Bottoms of Doors

[WillBilly53]

Does water drain through the insides of the doors? Mine have rusted completely through.

I'm planning on repairing the bottoms of the doors by welding in fabricated patches, but was wondering if there are supposed be drain holes or something of this nature? also was planning on putting in some 4" speakers in the doors?

any thoughts? thanks ya'll!

[Bill Stoneberg]

Both my '47 and my '50 had holes in the botom of the door for drainage.

As a matter of fact, the '50 was plugged up with crap and it caused the bottom to rust out and need replacing. The other 3 doors were fine.

4" speakers ? why not the 6 1/2 " ? It will give you better sound, the 4 " are kinda treble eee . Get a good coaxaile speaker, you wont be sorry that way. That is if you have the room.

[Guest imported_SKYSTHELIMIT]

Whatever kind of speakers you put in the door I would also get baffles for them too. They are available through Cruchfield and will keep any water that gets in the door off the speaker.

[rocketraider]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">was planning on putting in some 4" speakers in the doors?</div></div>

Auugh! Heresy! <img src="http://www.aaca.org/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Shoot, Will. Put 'em in there and enjoy the car. Saw a 61 Impala at the muffler shop today that had aftermarket tunes in it and it was very professionally done. Car was "restified"- modern wheels and rubber, the tunebox and air suspension. And all of it could be put back original with a very minimal effort. Done like that, I have no problem with such mods.

And I gotta admit those 17" American Racing Torq-Thrusts looked really bitchin on that car. I've even thought about a set for the green Starfire, making sure they would also fit the 76 Ninety-Eight.

[WillBilly53]

well i just can't wait to tell you all what exactly i'm doing!

I'm restoring the original sonomatic and have it working all within it's self, i.e. using it's original speaker only. then i'm gonna install the cd player in the tissue dispenser! i'm running 4" in the doors and 4" in the rear armrests and then 2 10" subs in that nice area between the trunk and rear seats. it's a bit overkill and i don't plan on "booming" out the whole town, i just like to have enough to take up the low end. (i used to work in a hi-end stereo shop)

thanks for the answers! one last one, how many holes should there be and what width in each door?

thanks!!!!!

[TomE_1953]

Will,

Email Don H., he just showed me the bottoms of his doors and made it a point for me to look at the drainage holes. I wish he had a digital camera so he could send you photos.

In regards to your 'modification' to the '53 and your speakers. Since you basically saved this car from the crusher and it's going to be your daily driver, you do ALL the mods you want! What kind of 'drain' will all those extra speakers be on the 'old' radio? You'd be better off leaving the original radio as is and install a high-end system in your trunk with a wireless remote. Just a suggestion.