In depth thread on how to replace your factory door speakers pics

CSiJason · Jan 25, 2005

Ok, I promised i'd post this for those interested... So here it is! 56k beware!! *Note, I sized pictures large enough to see but at a low quality to save load times a bit.*

First of all, you'll want to go buy some speakers that will fit the doors. 6.5" coaxial are common and inexpensive and should sound fairly good compared to stock. Their isnt much depth to work with so consider that when buying anything aftermarket. I didnt think to measure the depth when I had them out or else i'd post the limits. Becides, you can always remove the stock 'basket' and trim it to make more room. As far as I can tell, their is plenty of space behind it but you will loose the water protection from the top/rear if you trim the whole thing away.

Anyhow, now that you have your replacement speakers you can start the install.

Things you will want to have on hand before you begin:
#2 Phillips Screwdriver
#2 Stubby Phillips Screwdriver (or right angle driver)
Flat Screwdriver with a small tip
4 wire taps for 16-22 gauge wire (they should be red, any type will work)
Vice Grips (or any other tool to crimp the wire taps on)
Speaker wire (should be included with your speakers)
Plug on wire terminals (should be included with your speakers)

For comparison sake, here is a picture of the factory speaker next to a 6.5" Kenwood Excelon coaxial that I installed in my car.

The first step to the swap once you are prepaired is to remove the door panel. This is held on by 10 screws and the top edge is pressed onto the frame of the door itself. This diagram shows the location of the screws.

The four screws along the bottom edge of the panel are slightly different than the other six screws. Try not to mix these up or you may have to switch them around again.

Their is also a screw hidden behind the door lock button. To access it you must use the small screwdriver to remove the button trim from the rod it covers. This can be done by gently pulling up on the button until you expose the notch in the bottom of the red spot on the button. Lightly pry out on the notch with the screwdriver and it should pop out and the button will pull off the rod. The reinstall is the same except harder to get it all the way back down.

The trim around the button is held on by a screw which also holds the door panel on. Just move the lock rod out of the way and unscrew the phillips holding the trim on. Remove the trim piece and put it with the button already removed.

The other tricky spot is the door pull lever. You'll need to carefully pry the cover that hides the screw in the middle of the door pull trim. Once this cover is off, unscrew the phillips behind it. Then you'll need to pull and gently twist the whole lever to release it from the metal rod behind. Their is another screw behind this that also holds the door panel on.

The sail panel is easily removed by gently twisting the front of it towards the back. It should pop off and pull backwards to slide the front edge off the door frame.

Continued............

CSiJason · Jan 25, 2005

Now that all of the screws are removed and nothing is holding the door panel on becides the top edge, lift up and out gently. This should release it from the door frame itself along the top edge. Once off, remove the two wires plugged into the door light. On the driver side, push the mirror adjustment switch from the rear and out the front to disconnect the wire harness.

Now that the door panel is off, you'll need to unscrew the factory speaker from the plastic basket. It is held in by three screws as shown. Once out, undo the plug on the back and note the color of the wire plugged into the positive side of the speaker. (It should have a + symbol near one side of the speaker plug on the speaker itself.) This is important as if you mix the + and - up on each side, it will not sound as good and could cause problems for the head unit itself.

Using one red wire tap, take an unstripped end of the speaker wire included with your speakers and slip it in the tap and slip the tap over the factory wire. Be sure you note the + and - wires and match them up to the + and - wires for your aftermarket speaker. Repeat this for the other wire.

Now plug in the speaker and listen. As long as you can hear sound and it doesnt sound muted or muddy, lift the speaker into place and prepair to screw it in.

If the screw holes line up and the speaker fits, screw it on. If not but you can rotate it some and drill new holes, do so. An extra set of hands helps too. Just hold the speaker in place firmly against the plastic mounting ring and drill one hole. Screw it in and then repeat the next two holes. You only need three screws positioned in a triangle pattern to hold the speaker in tightly.

Now the hard part... Reinstalling the door panel.

Continued...........

OhGeez · Jan 25, 2005

Great write up.

:thumbs:

I don't have a GTO yet but this thread is going to come in handy when I do get one.

CSiJason · Jan 25, 2005

This is basicly where you are now. To reinstall the door panel, lift it into place and line the top edge up with the frame of the door along the top and press in and down. This may require a little beating with your palm but if it doesnt go into place, feel around the edge and be sure it is lined up and nothing is in its way.

Once lined up and all the way on the frame, line up the screw holes and screw it back on. Remember the four screws along the bottom edge are different than the other six.

To reinstall the door lever, you may want to pry the rod forward some with a screwdriver while you slip the hooked end over the loop in the rod. (Be sure the screw BEHIND the handle is already in and tight! This holds the door panel on when you pull the door shut.)

