yeah something I learned as well We all have plenty to learn

 

I am extremely frustrated!!!

I removed the driver

 

I got it!!!

One good thing that came out of taking the grommet out...I was able to take all of the electrical tape off the end that goes inside the car.

I just lubed up the speaker wire and I was able to push it through from the door to the inside of the car. In the end, I think it helped having the round wire. I didn

 

 

WtfWasThat -- the whole point of me posting my post above was to warn people off the grommet method. You would have saved yourself a ton of time if you did!

That said, it's great to hear you got it done.

Other folks reading this thread: Avoid doing the grommet method. Run wires with a coat hanger or snake. Save yourself a bunch of tears, cuts, and wasted time.

 

Yeah I know...It seemed like such a good idea though and I could not see how I was ever going to get two sets of the round twisted wires through with a coat hanger.

There is not even a need for a snake or coat hanger if you have round twisted stuff. The passenger side took me a total of 10 min. I reached inside the kick panel area and pulled the electrical tape off the grommet. Lubed up the wires and pushed them through.

 

Ok, I just pulled the passenger-side speaker wire. Definitely use the blade/razor method, keeping the grommet intact. The pictures below are a little deceiving, as the area you have to work with is pretty small! Take the advice of @InsaneInNC and put the windows half-up so that you can get to the wire once it's pulled through. lucid mentioned to take the seats out which is a good recommendation. I didn't do that, but in hindsight, it would have made access a lot easier (especially if you're a big guy). There's not a lot of room to move around on the driver's side because of the steering wheel.

Passenger-Side
Remove the square foam insulation




I used the coat hanger method. I made a loop and tucked the 16 AWG wire under the loop. I used packing tape to keep it secure.
It's thinner and slides better than rubber electrical tape. Also, less messy. If I did it again, however, I would also use the wire lube stuff to pull it through.




Use an Exacto blade and make a thin cut. Be careful not to cut the existing wires! I gently kept cutting at it and used a needle-nose pliers to pull the grommet material apart. By the way, make sure your coat hanger is straight (I straightened it up after this pic)




Here it is coming out on the other side. As others mentioned, watch those sharp edges!




On the side that you originally pulled it through, I zip-tied the speaker wire to the existing cable assembly. This will keep it in place and away from the edges of the opening.




Put the foam insulation square back in...half-way done!



Adding the driver-side in the next post...

 

So, when we buy used cars, there's always "surprises" here and there....here's one of them. The previous owner(s) did a crap-job with installing an alarm in it. There's no less than 3 boxes in the wiring mess that are connected but not active. So yeah, I'll be careful down here.




Removing the foam insulation square




Use the same method as before. Here is the other side, in the doorwell, behind where the speaker basket was. Success! You can see the bent coat hanger and wire. Cut the tape, bend the hanger back straight, and pull it back through the other way.



I'm in the process of adding a self-powered subwoofer behind the seats, replacing the two speakers, and adding an amp in the trunk. Will post all pics in another thread.