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Old 02-22-2011, 09:07 AM   #1
Darth Martel
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DIY Installing front speakers LOTS OF PICS

I've found a great DIY thread on swapping out the rear speakers but, didn't really see one on swapping out the front speakers. Figured I'd put one together which shows how to take the door panels off, where to mount the crossover module, and how to route the wiring.

So let's start by taking the door panel off. The first step is taking the little rubber cover out and using a torx bit (sorry don't remember size) and remove this bolt from the door handle area.



Next is the door opener handle. You need a 7mm hex head driver or ratchet to remove this bolt.



You now have 3 more 7mm hex bolts to remove in the following locations.

The top front of the door panel.


Bottom of the door panel towards the front under the speaker.


And lastly bottom of the door panel towards the rear of the door.


Once you get all the bolts out you can pop the panel off. It's easier if you have the window down all the way. You can start at the top rear of the panel and just pull the plastic away from the door. There are several snap locks along the top that you can pull out with relative ease.



Once you get the top ones popped out, you just need to go around the rest of the door panel and pop out the rest. At this point, you can lift the door panel off of the door. It will still be attached due to the wiring but, you can move the door panel at least. You need to pop off the tweeter now. It just pops off of the door panel with a good tug. Once it's free you can disconnect it via the connector and put it aside. Lift the door panel off of the push lock and then unhook the connectors and the lock cable. The lock cable(green thing) is a little odd but, you simply pull that away from how it normally rests and you then lift up on it. The door panel should come off freely now.



To remove the speaker is quite easy. It's one 7mm bolt. The housing is LIGHTLY glued to the door. You can pull it off without the strength of 10 men. A little old lady could probably do it.



Here's the front of the factory speaker.



And here's the rear. As you can see, I simply cut the connector off with about 3 or 4 inches of wire left dangling. I did this just in case I wanted to one day return the factory speakers to the car if I were to sell it or trade it in.



As you can see here. I replaced the stock speaker connector with spade and socket connectors. This makes swapping out speakers universal. I just need the wires from the speaker to have the appropriate mates.



Here is the crossover unit that came with the component speakers. They are Kicker 6.5" with a tweeter. I forget the model #.



I crimped on the appropriate mating connectors to the crossover unit and plugged those in. I also put some double-sided tape on the back of the unit.



As you can see here, the crossover unit fits well on the inside bottom of the door where the speaker goes.



You should prep the tweeter now. There is one screw that you need to take out for access to the tweeter. Once the cover is off, you can pull the tweeter out of the casing.



Here is the Kicker tweeter.



As you can see here, it doesn't fit very well into the housing.



I needed to dremel the tweeter a little bit but then it fit quite nicely.



Although the tweeter fit fairly well, I taped the tweeter in place to make sure it didn't move around. It's now ready for install back onto the door panel.



You now need to run the wire up to the tweeter. I didn't want to mess with the existing wire for the factory tweeter so, I just took the wire coming from the crossover unit and ran it out this rubber grommet.



The wire from the crossover unit is exactly long enough to go up along the existing wire harness and to where the factory plug for the tweeter is. I just taped up the new tweeter wire to the existing wire bundle to keep it neat.



The ******** adapter is definitely needed to use ANY type of aftermarket speaker. If you scroll back up to the factory speaker, you'll see that it's encased in that huge plastic housing. It's molded in place and unless you want to destroy the housing, you can't get the speaker out. Using the ******** adapter allows you to add an aftermarket speaker with ease.



Here it is hooked up to the crossover unit and ready for install.



Installed.



All that's left is to add the Dynamat to the door and then remount the panel. When doing the Dynamat, be sure to stay aware of the holes in the door that are necessary for mounting the door panel. Covering those up is BAD. Measure out the lengths you need and cut out where the holes are. Then remove the backing and apply the Dynamat.

Hang the door panel back up on the door via the push lock and reconnect the wiring. Be sure not to forget to plug in your tweeter. I taped up the junction to make sure it didn't shake loose at some point. TEST YOUR SPEAKER BEFORE PUTTING THE DOOR PANEL BACK ON!!! Nothing sucks worse than having to take everything off because you forgot something simple like plugging in a wire. Also, don't forget the door lock wire. Put the ball in the socket and pull on the green plastic thing until you can slide it back into it's original place. You can now line up the tabs from the door panel to the door and start popping things back into place. Once everything looks fairly secured to the door, bolt everything back up. Rinse and repeat with the other door.

Meschwenk already did a great write-up for the rear speaker install so, I'll link that here for people to easily click on if they're doing front and rear speakers.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123352

The biggest bitch about doing the rear speakers is getting the back seat out. The part you sit on isn't bad but, the back rest is horrible, especially if you're an army of one doing it alone. It also doesn't help if you're 6'2" and weigh 300lbs. as that back seat area is CRAMPED . If you read the instructions Meschwenk posted, you can see he tells you to pull the lever back and pull up on the seat. Pulling straight up doesn't work. You have to pull at an angle. Look closely at how the bar sits in the latch and notice how the path the bar needs to take to come out is at an angle. Also, notice how the bar is shaped as part of it is flat and another rounded. Not only do you have to pull at an angle but, you need to have the seat at an angle. It's very frustrating but, it can be done. The good news is when you go to put the seat back in, it goes in almost effortlessly.


