Hey there guys. Over the last few months I’ve had scores of people asking me to do a tutorial on how to install speakers correctly into the doors of the R33 Skyline. Well we (obviously) had to wait for another R33 to come in for the treatment and that has happened this week with an R33 GTR. So without further ado, this is the procedure for doing the doors correctly.

Step one: Take one original door complete with factory moulded plastic base speaker. Take plastic off and remove residue.



Step two: Apply sound deadening to outer skin.



Step three: Add diffuser panels behind the speaker. Tie the factory speaker wires (hanging down in image) to the loom as you'll be running aftermarket ones.



Step four: Run aftermarket speaker cables through modified door plug socket. In the Skyline where the cables run through to the doors, we simply machine a single hole (diameter varies depending on gauge of cable; pictured below is Audison Connection Sonus 14 gauge). This hole should be located between the main wires and that is where the aftermarket cables run through. These holes are traditionally blank. If need be you can also remove the plug totally and run your own loom tubes.



Step five: Sound deaden inner skin and remove air bubbles. Seal spacer onto door. Leave enough clearance for door handle and lock control rods to move freely. Also leave a little deadening around the top of the speaker hole to act as a 'roof' against water when it rains.



Step six: Create the spacers. These should be drilled to match up with the doors factory holes ensuring you don't damage the car by drilling holes).



Step seven: Make sure the midrange has a gasket because there is little use in going to all this trouble and then having no seal on the door itself. Solder the trimmed speaker wires onto speaker. Don't use crimp terminals because their two best traits are falling off and creating resistance.



Step eight: Heat shrink around the terminals to protect them. Unlike electrical tape, heat shrink will not begin moving after a couple of months.



Step nine: Screw speaker onto spacer. Make sure you seal around the baffle and place a gasket between the speaker and the baffle in order to keep the bass strong.



There you have it; one Skyline door done, Fhrx Studios style.

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very nice... thanks for that, i assume it would be pretty much the same process between all the skylines

now do R32 please

Top stuff Marty. I'm going to sticky this.

Pablo R32 & R34 doors are virtually identical. The concept is the same, only thing that differs are the pictures

very nice same as what i did... cept no sound deadening

do you think it makes a noticeable enough difference that i should go buy some?

if you want to get the best out of your audio hardware you need sound deadening.

if you are a DIY person then for approximately $150-200 you will hear a massive difference.

the same additional spend on more expensive components will rarely make an audible difference.

Just as a side note; I added these additional images to the other thread in CAA so I thought I'd add them here too. They show the passenger side door plug from the back end and our standard R33 battery / earthing kit upgrade (including the custom alloy brackets to avoid damaging the car).

Marty where do the negative runs all work their way to?

Like Wolverine said, sound deadening is a great investment, and will make even mediocre speakers sound decent. If you're worried about the extra weight slowing you down (like I was), Marty's reply was to 'eat less kebabs'
You can deaden just 'half' the door, still to good effect. Pics below are more of Marty's handiwork, on my old car. Note that the stock speaker mounts were retained, but a diffuser pad and new speaker wiring was still used.

How do u put the sound deadening on the outer skin??

The negatives all run to the cars body. Two connections to each shock tower and the last one goes down the the diff tunnel bolt. It just makes the car body a much better earth all around.

As for the deadening on the outer skin, you simply feed it in through the holes.

Do you have any pics of how u made a "roof" above the speaker to stop it getting wet? Because i want to get a bit just to make a "roof" but i cant quite see or work out how to do it?? Much appreciated.

Check out the 5th pic.
Instead of cutting the hole for the speaker all the way around, leave about an inch on the top section.
This is folded back in the door and will act as a "roof" for the speaker.

hey what size speakers are the ones installed in the factory mounts??

They are the Pioneer TS-C160R ( 6.5").

sweet, i'm getting some alpine 6.5"s today - hope they fit as nicely!

edit: they fitted perfectly - stock mounts, stock screws. until i can be bothered getting a really good system and doing it all properly, this sounds sweet anyway

wat about rear??any installation pics on rear?

Nice Just a question if anyone can answer:
"Step three: Add diffuser panels behind the speaker"

What do they do?

Read here: http://www.dynamat.com/products_car_audio_dynaxorb.html

Basically they absorb sound waves reflected off behind the speaker into the door cavity.

Just a question on modifying the door plugs >> Is there a trick to getting these in and out easily? The area under the dash where the plug socket is located is incredibly cramped... I don't think even an ant could turn around in there. Short of taking the door off to get proper access to this plug, is there something that will make the job easier?

Thanks in advance.

Yesterday I started an install of some new splits in my R33, I'm also interested to know if there are any tips to get access to the door plugs/sockets from the reverse side (passenger side, above ECU).

I hit major issues with running new cable through the factory plugs, I managed to remove them and drill the holes, however I had problems with getting the socket to stay in place (theres no room to move) - unfortunately the 2 metal clips that hold the socket in place fell out and into the body of the car. Any ideas where I could get some new clips?

On the drivers side, similar thing happened but I managed to hold the socket in place as I tightened up the bolt and got the plug to hold in place.

What would I need to remove in the (passenger) footwell to get access to the back of the socket to hold it in place and feed the wire through?

Also I initially tried to run 2 pairs of wires through (tweeter and woofer) and have the crossovers inside the car (and the tweeter mounted at the top of the door trim on both sides).

Any ideas how I could fix this prob?

Cheers,
chicane