348ts Dash speaker/AC vent removal

There are plastic tabs that need to be pushed in on the sides. Be careful it is easy to mar/mark the dash openings. They make a Teflon "Slim Jim" type tool for this purpose, but most use small screwdrivers. There is a video on Sticky No More - Exotic Cars Interior Refinishing Services about removal (step by step). I have a set of the OEM speakers removed from my 1995 348 Spider if you are interested, PM me.

 

Center vents...

348 DIY "Restoration" - Page 66

and side vents...

348 DIY "Restoration" - Page 66

 

(Actually p 33) https://clubscuderia.co.uk Great resource. Note: As a first timer, I found it easier if you unscrew & loosen the side dash panel first - just one screw holds it in. The screw is easy to access. It is hidden by the door when the door is closed and can be removed with number three hex wrench. This gave me better access to the vent. Next, Be careful removing the vent because the plastic clips are easy to break. Not sure 348 DIY way of removing the vent with the screwdriver inserted in the front is the best. Did not work on mine. See photos for location of vent clips. I did a bunch of wiggling and soft pressure. When it finally came out, I turned it 90° to the left, and it came out smoothly. Last pic is from 348 DIY restoration - I could not get the vent nor my screwdriver to do that.
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Are you doing the work yourself? Refnishing?

 

Yep. Really enjoying the project. So far, I have found the 348 is really easy to work on. Then again, my vehicle is in really good physical and mechanical condition to start with. Did learn the hard way what a dry sump oil system is though - lol. But that is a different story. Happy to share details, But the rub being make sure you warm up the car really well before you check the oil or add any oil. This is not a wet sump system!

All started off with only one stereo speaker working. Looking about the car and reading up on-line saw that there may be more to this than I thought. Yes, there was. Car had a 6 way stereo system with 3 blown speakers and a missing subwoofer. Looking about and tracing wires, found that my Sony radio was connected to a JL Audio XD 600/6 amp, which still worked. The amp was nicely nestled under the front bonnet and under the black fabric trim that made up the frunk. To get to it, you have to pull the rubber trim gasket off around the frunk, takeoff the air intake plastic gasket (4screws), and unscrew and remove the large black fabric trim cover that goes all around the frunk. Once you pull off the gasket and take off the air intake trim, you can just lift up the black fabric , but doing that risks breaking the support board behind the fabric. So I recommend unscrewing and removing the entire black fabric trim piece. To do so, there are three metal brackets in the frunk well that you must unscrew and two more screws on top front either side holding it in place. This is a very large piece covering the entire frunk, but it does give you access to everything in that area. Worth the effort to gain the access.

The amp was nestled in a slot just in front of the passenger side firewall. Actually, a great location for it. Easy access into the passenger cabin. Using My Southwire RMS clamp meter, I tested for voltage and I found the amp to be good. So I asked myself, why were the speakers not working?. Either the lines had to be bad or the speakers had to be bad. That led me to research across the Internet, including these forums and decide to take apart the Drivers door where there was no sound coming from that speaker. This really was not difficult, Several articles in Ferrari chat say how to do it. Just be careful taking off the panel below the Doorhandle. There are two screws in the back but the middle in front are held in place by plastic snap plugs. They go from the panel into the door. Need to pop these off gently. Take your time, it’s worth it. Actually might be worth using a prybar to nudge them out. Similarly, be gentle and take your time reinstalling them. It takes a subtle hand to make sure they’re aligned properly before you pop them into place .

After I removed the inside door panels and had access to the speaker, I removed it and disconnected the wires. Using my meter, I tested the speaker’s ohm resistance and found out it was bad. Yep, I had to look on the internet and in the Southwire manual on how to do that and what that meant . Then I tested resistance on the lines to see if they were good. To do so, I disconnected the wires at the amp and twisted them together and then used my Southwire meter to run an Ohm resistance check starting at the speaker end. Thankfully, the speaker wires were good.

All during this, I had read that there were probably tweeters hidden behind the AC vents on the dash. That led me to research how to remove the vents, which is where we started in this thread. After (taking my time) removing the vents, I saw there were tweeters there. I did the same thing as I did with the door Speaker and tested them for resistance to see if they were good. Both were blown. I then tested the lines back to the amp by twisting the wires together at the amp and running an ohm Resistance test starting at the tweeter end. The wires turned out good. so that led me to a dilemma of what to do next. Back to the Internet, and decided to call Crutchfield, who are audio experts. After talking with their rep, he suggested I reuse my amp (which is I said before fits nicely into that “slot” in the front of the passenger side of the vehicle), buy A Polk 6502 audio component speaker system for the mid range (door speaker) and tweeter (Behind the dash vents). This is not the most high-end, but he told me it’s got great sound for the price and fits the car, especially in the door. I also bought a JL audio 8” subwoofer to go in the frunk. Best part about that is, Crutchfield has Expert installation people on call if I need help or have questions. Parts should be in in about three days and I’m looking forward to reassembling the car and having great sound.

that is my story about dealing with my stereo on my 348.

 

We have those little circles for the dash vents if you need them after refinishing