Mounting exposed speakers... how to protect vinyl?

[Chexi]

After I receive my new vinyl skins from Nautiqueskins.com for my 99 Air, I want to mount new speakers along the gunnels. These speakers are the kind with a face that shows (not the kind that mount behind speaker cloth). They mount with 4 screws in through the bezel.

To install, I will have to shoot the mounting screws through the foam and more important through the vinyl. If I shoot through the pad and vinyl, I am worried that putting small holes in the vinyl will weaken it and I could in a few years time end up with tears in the vinyl starting from those holes. Is there a way to minimize this? Tape over the holes? Stitch around the holes? They should make these so that bolts come in from the rear. That would be a totally hidden mounting system and not have to go through the vinyl. But every speaker of this type seems to have these 4 mounting holes and mounts the same way.

Any guidance will be greatly appreciated.

Also, for anyone that has done this, have you trimmed the foam at all to allow for more of a recess in the vinyl?

[GoBig]

RE: Mounting exposed speakers... how to protect vinyl?

I bought my boat with aftermarket speakers already installed like that. The installers didn't do a very good job. They just shot wood screws in wherever they would stick. The screws are crooked and the speakers are not perfectly straight. Fortunately, you can't tell unless you look really close. As far as the vinyl, I've had those same concerns. I had to remove and reinstall two of the speakers. It is a pain to get right...the vinyl tends to wrap around the screw and tighten...bad news if you try doing this with a power drill. You could do some serious damage if you're not paying attention. My vinyl has held up so far. But I was thinking about drilling out the screw holes and installing some plastic molly bolts, then reinstalling the speakers. This would at least make for a cleaner, more symmetrical installation.

[Chexi]

RE: Mounting exposed speakers... how to protect vinyl?

I do plan on using stainless steel bolts with nylon lock nuts instead of screws. The tighter thread on the bolts should do less damage to the vinyl if I ever need to pull them. They should also hold better. However, I'm still concerned about the vinyl ripping over time.

[east tx skier]

I did it last year and it's holding up fine and looks great. I left the PVC ring intact and cut a criss-cross patter in the grill cloth. I set the speaker in the recess and once I was sure it was in straight, I carefully screwed it in with a screwdriver. The vinyl is pulled in and there is vinyl piping around the speaker cutout. So I wasn't worried about the vinyl pulling at the screw holes. The screws are pulling on the backboard and the vinyl doesn't seem to be pulling at all. No problems at all with it since installation.

Here's a quick shot of it under the cover. This is the component in the rear (previous owner had installed component speakers, which were also replaced). Coaxials up front.

[Chexi]

Thanks East_tx_skier. I'm not so sure that my new skins will come with that vinyl piping. When I was e-mailing back and forth with George at Christines, I touched on this topic (basically saying that they could leave off the speaker cloth), and he said that the skins do not come with it or the speaker holes cut out. I interpret that to mean no piping, which means a lot less support there. I had assumed that I would just have to cut the vinyl and wrap it around the pvc and starboard and staple behind. I guess I'll find out when I get the skins.

[east tx skier]

If you have a local upholstery shot, you could get them to pipe around the cutouts once you get the skins on there. It probably wouldn't cost all that much.

[Mikeski]

I use a power drill very carefully and very slowly to put screws through the vinyl. It's important to push the up tight against the panel. To be safer you might want to get a hole punch (hammer drive type) and punch the holes first. Don't drill through the vinyl.

[EarmarkMarine]

Chexi,

The vinyl needs to be terminated around the hole with staples so that it can't pull over time.

You can use a very narrow pencil tip soldering iron to make holes in the vinyl and foam. This way the holes will not expand. You'll probably want to compress the foam in the process.

Never drill through foam or carpet in forward because if the bit grabs or snags you've got trouble. However, you can safely drill in reverse if you proceed slowly with a variable speed drill and keep a close eye on it. A narrow awl is useful too.

I'm not sure how much padding you've got. If its pretty thick, when you mount down the speaker, the vinyl will wrinkle as the foam compresses. This may require that you insert and premount split spacer rings behind the foam to control the depth. I'll get into more detail if this turns out to be applicable.

David
Earmark Marine