Ok, Im about halfway thru the process. Just gotta head to the store to get some zipties....Getting the doorpanel off is easier than I thought:

Usual Disclaimer - Fitfreak.net and I are not responsible for any damages to your car, mod at your own risk!!

You will need a Phillips head screwdriver, 2 flat head screwdrivers, Leatherman type tool, knife for cutting off brackets, soldering iron, speaker wire and a towel.

1. Remove Phillips head screw door pull on the interior door panel.

2. Look under armrest/controls on door. There are 4 tabs, use 1 flat head screwdriver to push in and use the other to pry up that panel gently. Slowly work around the panel and then it will pop off.

3. Remove the 4 screws that hold the controls in place, then pop off the wire harnesses for the controls.

4. Look on the bottom off door panel. There is a small opening to fit the flat head
screwdriver. Slowly and gently work your way around bottom and left/right sides of door. There will be tabs holding the panel on, slowly pry around these areas and they will allow the door panel to come free.

5. Slide the door pull unit forward and then pull out gently. Then fish the door unit thru the opening in the panel. You DO NOT need to remove the unit to get the door panel off.

6. Slide the whole panel up and then pull away from the door.

Note: There is a greasy substance around the door panel. Wipe off your screwdriver to make sure this doesnt get all over your interior.

Now to the speakers:
1. Use the flat head screwdriver and push down in the opening on the top of the speaker bracket where the bracket meets the door. Then slowly pry to pull the top part away from the door. Then slide the speaker unit up and it will pop out at you. Remove the wire harness on the back of the unit.

2. You will have to destroy the factory speaker to use the bracket. Cut the tabs that lead toward the center of the speaker. DO NOT damage the area where the wires are located and the top part of the retaining clip on the top of the unit (sounds weird, but you will understand when you see it). Now tear our the wires from the middle of the speaker and cut out around the outside of the speaker on the front.

3. Trim the tabs that may be sticking out toward the middle of the now-open space.

4. Solder wires to factory plugs for factory wiring harness and attach speaker (not sure how your speaker will attach, depends on model. I will be using small zip ties to go thru the holes, around the inside, then around the outside and connect.

5. Reinstall all panels and enjoy!

Hope this helps somebody!

 

Thank you for the help. I WILL do this eventually. How much clearance do you have in back when the window is down or can you tell? Tell us how different it sounds when you're done.

 

Ok so got everything back together and headed out for dinner. I had in a Rap CD and was not at all impressed at first. Keywords there - "at first". There was no bass to speak of and I thought for a second that the stock speakers sounded better (I know, slap me)...

I decided to give a different style of music a shot. This is where things start to go a helluva lot better. I put in an acoustic song. The clarity and accuracy of these speakers became immediately apparent. My frown turned into a face-splitting grin. I then tried "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters. It seems like as the song developed, so did the speakers. They sounded hollow and scratchy at first, but started to gain a heaviness and depth as I played on. I ate my dinner and headed home and started to really hear what all the fuss is about. THESE THINGS ROCK!!!! The bass started to sound more full - but I really think these speakers would be best to handle just mids and highs and let a sub do the rest. This is of course what Polk had in mind when they made them - and the treble started to even out.

Long story short - I sat in my driveway 30 minutes after I got home just listening to music at about 80% volume. The speakers are absolutely BRILLIANT!!! They are begging for an amp to cut out the bass and let them do their own thing while the sub handles the lows. I think these are a great foundation to build off of.

These are the Polk Audio db651s (shallow mount). I definitely recommend these to everybody on here!!

Ok, so sorry for gushing, but I have bought several sets of speakers before, but have never been this blown away.

 

Oh yeah, and it took me 20 minutes to type up this reply and my ears are still ringing

 

good info here

 

In general I'm an infinity fan. I'm open to polk speakers as well. I'd still like to hear from from some GD owners who upgraded their GD sport front door speakers with component speakers. I'm wanting to upgrade the tweeters while I'm at it. The many threads regarding soundproofing makes me want to work to turn the doors into decent speaker enclosures as well. It's going to be a pain in $ as well as time but if i'm doing it WTF? any guidance would again be appreciated.

 

I have an '09 Fit and I installed Infinity Reference components in the front as well as 2-way Infinity Kappas in the back doors. They made a huge difference! I would totally recommend doing this. I also would second the advice to apply sound deadener to the whole doors as I only used a speaker kit for the front doors. I wish I would have bought enough material to do the entire doors.

The installation described in this thread was pretty much how I did mine. I did use the stock tweeter location and I think I destroyed the stock tweets to use for mounting the component tweets... forgive me for a fuzzy memory, but it's been a while and I have done a couple of other cars since then. I dropped wire from the stock tweet location down to the crossover, which I spliced inline into the stock speaker wiring under the dash just before they exit the cabin into the door hinge area. There was plenty of clearance and no fitment problems in the front door.

