Ok chaps, here's a brief guide on how to install some custom front tweeters in the stock grill location:

First, remove the tweeters from the dashboard. It may be easier to remove the side panels of the dashboard and get under the tweeters to push them out rather than hacking away at the top of the dashboard. The side panels are covered up as you close the doors, you can get your fingers behind them and unscrew a little bolt at the bottom of the panel, then flick the rotating tab that holds them in - and they should come out no problemo after giving them a shove downwards. Do it once and you'll get the technique for it.

With the tweeter including housing and grill removed you should have this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC1.jpg

Remove the standard tweeter by twisting it anticlockwise off, you may have to cut the small HPF resistor that it uses (cant remember if the coupe setup has one - did this a while back). Remove all traces of the old tweeter setup anyway.

From here you have to remove the grill by carefully lifting the tabs around the side with a screwdriver. Take your time and dont bend them out too much. Remove the grill, and the black cloth underneath it (and save these for later). You should be left with this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC5.jpg

You can see in this pic I've broken the criss cross support that sits in front of the stock tweeter. You should be able to break and remove this with your hands.

After this step - it now depends on the size of tweeter you want to install as to how much work you need to do. The following pics show a 0.75" MB Quart tweeter being installed, although I have managed to install a 1" Focal K2 Power tweeter in my car - this was a lot harder and I wouldnt recommend going for the 1" if you have the choice (its a lot harder to get right).

I used a set of files and the following drill attachment to shape the housing:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC11.jpg

In order for the 0.75" tweeter to fit, I had to modify the plastic housing by enlarging it mostly at the bottom edge (although I removed most of the plastic that sits underneath the face of the housing (where you broke away the criss cross tweeter guard - the surrounding plastic there got in the way of the tweeter)). I worked slowly, offering up the tweeter mounting (the tweeter doesnt have to be in its mounting - the mounting should come with the tweeter kit so you can perform an install like this - check pics later on to see the MB Quart tweeter mounting) to the hole to see where I needed to grind off the plastic. I used the drill to start with removing a majority of the plastic, and used the files to make smaller adjustments to get the shape just right. Be careful if using the drill, use safety specs - the plastic is soft and will grind down easily - so work slow and dont take too much off. The tweeter mounting sat nicely in the hole when finished, and my housing looked something like this:

front:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC00027.jpg

back:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC00031.jpg


Not too much modification to do on the 0.75" tweeter then. The 1" tweeter needed a hole from nearly the edge of the housing to the air vent, was very tricky to get it right.

From here, I refitted the grill without the cloth material.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC00034.jpg

Pin the grille down with the tabs and now its time to get to work with the drill again. You defo need to use the safety specs now, as small bits of metal will be flying around as you go through the grill. Make a hole through the centre of where the tweeter will sit, and work around this hole so the grill meets the edges of the plastic housing underneath (use the plastic hole underneath as a guide as to where you need to grind the grill).

Here's how it looked midway through opening the grill hole:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC12.jpg

As you can see, I went through the centre first - then enlarged the hole until it met the hole in the plastic underneath. After you get near finishing this stage you should be offering up the tweeter mounting to the grill hole, so you know you arent going too far on any one side. It'll be obvious to see when you are doing it.

After you are happy with the hole in the grill, and the tweeter mounting sits nice and snug in the hole - you can again remove the grill. Carefully attach the black cloth material to the grill (with 2 incisions where the tweeter will sit (criss cross), so you can take the wires through it and the tweeter wont be blocked by it) , and then re-attach the whole assembly. Pin the grill back down on its tabs, making sure you get it down flush with the plastic. You can now mount the tweeter in its mount, and use the supplied fittings to make the mounted tweeter fit tight to your custom grill/mount. The MB Quart kit is easy to use and comes with all the fixings you could imagine, thats why I love using it!

Here's how the back should look before using the tweeter mount fixing to secure the assembly together:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC14.jpg

and the front:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC00040.jpg

mounted at a bit of an angle here, depends on how you prefer the sound really:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC17.jpg

and repeat for the other side:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/S1MMA/Fiat/Tweeters/DSC18.jpg

Of the coupe's I've heard with this setup - the front soundstage sounds bright (due to reflecting off the screen), whilst retaining good imaging. I'd say this is a good compromise between ease of installation, retaining a pro look and decent sound.

