Sept 24 - 26, 2021
Got the dash speakers completed, remaking the mounting plates out of .5" MDF. They came out okay. The suede and beveling help to make them look like they weren't just stuck on the dash. Had to sand off the gold on the Infinity grills too. Would have driven me nuts. Also used some BMW pigtails I had laying around to make them plug and play with the truck's harness.
Made a junkyard run to grab the sacrificial OE speakers as I did not want to hack up the expensive BSW front stage kit the previous owner had installed. Also grabbed a bunch more BMW speaker harnesses and pigtails. Everything in the first pic was only $41. The harnesses and pins I had priced out new were over that. Lined up the 3 door woofers for fun.
Then got to work mounting the new Infinity woofers into the factory speaker buckets. This was not overly bad to do other than taking the dremel to brand new speakers. Once over that it was fine. Used VHT tape as a foam gasket and to hold the driver until the silicon around the edge on the top had cured.
Up next, some damping of the door. This was the first time I have done this so if it looks odd or I did something wrong, that's why. I think I put probably 60-70% coverage on the outer door skin and used a speaker foam ring behind the driver. Had to cut the thickness down as it interfered with the window slightly. Also wrapped all the wires in fabric tape of varying fuzziness.
I wish there was something I could do (within reason) to stiffen up the part where the speaker mounts, but I don't want to go crazy. Some of the stuff you guys do to your doors is amazing, but I could EASILY hear a difference in the door's "deadness" with the work done so I'm happy. I took before and after videos and the the door skin, even with the door panel off sounds more quiet than the rear door does closed and with the door panel on. Any suggestions though will always be considered. I can't put the panel on anyway until I get my new door handle carrier (decided to break at just the right time I guess) and the tweeter "oh shit" capacitors in.