If there's any questions, feel free to ask.

Once I get everything straightened out with the Metra and Pioneer 3300BT install, I may do a DIY for that.

Enjoy

Last edited by Darth Martel; 02-22-2011 at 09:29 AM.
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Old 02-22-2011, 10:34 AM   #2
FrankT
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Great writeup! Very detailed with good pics!
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Old 02-22-2011, 10:56 AM   #3
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Very nice write up!!!

I see two issues with it tho,
1. You need to seal those speaker adapters!!!!!! If you put them in there "raw" like that, big big trouble!
2. The placement of the crossover worries me. That area on cars is known for rust and water penetration. Additionally isnt it a bugger to set the crossovers?

Did you happen to see any space where you could mount the crossover on the interior side of the door (part facing in toward the cabin)?

Lastly a question for you, when you removed the panel, are there any "fir trees" to monger up or any clips that may be a good idea to have on hand to replace?

Again nice write up.
Cheers
K
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Old 02-22-2011, 02:30 PM   #4
Darth Martel
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What kind of trouble are we talking about with not sealing the adapters? I would think that ******** would have put a seal on them before selling them.

The crossovers aren't lying in a low spot. They're actually sitting somewhat vertically about 3 or 4 inches above the bottom of the door. They are sealed, although I'm not sure how well. So, there is a layer of protection there from water if a little happens to get inside the door. The crossover is easy to set with the flip of a switch although I'm not exactly sure if the switch changes the crossover points or scales the amount of signal passing to the tweets. The setting is either 0, +3db, or +6db. I set them both to +3db and stuck em to the door's wall.

I didn't really consider installing the crossover on the interior door facing the cabin as it's kinda thick and I wasn't sure how much space is truly needed between the door and the door panel. I also installed Dynamat and that adds an extra layer of thickness.

I didn't really notice any fir trees but, there are some plastic tabs you should at least take note of as to not manhandle or bang in that area without making sure things are lined up.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moriartii View Post
Very nice write up!!!

I see two issues with it tho,
1. You need to seal those speaker adapters!!!!!! If you put them in there "raw" like that, big big trouble!
2. The placement of the crossover worries me. That area on cars is known for rust and water penetration. Additionally isnt it a bugger to set the crossovers?

Did you happen to see any space where you could mount the crossover on the interior side of the door (part facing in toward the cabin)?

Lastly a question for you, when you removed the panel, are there any "fir trees" to monger up or any clips that may be a good idea to have on hand to replace?

Again nice write up.
Cheers
K
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Old 02-22-2011, 03:28 PM   #5
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Cool I see what are talking about.

The issue you are going to run into with the adapters not being sealed is moisture as mdf is basically really nice cardboard. It will whick up moisture, swell, and degrade over time. More than likely not for a while however this will be an issue.

I think I either hit Steve up about this or it was tossed around, they dont come sealed as it gives the consumer the ability to coat how they want. Paint, resin, glass, etc.

Cheers
K
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Old 02-22-2011, 03:55 PM   #6
Darth Martel
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Oh ok... good to know. I've got some time then on the adapters. I'll wait till a warm weekend and seal em up.

thanks for the tip... saved me some headache down the road

Quote:
Originally Posted by Moriartii View Post
Cool I see what are talking about.

The issue you are going to run into with the adapters not being sealed is moisture as mdf is basically really nice cardboard. It will whick up moisture, swell, and degrade over time. More than likely not for a while however this will be an issue.

I think I either hit Steve up about this or it was tossed around, they dont come sealed as it gives the consumer the ability to coat how they want. Paint, resin, glass, etc.

Cheers
K
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Old 02-22-2011, 04:38 PM   #7
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How's the difference in sound? and is your car with BA system?
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Old 02-22-2011, 06:04 PM   #8
Darth Martel
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no my car was a stock non-BA system. The difference is night and day. I'm so glad I made the switch.
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Old 02-23-2011, 01:30 PM   #9
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Great write up. The door speakers, are those 6.5"?
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Old 02-23-2011, 02:22 PM   #10
Darth Martel
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yes they are. 6.5" components. They came with a tweeter.
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Old 02-24-2011, 02:08 AM   #11
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did you add any additional amp?
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Old 02-24-2011, 06:13 AM   #12
Darth Martel
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no additional amp... I did swap out the head unit though to a Pioneer 3300BT which does pump out a bit more current than the stock head unit.
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Old 02-24-2011, 06:34 AM   #13
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Good write up man. Thanks for taking the time to post. This should be made a "Sticky".
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Old 02-24-2011, 12:11 PM   #14
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I agree I think this should be a sticky in the audio forum.
Cheers
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