DIY Door Panel Removal/Speaker Installation

[hotshot2003]

I assume many people will want to upgrade the sound in the car and replacing the speakers is one of the quickest, easiest ways to do so. I decided to install Focal 165K2P's. These are pretty high end components and in the right installation can sound amazing. As much as I wanted the Utopia Be's I couldn't justify paying 4x as much for a little bit better sound. The 165K2P's list for 1299 so that aren't shabby. Anyway, on with the tutorial.

Here we go:

For starts I usually remove the Torx 25(T25) screw from behind the door handle. To access this screw you will need a small pick in order to pop out the plastic cover:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02854.jpg

There is a small indention in this plastic cover that allows you to slide a pick in behind it and pry it off. Be careful and pry gently and it will pop right off:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02855.jpg

As stated above you'll need a T25 screwdriver to remove this screw. After removing this screw we can move on to the one that is located in the armrest on the door panel. You will find this one located on the bottom side of the armrest. Most phillips drill bits will not reach far enough to get this screw out without damaging the leather on the door. I recommend using a long phillips screwdriver and removing this one by hand:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02856.jpg

After this screw is removed I usually move on to the bottom of the door panel. Here you will find 3 screws that you can easily access with a drill and remove. One is at the inside of the bottom of the door, one in the middle bottom and one on the outer bottom of the door:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02861.jpg

After these 3 screws are removed there are only two screws left.

[hotshot2003]

You will find these on the inside of the door closest to the car. These are also easily accessed with a drill and can be removed quickly:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02864.jpg

And the second one:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02865.jpg

After all of these steps are taken the door panel is ready to come off. It is held on by several plastic pins that are made to just pop out. To remove the panel start at the top and pull on the panel. You will hear and see it begin to pop off. You will want to pull directly out from the door so that you do not damage the pins holding the panel on. Once the top is popped loose, begin working your way around the door and pulling the rest of it off.

After you have the plastic part removed, you will notice that there are two cables that make your door handle and lock mechanism work. There is a little metal ball on the end of each cable that fits into a mechanism on the door handle. In order to lift these up, pull the yellow plastic jacket out of its place on the door panel, they just snap out and snap back into place.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02866.jpg

Now lift up on the cable so that the metal balls can be lifted out of the mechanism.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02867.jpg

[hotshot2003]

At this point the door panel is completely off and you can begin your speaker installation. This is what you will see once the panel is removed:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02868.jpg

The factory speakers are mounted into plastic brackets which make them fit the metal door and fire through the factory grills on your door panels. There is a chance you may get lucky and have your aftermarket speakers fit right in; however, most 6.5's will not just drop right in and I prefer to have something more solid to mount my speakers to anyway. I will now jump ahead to after I sound deadened the doors and show the speaker mounting plates that I made in order to fit the Focal 165K2P midbass drivers. Here is a drawing of how the plates are made:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/mountingbracket.jpg

Below is a picture of the actual plate assembly that will make the K2P's fit the doors and have a solid mounting surface to reduce vibration and increase sound quality:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02982.jpg

Here is the plate from another angle which shows how the two parts described in the drawing above fit together:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02983.jpg

You can remove the factory plate/speaker by simply unscrewing it. The speaker wire has a small clip that holds it on. You simply press in the clip and pull the harness out. The factory speakers are labeled with a + and - sign on them. The positive wire is the one that is horizonal in the plug farther away from the side of the plug with the clip. The harness looks like this " -- | clip" the horizontal part is the positive wire. Simply cut an inch or so back from the harness to remove it and then snap it back onto the factory speaker in case you need it later. You can now use crimp on connectors, or solder a little bit of extra wire onto the factory wires and terminate the ends with whatever you need to connect to your new speaker.

[hotshot2003]

You are now ready to mount the plate and speaker to the door.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02986.jpg

You can see below that I added a fair amount of damplifier pro to the door before adding the speaker plate so that I could angle the speaker slightly up and forward toward the center of the dash. These pictures are of the other door because the pics were better:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02996.jpg
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02998.jpg

Now, I add sound damping material over the plate and around the speaker to make it a part of the door and add more rigidness to the mounting location:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02990.jpg

At this point you are done with the speaker installation and can begin putting the door panel back on. Check and make sure that none of the pins were left in the metal door, if they were, get a pry tool and pry them out, then insert them back into their position on the plastic door panel before attempting to put the panel back on. Once you've insured all pins are back in their place on the plastic door panel, put the metal balls back in for the door mechanism and pop the plastic retainers back into place on the door handle mechanism. Now carefully line up all of the pins with the holes on the door and start applying pressure or tapping the panel with your fist to pop it back on.

