Speaker Grills for 356 C

[Roy Lock]

Over lunch today, a bunch of us long time old farts were discussing this thread. We all got a good laugh over how anal we have all become. In the days of old, we would throw away this sort of stuff. Now it is almost a national treasure.

One common agreement we all made was that the original speaker cover material is NLA. The closest we can come to it is the material used for the grey headliners on Cabriolets. About the right thickness and texture. But it does not have the silver thread running through it.

[Paul Hatfield]

I am not sure we can say that ALL C cars came with cloth covering the speakers either. Seems there are some very original cars, and I know of one with an original owner, that does not have any cloth material over the metal.
I am in agreement with Roy and others though, the cloth material that came from the factory and looks like Cliffs, is NLA.

Paul

[Bob Lee]

The cloth that shows in Cliff's first post is what the original cloth looks like. It is extremely hard to find. I believe it to be correct for all 64 and 65 c and sc coupe and cab

My two cents worth

Kenny
11899

ken,
The original cloth that I just sent you if it's not what you want would you send it back?
Thanks,
Bob Lee
356 Registry member 16135
Porsche 356 Club member
912 Registry member

[Bob Lee]

I have had several PM's asking me for more details about the grill cloth that I have pictured as original from a 64 C coupe, so I thought I would pass them on too all.
The coupe was ordered by the original owner in the spring of 64 with the following options. Radio, speakers, aerial, and horn ring, he then picked up the coupe in Germany in the fall of 64 and then it was shipped too California four weeks later. The cloth you see pictured is factory installed cloth that was not gluded too the screen.

As a note, most radios and speakers were not factory installed but dealer installed due to the fact they would be stolen in transport along with owners manuals and tool kits. A good place to start is check your COA to see if speakers were listed as a ordered option. I have seen over the years at least three different types of cloth used for T6 speaker grills, so just don't think one and yes their all NLA SOL.

Back Under my Rock I go 8)
Bob Lee
356 Registry member 16135
Porsche 356 Club member
912 Registry member 1588-R

[Bob Kittel]

In case we are counting the poll. October built 1963, 1964 SC coupe. Sort of round speaker grills with the gray silver threaded material. I also purchased a Blaupunkt in 67 from the dealer. It came with speakers and the sort of round grills but no material covering.

[Jim Nelson]

I have never seen a T-6 with the round speakers before; that is as early as I have seen.

Now, are there any T-5 owners out there with the round speakers?

From California Porsche Restoration's site, there are two earlier (T6 B's) for sale, both with round speakers:
A 62 Cab


and a '63 Coupe



'Course, we don't know if these are original etc...

[Peter Silten]

My November 1962 build T-6 (1963 model) came with round speakers.

[Bob Lee]

I have never seen a T-6 with the round speakers before; that is as early as I have seen.

Now, are there any T-5 owners out there with the round speakers?

From California Porsche Restoration's site, there are two earlier (T6 B's) for sale, both with round speakers:
A 62 Cab


and a '63 Coupe



'Course, we don't know if these are original etc...

They are not original factory grills but period correct dealer or after market grills.
Back under my rock I go
Bob Lee
356 Registry member 16135
Porsche 356 Club member
912 registry member 1588-R

[Bob Forman]

For what it's worth, here are photos of my 62 T6 Coupe with round speakers. You can just see the round hole to the right of the steering wheel. I have no idea if these are original but I believe the previous carpet was and the holes in it match the speakers. My COA says the car has "2 loudspeakers."

[Jan Kolm]

The silver-gray cloth found on the T-6 Blaupunkt speaker grilles is the same as used on the oval T-5 Blaupunkt grilles. The cloth was glued to the mesh only around the edges. The Trop speakers that Becker (and possibly other radio manufacturers) used did not use fabric to cover their grilles.

In the absence of any sources that reproduce the original fabric, I found a material a few years ago that is a better approximation than headliner fabric. It is a type of needlework fabric produced by DMC that is grayish-white with silver threads running through it. The part number is "DC27U Metallic Silver 5283" and was sold in 50x75 cm swatches. The national craft store chains (Michael's, Jo-Ann's, Hobby Lobby, A.C. Moore) have really cut back on their cross-stitching inventory recently, but the material may still be available online.

[Bob Lee]

The cloth that shows in Cliff's first post is what the original cloth looks like. It is extremely hard to find. I believe it to be correct for all 64 and 65 c and sc coupe and cab

My two cents worth

Kenny
11899

ken,
I have had a number of PM's from folks asking me what you thought of the original grill cloth I sent you, not sure why they didn't ask you here on the fourm So what do you think

Bob Lee
356 Registry member 16135
Porsche 356 Club member
912 Registry member 1588-R

[Sebastian Gaeta]

Yesterday I went to visit a friend to work on a project and took these photos while I was there. This gentleman was a Porsche dealer during the 356 era and has much in the way of NOS parts etc.

Here is an NOS Blaupunkt installation kit that Porsche dealers used. This particular one was a leftover kit from the B/C era and the speaker grills are of the "sorta round" style.

Here are the contents of the kit, but only one speaker is shown (two were in the box):

Here are some closeups of the speaker grills and cloth. My friend said this was the only style cloth that he remembers from these kits, and he installed a number of them:

You will note that the cloth is the grey fabric with silver threads and it is trimmed to fit the grills. It was glued on the grill from the back, and some sort of dope was used to help secure it in place.

Here are the chrome trim rings still wrapped in paper with parts sticker:

Mounting Brackets and speaker connectors:

Radio Bracket and Hanger:

Here is the Blaupunkt Chrome Bezel:

I hope this helps!

Regards,

[Roy Lock]

Thanks Sebastian, looks just like the one I have in my coupe.... Sorta round speakers.
Hope this claifies some points for many who didn't know.

[Paul Hatfield]

Sabastian-
Thanks for posting those great pictures. I am also of the belief tha the material you show is the only cloth that was original for speakers in the 356 C production. I do have a few points I'd like to add for consideration-
1. I believe that not all 356 C cars with the sorta round speakers received the cloth. I think that some of the cars received the sorta round speakers with only the metal grill.
2. When the C speakers were installed, both speakers were wired to a junction block. The junction block accepted the wires from both sides, and then a single pair went down to the radio. I have attached a picture of one of these junction blocks. I think this same block might be shown in your top picture, in the box, next to the speaker.
3. Current brown electrical wire sold at the hardware store looks different than original brown speaker wire. Close, but not the same and if you'v ever seen the original stuff, you can tell the difference.

Thanks again- great stuff.

Paul

[Sebastian Gaeta]

2. When the C speakers were installed, both speakers were wired to a junction block. The junction block accepted the wires from both sides, and then a single pair went down to the radio. I have attached a picture of one of these junction blocks. I think this same block might be shown in your top picture, in the box, next to the speaker.

Hi Paul,

That is exactly what is in the box with the speaker. I did not take the speakers out of their boxes; I should have done that and will that next time I go to visit.

Sebastian