I'm swapping out the rear speakers in my '06 Solstice. I know that many argue that it's not worth it, but I have the new speakers in hand already so why not put them in?
The speakers should be mostly drop in -- 3.5" Kickers -- but I'm not sure about the easiest way to mount them.
I removed the rear panel and saw that GM heat-staked the originals in place. I have not yet removed them. I was thinking of sanding/grinding the heat stakes off of the speakers on the speaker flange just enough to remove the speaker. That would leave as much of the original post as possible.
What's the best way to mount the new ones? I don't think there's much "meat" there to drill for a screw. I could make a plastic mount, screw the speakers to that, and glue that mount to the posts. I'm concerned about mounting depth, though. Heck, I could just JB Weld the new speakers to the posts
I did some work on this today. I used a 100 grit 3" sanding disc on my right-angle die grinder to cut/sand the stakes off of the speakers, then test-fitted the new speakers. Then I decided to just cut the posts off completely since they weren't helping anything. I cut the screw head off of some #8 screws, drilled holes in the black plastic backing on the trim panel, and used JB Weld to epoxy the studs into place. Once this cures I'll mount the speakers and see how it goes. I drilled the holes slightly undersized, put a drop of JB Weld in the hole, and threaded the studs into the holes. I then added a bit more epoxy around the stud. The studs are machine threads so they're not cutting much of a thread in the plastic, but it's enough to hold it in place while the epoxy sets.
When I took the passenger side trim piece out, the top of the black backing plastic was broken off, so that top clip and its surrounding plastic was missing. I'm the second owner of my car ('06 bought in '09) so I wonder if I'm not the first person to contemplate speaker replacement in my car...
When I took the passenger side trim piece out, the top of the black backing plastic was broken off, so that top clip and its surrounding plastic was missing. I'm the second owner of my car ('06 bought in '09) so I wonder if I'm not the first person to contemplate speaker replacement in my car...
Hey my top clip is broken too, what did you end up doing about that, just put the panel back on with no clip? If so, does it stay put pretty well? Thanks.
To close the loop -- I finally had a chance to finish this. I agree that it was probably not worth it, unless the rears are bad.
From what I can tell, the black plastic that holds the rear speakers is polypropylene. I could not easily find a glue or epoxy that would stick to this stuff. Super glue, JB Weld, and Loctite epoxy for plastics (an off-white colored stuff when mixed) would peel right off. I found some specialty stuff online that might work. I didn't try it. I didn't want to keep throwing cash at this. Apparently that's not an easy plastic to glue.
I ended up getting some polypropylene welding rods and plastic welding the speakers in place. I used a piece of the plastic rod as a post, and heat-staked it in place with a butane soldering iron. That seemed to work.
When I tried them out, I noticed that my driver's side front speaker is bad. It definitely sound worse than the front passenger side one. I've been meaning to upgrade them too, so now I have a reason...
I should have asked which Permatex product you used. None of the products on their website said claimed that it would work on polypropylene and I was starting to get annoyed at how nothing wanted to stick to this stuff for very long. I went with the "this will work (or I'll ruin the part trying)" method instead
Whether worth it or not (replacement 3.5" speakers) I did mine while I had my car partially apart to run the XM antenna wire. Combined with my head unit, there was a very noticeable and tangible difference. I got the Kicker44KSC3504 3.5" as replacements. The originals were just a single cone (not even a "wizzer" cone) and, of course, cheap. I can't help with the mounting beyond what was already suggested as mine did come with posts. (and looking at it a 4" might have fit with some minor mods to the panel.
Yup, that's what I installed. They definitely sound better than the stock ones.
Now to figure out what to do for the front speakers, since it sounds like my driver's side door speaker is bad. There are a lot more choices for door speakers, though...
well I got to looken and figured they just had those push clips on them.the pas side was already undone on 2 of them( they were wadded up, 1 broken. I dont know why. I could see nothing that was done in there. so I changed speakers, fixed 1 clip and..made a back up shim for the other clip to keep it from just pushing through the panel stanchion. seems to of worked.it's back on and not sticking out like before. as for sound....oh well it's better than it was, I did door speakers too.I should of put the foam backing material behind them all.perhaps someday.but I just like nice sound going down the road, not so the guy in the next county can hear it.
I did my door speakers & noticed a significant difference & i also used an Acoustic insulation kit Mark .I really couldn't tell if it helped or not as i did it the same time i swapped the speakers out. We need our tunes .
HONEYCOMBED DAMPING MATERIAL
Just like the acoustic foam inside a loudspeaker, the honeycombed damping material attenuates the speaker back wave and then increases the speaker performance.
yup I know, but....I got in a hurry to hear the new speakers and...was bored. I need to order some dampners so next time I get bored I can finish the job off. I not sure I want to tackle the head unit,I used to do that for a living long ago. but this car is so pretty and scratch blemish free....I dont want to mess it up....but I also have major trust issues with other people touching my stuff....getten old sucks.cancer sucks worse and moron/scamming dr's& surgeons are even worse than that. then add them all togeather and.......
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