Then slip the sail panel back on from the front and snap the clip into the hole. It shouldnt take much force at all.

The hardest part i've found is slipping the lock button back over the threaded rod. This will take some patience and a bit of working it with the flat blade to hold the red 'button' out so that it slides down on the metal rod far enough. Snap the red button back in and check the button. If it doesnt go down far enough, try again.

Now repeat the whole process on the other side and enjoy...

CSiJason · Jan 25, 2005

OhGeez said:
Great write up.

I don't have a GTO yet but this thread is going to coem in handy when I do get one.

Thanks, pictures always help... And better yet, illustrated pictures help even more!

brotherbenn83 · Oct 25, 2007

Illustrations and pictures are the same thing you goof.

Striped04 · Jan 25, 2005

Awesome thread Jason! Thanks! This will definately come in handy when I get the funds for my install.

Ruinnations · Jan 25, 2005

Thank you. I usually miss something and break it off. It is also very nice to know that the doors do not have push clips. Actual screws on doors is new to me. Now I just wait for the Dynamat.

CSiJason · Jan 25, 2005

Ruinnations said:
Thank you. I usually miss something and break it off. It is also very nice to know that the doors do not have push clips. Actual screws on doors is new to me. Now I just wait for the Dynamat.

No kidding. I havent seen a car that used so many screws and so few clips in years! One of the reasons the GTO is so well built IMO.

Feel free to sticky this thread if you want to keep it up top.

TurboDan · Jan 25, 2005

Please sticky this thread. I've been waiting for someone to put something like this together. Thanks, Jason! Well done!

Fast GTO · Jan 25, 2005

Jason, this sucks, way to waste our time putting together something no one will use.

jfulcher · Jan 25, 2005

Not to be negative - but you used wiretaps? I know you wanted to save the factory wiring, but those things are known to have connection problems sometimes!

CSiJason · Jan 26, 2005

jfulcher said:
Not to be negative - but you used wiretaps? I know you wanted to save the factory wiring, but those things are known to have connection problems sometimes!

Yea, i know... But I did it the same way in my Honda (except using the kind that you plug a spade connector onto) and it never after 6 years caused a problem. I was running a 50x2 amp through the factory wires (in a very odd way) to these and even despite very tiny wire it never sounded bad. But yea, I did it using crummy connectors to save the stock ones.

As an alternate method if you feel so inclined, you can always carefully strip back some of the sleeve on the wires and twist a small portion of wire around the exposed area and solder them on. Just be sure to wrap the exposed area very well with electrical tape or better yet, find some way to slip shrink wrap over and shrink that down.

Eventualy i'll probably fish some 16 gauge through to the door speakers when I wire up external amps but that is a summer project. It was way below freezing when I did this so doing it the hard way was ruled out quickly.

jfulcher · Jan 26, 2005

I wonder if anyone makes a wiring harness for stock speaker wires? I've just had problems with the wiretaps in the past..

IndepGTO · Jan 26, 2005

Great thread Jason. I slipped getting out of my car a few weeks ago and put my foot in to the speaker cover on the drivers side. It didn't hurt the speaker but the cover is broken. I ordered a new cover from gmpartsdirect and got it the other day thinking it was going to be a breeze to put on. I can't seem to get the old one off and wondered, since you've seen the inside of the door panel, are there clips that hold it in place or should I be able to just pry it off? I'm tired of paying my dealer out the waazoo to put stuff on my car and would like to fix this myself but I don't know about pulling that panel off. Any help would be appreciated.

JonnyMem · Jul 26, 2009

GTO Slip

I did the exact same thing in mine about a year ago (what are the odds) thanks for posting where you got the new one. I just ordered one from there also.

IndepGTO said:
Great thread Jason. I slipped getting out of my car a few weeks ago and put my foot in to the speaker cover on the drivers side. It didn't hurt the speaker but the cover is broken. I ordered a new cover from gmpartsdirect and got it the other day thinking it was going to be a breeze to put on. I can't seem to get the old one off and wondered, since you've seen the inside of the door panel, are there clips that hold it in place or should I be able to just pry it off? I'm tired of paying my dealer out the waazoo to put stuff on my car and would like to fix this myself but I don't know about pulling that panel off. Any help would be appreciated.

CSiJason · Jan 26, 2005

jfulcher said:
I wonder if anyone makes a wiring harness for stock speaker wires? I've just had problems with the wiretaps in the past..

You know, now that I think about it... The stock plug is just some normal push-on connectors in a fancy plastic plug that makes it fit on in only one direction. I bet you could just plug the male version into the plug and it wouldnt even require the crimp on connectors.

