Door Panel Removal, Front Door Speaker Removal With Pictures

I didn't see any threads with actual pictures of the removal of the door panels, so I took pictures while I was getting my car ready to install new door speakers.

The removal of the door panel is the same on each door, aside from the electrical connections.

The door is held in place with 2 Philips head screws and a bunch of plastic clips (below).


The first screw is located behind a piece of trim behind the door handle. Pull the door handle while you pry the plastic trim piece out.



The second screw is directly under a piece of foam in that small cubby hole thing. I just gently used a flathead screwdriver to lift the piece of foam up and out.



After you get the screws out, you have to basically pry the door off since it's held in place with the plastic clips. I started at the bottom and sides and worked my way up. There are areas where you can sneak your hand in.


Just unplug the electrical connections and remove the connections to the door handle and lock mechanism to get the door panel completely off.


Using a 1/8" drill bit, I drilled through the 4 rivets holding the door speakers in.



After drilling through, I used a flathead screwdriver and popped the metal off on the outside of the rivet, and then the clear plastic under that metal. After doing that on all four rivets, the speaker will come right off, and then you need to punch out the other side of the rivets. I'm not an expert on rivets, so I just used some pliers and crushed and wiggled them till they popped off basically.





Here's what the speaker area looks like without the speaker.

 

I took the opportunity to put some of that cheap sound deadening (Peel & Seal) I've been hearing about. I got mine from Lowe's.


Front Driver Side Door


Rear Driver Side Door


Rear Passenger Side Door


Front Passenger Side Door


I placed the dampener inside the door as well as outside on the front doors, but only on the outside for the rear doors (otherwise I would need to remove the speaker unless I wanted to tear apart the plastic sheeting). If I ever decide to install new speakers in the rear or remove them, I will put more dampening on the inside of the door.

So here's whats lurking in those back doors.




This is the adapter crutchfield sent with my new front door speakers. It isn't really a good fit, so I'm going to buy some 1/2" MDF and make my own adapters using the stock speakers as a template. I'll install the speakers tomorrow...or the next day.

 

Some stuff that I'm going to install later:

3.5" Speakers for the front dash.


JL 8W7 Subwoofer


I'm thinking about just building a subwoofer box to JL's specifications for ease of installation/removal, and mounting the amp to the box. Does anyone have any thoughts on this solution vs building a stealth enclosure? And will it be a problem if I mount the amp to the box?

 

I actually went back and added quite a bit more to the passenger side front door. I'm going to get some more in on the driver's door today, but I'll compare the difference before I do.

 

I was concerned about adhesion, but I don't have a heat gun, and I couldn't find a hairdryer, so I'll address that if the deadener starts to peel next time I open the doors up. I don't think it will. It was on there tight when I had to peel some off.

And yes, it is thin compared to dynamat. I initially did only one layer on everything, but after I was done with the prep part of the speaker install, I was looking at the stuff and knocking on the door, and it was thinner than I remembered dynamat being when I installed dynamat on my other car. So on the inside of the passenger door, I ended up doing a few thick layers, and added a couple small layers on the outside. I might be completely off base, but I think the majority of dampening benefit would come from the inside of the door. I'm going to add more to the Driver Door today.

 

And that is exactly why I don't want to do it yet haha.

 

I will put big stars *** *** by the picture where I made a small booboo on my door panel. I wasn't careful when I was putting the door back on with a connector in a new place.




To actually mount the speakers, I went and bought some 1/2" Medium Density Fiberboard. I used the old speaker as a template and traced around the outside of it on top of the MDF.





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After I traced out the speaker, I used a jigsaw to cut it out. For the 2nd adapter, I just used the first adapter I cut out and traced that. There are probably better ways to get more consistent shapes, but space doesn't look like it will be an issue.



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JL supplied the speakers with a mounting hole template (it's a little piece of cardstock used to trace out a circle), so I used that to draw the circle I needed. After I drew the circle, I used a 1/2" drill bit and drilled a pilot hole to give the jigsaw a place to start. The picture kindof shows how to drill and saw if you've never cut out a circle with a jigsaw before. Basically, cut out the main shape, drill a pilot hole, cut out the circle. I went ahead and took the time to sand all of the edges of the adapter with 120grit paper.



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Check to make sure everything fits.





Instead of waterproofing the MDF like I would recommend anyone else do, I was lazy and just threw some Peel and Seal on the back and inside the ring. That's also why I covered the terminals on the speaker with electrical tape, since I don't know how the speaker will like that metal skin in such close proximity.



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When I was checking the mounts against the door, I noticed that the stock speaker actually made it's electrical connections on the outside, so I decided to make a small channel in the mount to let the adapter cables run through.




To mount the plates to the door, I used 8 (4 on each door) #10 screws with nuts on the end. To get correct placement of the new holes to mount the speaker, I placed the stock speaker over the adapter, and keeping everything as level as possible, I used a nail to make small marks in the MDF (guiding the nail through the stock speaker's holes). Then I drilled the holes in the adapter where the screws would go. I started with a 1/8" bit and just worked my way up in size until the #10 screws could move in and out without much resistance.

I mounted it by placing one screw through and then getting the nut on the other side of the door, then moved to the other three, keeping them all somewhat loose until I got all 4 in. I only had to make one small adjustment to get everything to line up correctly. Once it was on there enough to let go, I went ahead and ran the adapter wires through the channel I made (who knows if I even needed that channel).

Right here you can see what I mean with the connection issue now that the adapters are mounted.

Driver side:


Passenger side:


!!!!*** This is where I hurt my car ***!!!

You can see in the above photo that the connector to the speaker is sticking out. Well, I assumed that would just push out of the way when I put the door panel back on later. It didn't, so I have a mark that shows on my door panel where it looks like a little baby wanted to crawl out of the panel. Later I fixed that by disconnecting it and making the connection behind the other wires so that it would stay in place. -_-

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I connected the wiring to the speakers and then mounted them to the adapter.







Put the doors on, and done!






**************More on the door panel mark************

So basically, that's what it was looking like, and I didn't even notice until I was driving.



I was really concerned that it would be the adapters, but when I opened it up, I realized that it was that plastic connector that was just pressing out against the panel since it was practically perpendicular to the door, so I just tucked the connector behind the other wires.

The plastic on that door panel is REALLY SOFT. I mean RIDICULOUSLY SOFT. I was able to just push the bulge back in, so there's no more bulge. It's just discolored a little from the plastic being stretched. If anyone has any suggestions for fixing that blemish, let me know.