Door identification part I - HQ

[micks_sandman]

Weren't they put in the kick panel???

[ambientgoat]

Well that leaves me with a new question. If optioned with a radio, where were speakers located then, in the case of HQ utes, vans and 1 tonners?

In the middle of the dash, there is a single speaker pointed at the windscreen. Hi-fi it is not.

[AN5590]

Single oval shaped speaker under the front metal part of the dash (forward of the dash/crash pad) i.e in between the windscreen demister outlets

[V6HQUTE]

In the middle of the dash, there is a single speaker pointed at the windscreen. Hi-fi it is not.

yep, theres a little grill looking thing in the middle between the windsceen and actual pad part of the dash pad, cant remember what size they are, might be 4x7", ill have to check when i get the one in my sedan out

[79Z33L]

Thank you very much folks.

[Q set]

Apologies to Oz for continuing on about speakers instead of doors.... But, I lifted a pair of kick panels out of a HQ ute which were the originals and they had four little indentations on the rear of them which corresponded nicely with the 'dimple' in the body metal behind where the kick panel is attached. I thought that the indentations provided a screw template for speakers. The dimple provided space for the cone of the speaker. Did the optional Airchief 13 radio for the HQ have balance control?

[Taily]

Weren't they put in the kick panel???

Yes, however the centre oval speaker is (possibly) more common until FM radio really kicked-off in the mid 70's. I have an original documented set of 4inch stereo speakers that were fitted to the kickpanels of my HJ ute. They had a lightweight metal plate over the speaker assy and were fitted with a spring steel speed nut in each corner. Stereo in the 70's usually involved a speaker balance knob under the dash (oddly mine was on the passenger side of the underdash while the 8-track cradle was under the right).

As the others have said there is a position in the middle for a single speaker which was probably more suited to the original AM mono radios. Even the VB Commodore still had a centre speaker only fitted from new.

The doof doof machine of choice for utes and vans in Sydney in 1975 was the Philips AM/FM/cassette player with remote clarion plastic moulded stereo speakers - the ones you could either hang in the top corners or sit behind/next to the seats to drive with or when pulled-up have them both on the roof or dangling out the windows for a van or even pointed back into the back of a van. Oh yeah!

As for the sound..... bass hadn't been discovered quite yet, that would have to wait until the mid 80's......

Regards,

Dave

[wbute]

There were no factory fitted kick panel speakers, or fm radios in HQ-WB commercial vehicles. They would be dealer or aftermarket fitted. The factory radio was AM with the speaker up under the dash. Thats how it was.

[Taily]

There were no factory fitted kick panel speakers, or fm radios in HQ-WB commercial vehicles. They would be dealer or aftermarket fitted. The factory radio was AM with the speaker up under the dash. Thats how it was.

I didn't suggest or say that that they were fitted from the factory ("factory fitted" back then could still mean "dealer fitted" in blurb). Even HQ-J (S1) commercials didn't have even an AM radio fitted unless specifically ordered, even in Kingswood. That is why there are so many vehicles around that don't even have a centre speaker fitted. I remember playing around in the Hillsdon's Church street lot a bit when I was a kid in the mid 70's (my father's uncles' owned the business until they made the decision to close it in 1984)and going looking for anything fitted with a radio to listen to. The best ones were often found over in the PD dept and were being fitted by the guys there (Laurie, Gerry etc in the later years).

Regards,

Dave

[mook]

Cool. Anyway back on topic...
Differences between front and rear electric window mechanisms. I should just try fitting one to be honest, but then again OZ does know how much us gen y's like pictures... What's a set worth anyway. Prices range hugely on eBay.