Has anyone done a clean custom parcel shelf setup?

[FSHTAIL]

My parcel shelf was bastardized it with a couple of pioneer 6x9 speaker grills and covered in black speaker box carpet.. 

Looks cheap.    the press board is warped..      junk.

I like having a stereo in the car and not just AM radio, so I want sound.

Several locals have said that the stock speaker cutout parcel shelfs just don't allow sound to go through it. 

Has anyone done anything clean/custom?

I'll keep the stock piece to trace out onto a new piece of press board unless someone had a better suggestion or something to use. 

I'm looking for ideas. 

Thanks..   

[Burdar]

The first thing that comes to mind is just wrapping some MDF with a quality vinyl.  If you don't like the vinyl look, you can paint the MDF.  A slightly textured paint like suede would look nice.(same as the dash frame and steering column)

As for the speaker cutouts, you can look for some aluminum mesh to attach to the back side.  You can buy mesh with a lot of different patterns in it.(diamond, circle, square, honeycomb exc...)  You can leave the mesh aluminum colored or spray it black to mute it a little.

There are lots of Youtube videos on how to mold the mesh into an opening.  Basically you make male and female templates of your speaker opening.  Then sandwich the mesh in between them.  That will give the mesh a 3 dimensional look to it so you aren't just attaching a flat sheet of mesh on the back side of the package tray.

You could also insert some aluminum accents in between the speaker cutouts for an additional custom look.  Maybe just three aluminum bars in the middle.  The middle bar being longer then the others.  Simple yet custom.

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[PLUM72]

Mine is a bit custom.  I used 1/4-inch masonite as a backer.  The outline was cut and the speaker holes were also cut out.  Then I used a vinyl material that I got at the local fabric store.  Had a family member embroider my car into the vinyl.  The vinyl was glued to the masonite with a fabric trim adhesive typically used for headliners.  Then I found some punched steel speaker grilles and fastened those.  I love it!

[tparker]

My plan is to just cut wholes in the shelf and top with speaker covers. Mine are not orig, and if it was and I didn't want to cut it up I'd just by a replacement and cut that one. They are fairly cheaply made. I could see using some other material. But really, you're in a '70s E body, why you looking at the speaker shelf? Crank the tunes, look ahead, and forget about it 

[340Challman]

I get a kick out of the fact that they were called package trays. Other than the occasional bobble head dog, Did anyone actually put anything up there? Not wise as whatever it is, will be flying up to the front and hitting god knows what, including you, if you had to jump on the brakes. 
I don't even want to put anything in the trunk because of it flying around. Many a dimple in my quarter panels from that. 

[FSHTAIL]

Early 90's Lincoln Town car.   
Cut the whole hair smaller than the grill, put the grill through, bend tabs around it, done.. 

Going to hit em with some semi gloss and good to go. 

[FSHTAIL]

it figures...     turns out a friend has some era correct aftermarket covers that I like much more..   
I went walking around UpullRparts for 2 hours in the snow and wasted $6.50     lol

I got out of the house though..   

[FSHTAIL]

I ended up going a different direction with some old school Phase Linear Graphite (started in 1970) grills from the 70's (what became Pioneer in 1979)

I used coroplast (like a plastic cardboard) and black marine UV vinyl   

Once I did this, I now had to freshen up the faded interior panels..