Hi all,

I have a mostly stock and very nice condition, low mileage 240Z. I drive her very frequently these days, so I have made some modifications to make daily driving more enjoyable/bearable.

I started with new struts and springs (kept the originals if I sell to someone who wants the old parts).

The project I am working on right now is setting up the stereo to be reasonably nice but also sound better and accept an aux-in from my ipod.

I have ordered the "retrosound" head unit from Crutchfield so I can have a modern tuner and aux-in but preserving most of the stock look (I will keep the old parts as well)

I removed the interior rear quarter panels and to my surprise there is only one speaker mount and speaker (on the left side). I knew sound was only coming from the left side but I assumed that the right side speaker was dead, not completely gone.

I don't see any lead wires coming from the wiring harness and there aren't and clues that would lead me to believe that there was ever a speaker bracket attached there.

Is it the normal stock setup to have only one speaker for a 73 240Z? seems like an odd thing...Was a 2 speaker setup optional? Or did it vary by model year?

Currently, I plan to get a bracket off another car and install a second speaker , running the speaker wire from the head unit to the speaker along the normal route.

I know about the speaker box for 6x9 speakers but I want to keep the look of the car as stock as possible.

There was only one speaker in the stock 240Z set up and no options on US cars, except for the automatic transmission. Here is a thread with some information about upgrading speakers, while keeping a relatively stock look http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31258. Classicdatsun.com also sells some aftermarket speakers with stock looking brackets (under 240Z Parts - Misc).

-Mike

Be sure to research the past postings. The thickness of todays speakers may give you a "buzz" that you do not want.

Pioneer, Kenwood and a few others make Low profile speakers in both Dual Cone and 2-way (tweeter and mid) versions. They work great in the small areas of the 240Z's.

If you find another left hand bracket, you can rebend the mounting tab to work on the right side of the 240Z. Use a peice of plastic to sheild the magnet from the fuel lines and you'll be fine. You'll also have to run a second set of speaker wires from that speaker to the deck.

If I recall correctly, you'll have to keep the antenna switch after removing the old deck, as it's a manual up and down antenna. You can, however, replace the stock antenna with a fully automatic power antenna that looks just like the stock unit and rewire it using the stock wires.

To get sound I could hear any stereo separation in - I wound up building custom enclosures and mounting them on the kick panels up front, with the speakers slightly angled up and toward the center of the car.

Stereo Speakers facing one another in the rear seemed to cancel themselves out. So 5.25's with tweeters up front made a huge improvement. If I do it again, I'll mount the tweeters on the "A" pillars near the dash... with a small sub in the rear.

FWIW,

Carl B.