the
grille ( I thought it may be stuck to it and I'm still not sure whether it
is) then I got a craft knife and made a cut onto the cloth. Then I scraped a
finger hold and literally peeled away a layer. Or more accurately I peeled
it to about half its original thickness.

    Reassembled, there was a noticeable increase in clarity. I then put the
left over material in my ear and it went back to how it was before. Proof!

    Visually there is no difference, i.e. when you look at the reassmbled
grille you cannot see through to the speaker or mounting screws or anything
tacky like that.

    There's a noticeable difference on the highway, I can now hear Sheryl
Crowe warbling away when I'm doing  90 on a rough noisy motorway surface,
whereas before I had to turn up to distortion point.  Next I will have a
look at the rear door speakers as they seem to use the same stuff, but I
think I may have to remove the door panel to get at them , anyone know if
thats so?

    Other things occured to me. 1, The plastic former has a circular hole in
the central area over the speaker cone, I could probably cut away all the
material in that area and not get rattles, and 2, I could perhaps do the
same with the rear speakers as they probably don't have a former/grille
chassis at all. 3, Other cars with the same dash prolly have the same
'upgrade
path' available, - 200/V8's etc?

    Incidentally, when I saw them I thought the little speakers up front
were quite reasonable quality, - little metal centre caps, and rubber cone
suspension, - just a little small and no tweeters. Anyone know what size
will go in there?

        Cheers



rob