PLease bear in mind that if you edit more than 5 times your post will disappear! (Make sure you've got a copy of the text )

 

I've got a copy of the text. Who'd want to sit and type loads of text into the posting window & then have IE die?

 

If we want what- email you???????

Ben

 

Hehehehe...I wouldnt mind the template though! I've gotta put my 17cm Kenwoods in pretty soon so it would be very useful.

Cheers
Ben

 

dnb, I'm very interested on how you fit your 6x9's.
I plan to do the same, but not sure if I will fit them with a riser or from the boot side.
Regards.
Ian.

 

OK, the front pics are up now - just need to take some of the 6x9s.

I drilled the rear shelf metal to fit (only 4 small holes in each side) and pushed the speakers firmly up to the metal and bolted them in such that no air can escape round the sides. I didn't need to use any wooden spacers.

 

A couple of people have asked me about the template, so I've put it up here.

 

...AKA "the blind leading the blind..."

Speaker sizes I used:
Front: 170mm woofers & 19mm tweeters
Rear: 6"x9" woofers

Half of what I'm going to put in...


All Kenwood stuff from MCS. Nothing incredibly expensive, but they sounded good when I tested them.

While the car is still in one piece, it's worth planning what you are about to do. I guarantee that there is nothing more frustrating than getting to the stage of putting the door cards back together and finding that you are short of one small, vital electrical connector and finding that the shops closed half an hour ago...

I'm aiming to get a good sound and keep the car looking as original as possible, and minimise the amount of extra

holes I need to drill in the car.

Also, it's worth thinking about how long it's going to take you, so you can get the appropriate amount of girlfriend
pacification sorted out...

The first job was to offer the tweeters up to the little triangles on the back of the door mirrors (this seemed to be the most discrete place). I used some double sided tape to temporarily hold them in position while I marked the drill holes. I can always get some more triangles should I get bored with the car. Once marked, the triangles can be removed and drilled. They are only pushed on to the rubber mirror surround, so you don't need to lever them off with anything other than fingers.


Mounted tweeters

That's the easy bit over, now for the woofers...

In the words of a Haynes manual - remove the door cards and store them carefully in the boot or house...
There's a screw in the plastic handle that you use to close the door - unscrew this and remove the plastic bit. Next, pull the door handle open about half way and pull the trim behind the door handle away from the door, starting at the front. Again, use your hands for this, as Subaru trim marks easily. There's an awkward push in fastener that is normally hidden behind the dash. I made a 2 pronged fork like tool to remove this from some thin metal. Now, the door card can be removed by pulling it away at the bottom and lifting it clear of the door. Don't force it.

Take out the old speakers. I'll not go into sound deadening here. There's another good thread covering it.

If, like me, you're a bit daft sometimes, do the install with the windows wound down. That way, you won't end up
with speaker depth issues!

I made up a template based on the door, the new speaker size and allowed for a crossover mounting point. Using the template, I cut out the new mounting bracket from some 5mm ply. I also cut a spacer ring from 12mm ply based on the template supplied with the speaker. It was a bit trial and error at first - as the speakers were quite a bit deeper than the old ones, and there were the crossovers to deal with, but it's done now, so if you want the template, email me. I then glued the two bits together.


first iteration of mounting.

To secure the crossovers I put some padded double sided tape on the back to cushion it, and used some small bolts (M3 or 4) to hold them down. You could cheat and use tie wraps if you like...
I used some draught excluder foam strip between the wood and the speaker, and round the back of the mounting. You may need to use some shims behind the mounting to keep the speaker away from the window - I needed one 5mm piece under each of the lower door mounting holes. I will be sealing the gap left between the door and mounting at some point, if I don't like the way the speakers sound compared to the earlier iteration where the window wouldn't open and the door card wouldn't fit on!


Finished assemblies. Just needs a lick of black paint.


Assembly in the door.



Door card back on. It's like the last couple of evenings haven't happened...

Next... How to discretely fit 6x9s on the rear shelf.

The images will get put up as soon as I get them off the camera. I'll also edit the post if I've said too many unclear or silly things.

[Edited by dnb - 4/23/2003 10:41:11 PM]

 

The template I used... I'm sure people deliberately misunderstand me

[Edited by dnb - 4/10/2003 1:45:47 PM]