[hotshot2003]

At this point repeat the earlier steps of removal and put all of the screws back in.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC02905.jpg

You've now completed your speaker installation, now enjoy what you've worked hard for!

The rear door panels are very similar to the front. I did not take pictures of the rear panels but will try to explain. On the rear doors, the door handle clip is exactly the same. Use your pick to pry it off and then use the T25 to remove that screw. Next, move to the armrest. This time there are two screws here, one near the inside of the armrest, the other near the outside of the car part of the armrest. After these are removed, move to the bottom of the door panel. You will find there are only two screws this time instead of 3. Remove these. There are NO screws on the inside of the door panel this time so you are now ready to pop the panel off. Begin at the top and pull directly outward as you did on the front panels. This time you will have to unplug one wire harness that controls the window up and down. There is a small clip on the bottom side of this harness that you depress and slide the harness out. Now remove the plastic retainers for the door cables and lift the metal balls up out of the door mechanism as you did on the front. Voila, your rear door panel is removed! For speaker installation, you may again get lucky and fit the factory mounting bracket. If not, I suggest making your own plates out of 1/2'' MDF. This time you can simply trace the factory mounting bracket that fits the door and adapt the cutout size to fit your speakers. You will not have to make a two part panel or do any type of angling. These rings and the speaker installed in the rear door can be seen below:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC03004.jpg

Then covered in damplifier pro:

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/hotshot2003/G8%20damplifier%20install/DSC03007.jpg

I hope this tutorial helps, if you have any questions feel free to ask!

[Chewy]

I knew there was a reason I asked you to come here! :worthy:

:woohoo:

These are the kind of posts we like to see!

Thanks!

[hotshot2003]

I figured we would try to centralize all the data available on our cars to this one location. Can someone lift the photo limit on posts from 4 to maybe 8-10, that would make writing these things much easier.

[GRRRR8]

It will be done! Great Job. Ever think about making an install set for consumers that are pre-fabbed?

[hotshot2003]

I made these after laying the sound deadener and built up parts of the metal with sound deadener to get a better fit and angle on the speaker so it would be more centered in the grill. It would be hard for me to make a generic mounting bracket for guys since I've already changed the layout of my door with sound deadening. I guess I could take the OEM ones and fab something to fit a larger speaker that matched that contour...just hard for me to find time to do my own much less mass produce anything lol.

[pkeplinger@unitedcommunit]

thanks to your great post with photos, I was able to replace the factory front door "whizzer"cone "skreetchers" with some Blaupunkt GTc652 speakers that sound much better.

[SRG8]

Instructions worked out great... I just finished swapping cloth door panels for leather wrapped door panels! Was probably the easiest thing to do... thanks!

Installing my Polk MOMOs as soon as I buy an amp for the speakers.

[MAYBEN]

thanks for the install info... I wonder what some are doing with their tweeters... I have 2 brand new pairs of JL Audio ZR650CSi's that I want to throw in, but not sure if I want to drill/modify the door panels, when I installed them in the GP I had to drill out the existing tweeter location which ended up making it not possible to put the stockers back in...

[SRG963]

Any ideas of the location of the problem bolt/screw/clip/thingy that hits the windows when closing the door when the windows are down. This is causing a mark or hole in the tint and I would like to put some adhesive felt over the bolt to fix. I believe the bolt will be inside the door frame.

Help is always appreciated :)

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss218/royonic/DSC02189.jpg
http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss218/royonic/DSC02188.jpg

[Chewy]

I felt up there when I did mine and I think I felt it. I forgot to grab a piece of soft side velcro and stick it on there. It feels like a 1/4" round rod sticking out. Not sure if it's plastic or metal. I think the velcro will help though.

[MAYBEN]

I havent had any issues when I open/shut my doors with the windows down, thats odd