If I knew how much work I was going to spend getting larger door components to fit my '08 I'd have paid a pro to get it done! Or bought smaller components than Focal 165 KPS's. None of the other wiring, pulling power, or fabbing amp racks has been as challenging for me (assuming I got it right, powering up comes last), though fishing the door speaker wires is tricky.

On that, I used a coat hanger to puncture the grommet and pull the wires back through (with wire lube). That wasn't too bad but I read suggestions here about feeling the grommet being probed and slicing it open. Sh'yea? If you've got hands the size of an infant maybe. I could reach in and feel the gasket but no way could I do that with a blade in hand too!

Back to my bitch, the Focal tweeter is substantially larger than the mounting posts for the OEM. So the posts get sliced off and I form some straps from the speaker bracket to the tweeter grill mounting screws. Some epoxy is holding the bracket on the tweeter (Focal provides an extra-funky bracket, only useful for a surface mount, IMO). That wasn't TOO hard but I may need to open up more of the grill holes to ensure minimal sound blockage.

The 6.5" mids are giving me grief. I bought some inexpensive plastic "univeral" 6.5 speaker rings. Turns out they don't fit the Focal speaker holes at all (and 3/4" plastic thickness is too much) So I tried cutting the OEM baskets, adding a bottom-vented foam basket, and fabricating a 3/8" MDF spacer to mount between the two. I got that fitted but it sticks out too far so the door skin won't mount at the speaker. And by a bit more than just cutting out the plastic trim that sticks out on the inside of the door skin.

I thought of mounting the speaker directly to the door (drilling new holes) but the speaker is too deep (almost 3"). I measure a hair more than 1/2" needed to clear the "spool" shape attached to the bottom of the window. I'm going to fab some 1/2" MDF rings tomorrow, shim it if necessary, and skip the OEM basket ring entirely. But it may still stick out too far. If so I guess I'll be cutting a nice circle in the door skin grill.

So, um, how expensive is the door skin if I screw it up too badly?

 

got mine done for $500(pair) to reskin it, like darknight's doorpanel except on a civic.

 

There's a how-to for making MDF spacers floating around the forum somewhere.

As for the tweets, I used a dremel to shave away the outer plastic casing around where the posts are and used the OEM posts and tweeter mounting bracket for my new ones... (a bit late for that...)

 

You should not need the spacers and the OEM baskets... I would go with: 3/4" spacers, XTC baffles w/ bottom cut out. The basket will push it out into the panel, if you use both.

Also, it does not matter if the holes to not line up. Screw the spacer into the door panel using the OEM screw holes. Then screw the speaker to the spacer using shallower screws (so as to not puncture the door panel) but ones with an aggressive thread pitch.

Some speakers come with mounting brackets (thin rings that "lock" together, one side attached to the spacer and the other to the back side of the speaker.

And as far as snaking the doors goes, its MUCH easier to PULL than to PUSH through there.

Hope this helped.

John

 

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm mostly just venting. I did have visions of spray painting Dark Knight's custom panels to match my interior.

I might have been able to shave the tweeter cases but it would have been into the body of the tweet (more than the face edge). Too risky, not knowing the internal construction. I imagine the door tweeter grills are not expensive (the posts are part of the removable grill) if I want to try that in the future.

A 3/4" spacer might have the speaker interfering with the skin again. At 1/2" I figure I can shim gently until I get it right. The Focals did not come with a bracket as you describe. That's why I bought universal rings (that don't fit anyway). I am using XTC's foam baskets. Had to mail-order those (not stocked anywhere I checked - Best Buy, Fry's, and local stereo shops). In my situation I could wish they were a little thinner.

What's the screw specification for the plastic OEM mounting? They look like a metric sheet metal screw. The OEM basket mount is thin so I'll need longer screws of the same diameter and pitch for a 1/2" ring. Worst case, I do have some "speed nuts" that came with the universal rings, if I want to drill new holes.

Has anyone shaved that window spool? It appears to be much thicker than needed.

I found some Thompson's Water Seal in a spray bottle so that should help keep my MDF from disintegrating. I wasn't convinced about the epoxy spray paint I used on the first set I made.

 

Here's why I drive twice as far as I have to when I have hardware questions. The fellow takes one glance at my "maybe a metric sheet metal screw?" and says "#10 sheet metal screw." They didn't have the super-fat head of the OEM but I can always use washers if I need them.

 

Success, at least in the driver's door. Snug on both sides but it fits without the spool rubbing.

Before doing the passenger door I installed the new HU. Packing the extra wires behind there took me forever (hours, seriously) to get the HU seated! It'd be trivial if I could see in there and push/pull as needed but blind wire origami is just no fun.

Next weekend I may have tunes! Just need that passenger door and connect to the battery (lines already laid, just need to add fuses and connect). Well, if I don't have tunes next weekend there will begreat sadness.

One point of curiosity -- when I had everything apart my turn signals wouldn't work. And if you have the dorr skin off you can't roll the window down for hand signals. Dangerous. After I put the dash and ceter consoles back together the signals worked again. Phew! Must be tied into one of those connectors.

 

You will have to flatten out the bottom edge of the spacer a tad with some sanding. I was running 6.75" speakers with a 3/4" spacer. It was tight, but it worked.

As far as the screws go, you can also counter-sink them into the spacer. Flush fit, no need for new hardware.

Darkknight's panels are ridiculous... too much $ for me, though. They do have the time invested in them, though.

The turn signals and hazards are run through the hazard switch in the center console. If that clip is un-done, no blinkers. Also, IT HAS AN AUTOMATIC WINDOW SYSTEM! Of course its not going to work if you pull the button off! If you were to pop out the button trim from the door skin, and plug it in dangling, it would probably work.

John

John