When I purchased my Mercedes back in Y2K, one of the first things I did was put one of those plastic Coverlay covers on it. It was, all in all, pretty good, except I never cared for the openings for the stock speaker grilles:
Kind of tacky looking at best...
When I first moved to Florida, the car was at a shop for a couple of months, and the hot Florida sun ruined the coverlay. Been meaning to do something about that...
In the meantime, I purchased my TJ last April, and when I replaced its stereo and stock speakers, I was completely BLOWN AWAY by the sound. I'm not much of an audiophile, and usually don't give a damn one way or the other about car audio. I've owned a couple of vehicles that didn't even have a radio and I didn't really care. But hearing how nice the Jeep sounded, I told my wife recently that the speakers in the Mercedes are now 36 years old, I think its time for a new set (I put a new stereo in in 2017 - the third its had since I've owned it)!
So fine, then I'm going to replace the coverlay at last - and I *REALLY* wish I could get one where they didn't cut the opening for the stock speaker grilles. There are not many speakers that will fit this location, all of them require "some" adaptation/modification anyway - so why not "pave over" the stock grilles and install aftermarket grilles in whatever size/shape that makes sense? It would give me more options all around and look far better.
Most companies *HATE* doing specials, and just won't consider them at all. But I must have gotten the right person at Coverlay - I explained the whole thing to the lady via email, she in turn asked their production manager, and I got a new Coverlay without the cutouts! All they had to do was pull the product from the line before the speaker holes were cut. So I got one with the dash vents, the defroster vents cut out, but no speaker openings! Now I get to pull the old speakers, and figure out what will work! Kudos to CoverLay! I even got free shipping, which certainly beats a poke in the eye with a mascara brush! The only caveat is that its exempted from their lifetime warranty - a fair tradeoff.
Kind of tacky looking at best...
When I first moved to Florida, the car was at a shop for a couple of months, and the hot Florida sun ruined the coverlay. Been meaning to do something about that...
In the meantime, I purchased my TJ last April, and when I replaced its stereo and stock speakers, I was completely BLOWN AWAY by the sound. I'm not much of an audiophile, and usually don't give a damn one way or the other about car audio. I've owned a couple of vehicles that didn't even have a radio and I didn't really care. But hearing how nice the Jeep sounded, I told my wife recently that the speakers in the Mercedes are now 36 years old, I think its time for a new set (I put a new stereo in in 2017 - the third its had since I've owned it)!
So fine, then I'm going to replace the coverlay at last - and I *REALLY* wish I could get one where they didn't cut the opening for the stock speaker grilles. There are not many speakers that will fit this location, all of them require "some" adaptation/modification anyway - so why not "pave over" the stock grilles and install aftermarket grilles in whatever size/shape that makes sense? It would give me more options all around and look far better.
Most companies *HATE* doing specials, and just won't consider them at all. But I must have gotten the right person at Coverlay - I explained the whole thing to the lady via email, she in turn asked their production manager, and I got a new Coverlay without the cutouts! All they had to do was pull the product from the line before the speaker holes were cut. So I got one with the dash vents, the defroster vents cut out, but no speaker openings! Now I get to pull the old speakers, and figure out what will work! Kudos to CoverLay! I even got free shipping, which certainly beats a poke in the eye with a mascara brush! The only caveat is that its exempted from their lifetime warranty - a fair tradeoff.