Here is a closeup of the rear near the grill. It looks like about 2 or 3 screws hold it on from the rear. Shouldnt be hard, just pull the door panel off and check it out for yourself. Shouldnt take more than a half hour.

cman321 · Jan 26, 2005

CSiJason said:
You know, now that I think about it... The stock plug is just some normal push-on connectors in a fancy plastic plug that makes it fit on in only one direction. I bet you could just plug the male version into the plug and it wouldnt even require the crimp on connectors.

Here is a closeup of the rear near the grill. It looks like about 2 or 3 screws hold it on from the rear. Shouldnt be hard, just pull the door panel off and check it out for yourself. Shouldnt take more than a half hour.

so how do the new speakers sound. Are they 4 ohm or 2 ohm. If 4 ohm, are the loud enough or do the other stock speakers overpower it.

IndepGTO · Jan 26, 2005

The speaker cover has posts that stick out the back that looked like they just pushed in to a hole. Now that you've posted that higher res close up (I couldn't zoom in close enough on your other picture to tell what was going on), it looks like there's some kind of little washer that goes over the post from the rear and holds it on. Guess I'll give it a try this weekend. Since you live here in K.C. Jason, I may be screaming for help trying to get the panel back on.

How do the speakers sound? If I'm going to pull off the panel, maybe I should go ahead and try new speakers too. How much do a good pair of speakers cost and where did you get yours?

CSiJason · Jan 26, 2005

I got mine at Brandsmart years ago before they closed. I think I paid about $300 for the set but they are top end coaxials until you get into uber seperates. (which I also used for awhile in the Honda)

I'd be happy to help you with the door panel / speakers.

As for speakers, any brand name 2 way coaxial will sound better than stock. Mine are 4 ohm and sound perfectly fine, even with the factory tweeters still connected. Honestly, it doesnt seem any less volume than before. Plus I can crank it up louder without distortion.

TrakDay · Jan 26, 2005

Check around on Ebay for speakers! Lots of good deals on audio around there. Focal, MB Quart, and many other brands are all good. Personally I prefer Focal and won't use anything but now. But MB Quarts are also very nice.

IndepGTO · Jan 26, 2005

OK, I'll check around Saturday for some speakers and see what I can find.

You better show up at Tanner's in Blue Springs on February 26 Jason. We'd all like to see an '05 and there should be at least five 04's there. Check out K.C. GTO if you're not already a member.

CSiJason · Jan 26, 2005

Tanners in BS? I can probably do that... Whats the link for KC GTO?

BTW, more good info...

The stock speakers have a 2.38" mounting depth and the magnet is 3" in diameter. So long as the speakers you install are not a whole lot deeper or have a huge magnet structure, you are in good shape. Otherwise you may have to trim the back side of the mounting basket.

IndepGTO · Jan 27, 2005

Sorry, I thought I put a link there in my last post to it. It's http://kcpmc.proboards44.com/. Someone will probably put a post in here when it gets closer to our meet. We try to get together once a month and our crowd has been growing steadily since I started going in October. It's fun to hang with people who don't start yawning when you talk about how much you love your car.

batboy · Mar 18, 2005

CSiJason said:
You know, now that I think about it... The stock plug is just some normal push-on connectors in a fancy plastic plug that makes it fit on in only one direction. I bet you could just plug the male version into the plug and it wouldnt even require the crimp on connectors.

Yep, that's what I did. Attached two male spade connectors onto the wires that came with my new speakers. I plugged them into the factory connector and then used a little electrical tape around it to keep moisture out and to prevent the connection from vibrating loose.

CSiJason · Mar 18, 2005

batboy said:
Yep, that's what I did. Attached two male spade connectors onto the wires that came with my new speakers. I plugged them into the factory connector and then used a little electrical tape around it to keep moisture out and to prevent the connection from vibrating loose.

Yea, i just wish I had thought of this before doing it the other way. No matter, its done now and i'm not about to pull the door panels back off just to change it unless I plan on replacing the speakers again. In which case I would probably use a high quality wire and run them to a seperate amplifier.

John Delore · Mar 18, 2005

IndepGTO said:
OK, I'll check around Saturday for some speakers and see what I can find.

You better show up at Tanner's in Blue Springs on February 26 Jason. We'd all like to see an '05 and there should be at least five 04's there. Check out K.C. GTO if you're not already a member.

check out www.crutchfield.com for speakers . . .

TurboDan · Apr 7, 2005

Crutchfield now includes adaptors that fit the factory connectors when you buy their speakers. No more splicing required! I just picked up four Kenwood Excelon 6.5" speakers and started the install. Thanks to Jason for the informative write-up!

In depth thread on how to replace your factory door speakers pics

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