ok, so I'll confess.....
when I was approx. 12 years old, I drilled two holes in the dash of dad's 65 to install a tv speaker I got from my uncle to replace the rotted factory speaker..
and in my youthful spirit, threw the factory bracket and speaker frame away
thankfully, I was recently able to find not only a factory speaker frame and all mountings, but I was able to find a vendor that reconed it back to factory 10 ohm goodness
while I still haven't put that latest speaker in yet, I do have a new 10 ohm speaker installed to test the radio that works perfectly..
and yes, those are drywall screws with recessed washers inserted through the grill slots holding the speaker up with drywall anchors underneath..
all temporary without drilling more holes than I already did when I was a kid, visible to the right of the grill..
although not obvious to the ordinary passenger, they are a constant reminder of the mistake I made that I regret today..
now both of these mods were made by previous owners..
first, my 71 [72] K1500 burb is severely hacked! so bad that they had to support the din radio frame with a block of wood from the back
I was fortunate to find an aluminum adapter from brothers on sale that will tidy up the hacking decently.. haven't got it in perm yet, just recently finished a paper template to carefully locate the adapter so it hides all the hackage..
both doors of course are cut for speakers too..
so in the end, will still be tolerable but certainly would have preferred the factory am in the dash..
now the previous owner of the 71 K20 burb was thinking ahead.. he left the factory am in the dash and installed an aftermarket din radio in the glovebox..
and installed kick panel speaker inserts that do not require holes cut
I plan to remove all of that and if anything since it's a family hauler, likely install a hidden unit under the seat with a couple of speaker boxes underneath as well.. so Mrs. Bee and the kids can play their tunes from mommy's cell phone as they choose but I won't have to look at any of it and advertise to every passing thief..
this is what I prefer an old truck dash to look like.. nothing that fits in a cut open hole in the dash is going to produce any significant sound quality given the all steel body and crude insulation from the road, engine, etc. and even if the power is available to overcome that, how safe is it to drive with music blasting while cruising down the road.. just doesn't make any sense to me, never did, just enough to hear the tunes as background noise is sufficient for me..
and although those vintage radio conversions are expensive due to the lack of mass production anywhere near the numbers of common din radios, I would sooner spring for the extra coin to get the same quality for a couple hundred more than destroy the original dash..
both of my 71 longhorns completely unmolested
cheers and good luck to y'all!