Enjoy!

very good install S1mma <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/love.gif" alt="" />

Super write-up S1mma.. I would stick a 2nd copy in the basic FAQ section..

nice one <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Or you could just remove the org one an glue right on, works perfect and is done in no time...
http://sfk.ibk.se/depa/showfile.php?carpic_no=1257&type=picture

what about the extra depth or does that not matter?
i havent actually looked yet <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

ok, on glueing the tweeter to the bottom of the unit:

(Simple way of looking at it) The soundwave emitted from the tweeter will not be able to spread itself as effectively as on my install - as the sound has to pass through a "tunnel" to get into the cabin of the car. This in effect will change the shape/size of the soundwave when it reflects off the windscreen and hits your ears.

I'd say it would have a similar effect (for listening to rather than creating sound) as wearing the bit on a toilet roll made from cardboard over your ears (chopped down to being say 1.5 inches long). You may find it difficult to hear things clearly that lie outside the direct field of sound you can now hear due to the tunnel over your ears (as they have to reflect off more surfaces till they get to your ears (simplistic way of looking at it - not gonig into soundwaves being absorbed/vibrating off secondary surfaces etc... etc...), or your ears may hear the sound in a different manner to if there was no "tunnel" stuck to them, you'd hear the sound in a less clear manner).

Put it like this: it hides the install doing it that way (and saves hassle, until the tweeter falls off due to bumpy surfaces and the glue hardening - eventually cracking if you are unlucky), but it will compromise the sound you hear from the tweeters. You won't find any decent quality hifi speakers that have tweeters which arent in a direct line of "sight" to your ears, for this reason.

And though the orginials are installd with the "tunnel" <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> But yes you have a point S1MMA. Just one way to do it and I found it working for my standards <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Fixing new tweeters is always a trial and error. It's all upp to find a good place wher it sounds go too. Move them around for best sound experience is the key <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

ok then on that note i will take the long way round for my alpines as i dont want to impare the sound of them.
seems like a days work so i will atempt it on monday and let you guy's know how i got on.
also simma where have you placed the cross overs ?

I placed my crossovers on the left hand side of the dashboard, in a space that is just inside the side panel (panel which is visable when the door is open).

This space is underneath the heater air pipes (that circulate air round the car via the vents). You'll see it when you take the side panel out.

TurboNimitz, the originals are installed using the tunnel for a few reasons - mainly because manufacturers usually prefer to hide their drivers behind grills (for security and asthetic purposes - some people don't want audio drivers on display, some do) and the fact that they use substandard cheap audio parts anyway - so they don't come with fitting accessories/grills etc... like a decent set of Focal's or MB Quarts.

As we use decent kit, I don't think there's any problem having the tweeters on show - I actually think a modest install like this looks pretty cool <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

I have the same MB tweets in my car and the audio shop did the install the glued at the end of the tunnel way and i can tell you 1st hand it sounds totally shite. The passenger side totally overpowers the drivers side and have to listen carefully to make sure drivers side is working.

S1mma thank you for your write up and will deffinately be reintalling it your way next.

No probs mate, at least its nice to know that the rest of the kit is installed for you and this is the only job rather than 1 out of 100 when doing a full install! The install in the coupe which those MB Quarts went into took me a whole week to do!

Bloody hell s1mma, you are really starting to make me <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />...

Not only do i like the exterior of your car, but now i like the interior...lol <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

i installed my polk components in this way and the image was very good, even though my polks where not the best. i now have some genesis A16s going in soon, but i dont have a flush mounting cup, so i have to hope they fit in the polk cup, otherwise i am stuffed <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> , but as s1mma says the imaging here is good and will otherwise be hard to better, its not perfect but good enough for me <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

So you are into audio also s1mma... what else are you running, what have you put in the rears? i am torn between a set of 5.25 comps or 6.5 co-axiels, as i dont care too much about the ppl in the back as there isnt every anyone there! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> think 5.25s will give a better soundstage over all with the 6.5s in the front?

What do you think.

Paul

I installed my tweeters this way too but I had to enlarge the existing tweeter hole A LOT <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> but in the end I'm very pleased with it...I can direct the tweeters to wherever I want and it looks very nice <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

(just for the record...the all install took me over a week to do!)

Another tweeter install here.

well done simma for taking your time good to se a job done proppa, althought by bouncing your tweets offa the front screen you have lost all your image`ng, in a perfect world the best place is in the front kick pannels [custom build] as close to the mid base driver [frequency cut off at 90 hertz upwards] as you can get, that way you can possition them toward the drivers ears hence making the distance between each speaker to each ear more similar, plus uterlising a dence wood/sound board baffel.stock locations are always going to be very ppor and realy you should always modifie or try and inprove them.