How to mod aftermarket speaker grills to fit stock door panels
 

This is a quick show-n-tell of how I overcame a problem I had with some new speakers. Folks who upgrade to nicer speakers but like to hide them beneath the stock grill cover won't like this DIY.

I really wanted to use the grills that came with my aftermarket speakers but did not want to just screw them on top of the stock speaker grills like a chump. I also did not want to mount the speakers to the stock grill itself either (don't need to go into why that's a horrible idea).

So, obviously the stock grill has to go. But, in doing that, the aftermarket grill will look so sunk in as to be an amateurish disaster.

Solution? Cut out the stock grill and float the aftermarket grill so that it sits flush (or close to flush) to the door panel.



Okay, so by now, I've already cut the plastic mesh grill out of the stock speaker panel. I used a Dremmel with a cutoff wheel to get as close to the borders of the ring as possible and then finished it off with a sanding cylinder. I had to go slowly here because the sanding starts to melt the plastic and coating the sanding element reducing effectiveness. Take your time and let the stuff cool between standing jobs.

I selected some 1-inch aluminum spacers and special, longer screws to reach the new length requirement
https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

and then mounted the speaker and grill in its new position paying attention to get the grill centered
https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

Then I test fitted a spare door panel with the stock speaker grill cut out
https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

Decided I didn't like the look of the aluminum spacers so I wrapped them in CF for looks
https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

I also reinforced the grill and the speaker ring with steel washers
https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

and finally finished the project!
https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

The aftermarket grill now floats independently of the door panel and looks great to me, especially after a little neffy on the tweeter panel earlier
https://www.miataforumz.com/attachme...ine=1324403940

Later, I want to change to black screws since the silver ones are bugging me. I also want to cut the spacers down a tiny bit to make the grill more flush or even slightly below the surface so it won't get damaged when the inevitable shoe hits it.

could maybe also made your adapter an inch thicker?

Not really. That was the first thing I thought before I even made the rings but if you look at the other side of the stock speaker panel, there's a lip that extends inward of the door interior that would hit the speaker ring.

Even if I were to cut that lip out, then there's the eight or so screw towers that would hit a thicker ring and those screws are the ones that mount the speaker panel to the door panel. I just couldn't go any thicker than the quarter-inch thick wood I used to make the rings.

I suppose I could have made some inch-thick spacers out of MDF to fit inside the stock grill opening and on top of the rings I just made but that is a lot of effort to do exactly what the four little aluminum spacers do cheaply and simpler.

If I wanted to use my aftermarket grills, and I did because they match the rear speaker grills, there were only two options: screw them on top of the stock speaker grill or mount them the way I did here.