So, with the ICE upgrade I bought some 6×9 speakers for the rear side doors, but the standard door panels are too small to house them. I decided to make my own out of MDF, the benefit being that I can then attach other accessories/tools/storage to them as the build goes on.
I took the door panel apart, removed the upper moulding which clips into the window channel, this will be reused.
I traced round the main panel, marking screw holes and then cut it out with a jigsaw and made larger holes for the new speaker and re-positioned window switch. I finished off by routing a margin all round in order to closer replicate the thickness of the original panel – this meant the door would close easier as the door seals weren’t being overly compressed. I then routed a beveled edge to make it a little neater.
After a trial fit and I was happy the screw holes were in the correct place I made another for the other side by tracing round the first (as a mirror image of course).
Next I gave both panels two coats of mdf sealer.
And then sprayed with adhesive and covered in grey vinyl.
I trimmed and folded the edges over and stuck the excess to the back of the panel with the same adhesive
The next job was to cut out the window switches and stick the edges down, and do the same for the speaker hole.
This was the result. The window switches were screwed into the back of the mdf panel
As the window switch was moved further away from its original position, the wiring needed lengthening. I cut the connector off and attached some filler pieces of wire with spade connectors, so that the switch can be easily disconnected.
Following the wiring colours from the manual to make sure it was connected back up correctly
Screwed into position.
With speaker fitted
Finally with the original upper panel fitted back into place. I also bought some screw caps in grey to cover the screw heads and make it a little neater
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