I originally set up my door speakers with a cutout mdf spacer on the door and a second one on the trim with some closed cell foam in between. Then I mounted the speaker on the outside of the door to hold it all together. I have now decided that I'd like the more stock look and therefore I'm moving the speaker behind the trim.
These were the spacers I originally cut out and used on the doors.
Another reason why I'm moving them is because I didn't seal them, so I'm worried about them swelling over time. I had decided to remove the spacers and paint them.
First thing I did was measure up exactly where they needed to be. Then I put a ring of liquid nails type goop inbetween the two spacers and screwed them in place to hold them while they set. I also smoothed the goop that oozed out around the edges to form a good seal. Then I applied a layer of sealing paint and when that was dry I hit it with a layer of spray laquer. The laquer will help with the water proofing, and the sealer should stop the water getting in.
Okay, I know it looks ugly, but noone will see it, right? Anyway, the next step was to put foam on the top of it to help seal the speaker to the spacer. This is just to make sure there's no air escaping around the speaker.
I used close cell foam that only maybe 3 or 4 mm thick. I traced around the spacer, cut it out and made sure it fit - remember testing is important.
Then I removed the foam, put the speaker in there (testing is important) to make sure it fit and then stuck the sharpie in to work out where the holes need to be for mounting. Now I have discovered in the past that drilling/screwing through foam makes the foam tear off and spin around on your drill, so I have decided to make holes in the foam around the drill holes. To do this, I marked the drill holes with arrows and then slowly cut away the foam until the holes were showing.
I didn't actually glue the foam to the spacer (just in case - remember testing first), but decided that I need to test to make sure that everything aligns. I then got the spacer and bolted it to the door. I put the foam on and then screwed the speaker into the spacer. Remember, this is to test that everything fits in place well.
All looking good right? Everything fits in well and now I'm ready to test that the door trim fits over the speaker okay.
You're probably sitting there reading this thinking, what's with all this testing - just do it already. But, I have found that it is very important, although time consuming, to test as you go. And you want to know why?
Take a look at the below pictures. They are taken after I refitted the door trim to makes sure everything fits in properly (testing is important).
Hmmm.... seems to be slightly off centre....
Um, yes. That is a 2.5 cm gap between the door trim and the door. I wonder is that will let much air out.....
So, THIS is why testing is important. I'm even thinking that I maybe should have tested at some earlier point.
Now it's back to the drawing board to see how I'm going to fix this.... grrrr.