I wanted to go with 3-way Kappas in the rear doors, but the Crutchfield rep told me that they protruded too far forward and would hit the door panel grill. I wish I would have done that anyway because if you destroy and use the stock speaker as the mounting spacer, I found that there is plenty of room between the speaker and door panel grill. I think the rear protrusion were equal for both the 2 and 3 way speakers. That being said, I am thrilled with the 2-ways; it's just that I have noticed that I usually prefer 3-ways over 2-ways when comparing them at the display panels of car audio shops. BTW, I only paid $59.99 for the Kappas during a Crutchfiled sale.

My kids noticed a huge improvement in sound as well. I was pleasantly surprised because I thought the components, in particular, would sound under-powered but they sounded great. I would say they almost doubled the sound volume while maintaining clarity. If you want to really round out the sound, then I would recommend a self-amplified sub, although you would probably be happier if you used one of those bass restoration processors like the MTX RE-Q. Now I don't have any experience with those, but if what they say about stock systems is true, then the bass output is lessened the higher the volume goes to hide the shortcomings of the stock speakers. So this would maximize your subwoofer investment. This is a mute point and would be a waste of money that can be applied to a new head unit if you intend to eventually upgrade, which I had planned on doing. I had to wait on install kits to become readily available. Chances are, even if you don't use bass restoration, you will be thrilled... for a time! LOL

I also added a Pioneer DVD Navigation head unit, a 9" drop down screen, and a 5-way amp, the Polk Audio PA1100.5 along with a 12" Polk Momo subwoofer, and I am so perfectly content. I really couldn't be happier. I built a false floor under which I hid the huge amp in the hatch. Anyway, I diverge from the subject... If you change out the speakers and add sound deadener, you will love it... and go from there if you choose to. Good luck!

 

The component install in a GD should be even easier, I believe, since the tweeters in the GD are in the door rather than the dash. I'm leaning towards what I believe is what you used in the front:

Amazon.com: Infinity Reference 6030cs 6.5-Inch 270-Watt Two-Way Component System: Electronics

and either the regular depth:

Amazon.com: Infinity Reference 6032cf 6.5-Inch, 180-Watt High PerformanceTwo-Way Loudspeaker (Pair): Electronics

or the shallow mount:

Amazon.com: Infinity Reference 6032si 6.5-Inch, Shallow Mount High Performance 180-Watt Two-Way Loudspeaker (Pair): Electronics

in the rear. The difference in depth between the two is small (2 and 1/16th vs. 1 and 15/16ths) so I imagine either should fit. All three speakers have a 93Db sensitivity rating so should be OK with running the stock head unit. I'm still pondering options but will definitely include sound deadening in the doors while I'm installing the speakers. The real commitment will be the time involved. I already installed the Infinity Basslink and am TOTALLY thrilled with it's bass output. I'm just hoping to optimize what the stock GD sport's head unit puts out to the doors.

 

Yes, those components are the updated version of the ones I installed in my car. I think you will be very pleased with the results. Have fun and post back your results/opinions please.

 

I fitted Infinity Kappa's with a circle of plywood for the mount and didn't have to trim anything, great sound and the outboard crossovers can be glued into the door panel.

 

Anyone recommend any 3-way speakers for my Base GD? Reason being is GD does not come with tweeters so it'll need to substitute
I was looking online at sonicelectronix and they have a set of pioneer's for 50 bux plus shipping.

 

Perhaps these? They have a 2 5/16 mounting bepth so that may be pushing it in the fit's front door.

Amazon.com: Infinity 639I 225W (Peak) 6-1/2x6-3/4 -Inch Three-Way Speakers (Pair): Electronics

for more detailed info:

Infinity Kappa 63.9i 6-3/4" 3-way car speakers For 6-1/2" and 6-3/4" openings at Crutchfield Signature

I'm not sure how many 6 and 1/2 three ways there are. These DO have a 95Db sensitivity rating so they ought to be OK with the stock head unit. I was hoping to get off a little cheaper with two ways.

 

For those that are interested in adding speakers and don't want to make your own rings:

Car-Speaker-Adapters - www.car-speaker-adapters.com - Call Us Today - 412-260-6835

I'm not endorsing the company but it appears to be good quality parts and at a reasonable price.

 

Has anyone tried using those? ^^^^^
Or these:
6.5 Car Speakers Front Door Adapter 6.5 & 6.75 (HR6F) | eBay

 

there's no sense in replacing the speakers if you plan to keep the stock HU

 

Those are a heck of a deal and should work well. New speakers will sound better than factory but won't really sing until they have some more power. If you do speakers now just plan on replacing the H/U in the future.

 

Are you talking about the adapters you posted or the ones I posted?
And yes, an aftermarket HU will definitely be considered in the future.

 

The ones on ebay look a little flimsy but should work fine. For the small amount extra I would get something a little beefier.

 

So has anyone have any experience with those adapters?

 

If you looking for a good refernce or parts for our fits either GD3 or GE8 check out: Metra Online | Welcome to Metra Auto Parts Online Warehouse

They offer an abundance of parts for almost any car you can think of. You can usually get parts shown on there from a local dealer or online.