I need to know whats the best way to send a wire through the door into the door speaker. I believe I will need info on how to remove the door panel. Can someone tell me in detail and clearly, please, on how to do that? Thanks

All you need is 2 screwdrivers (one flat and one Philipps). Remove the plastic pieces from the powerseat switch that represent the seat back, seat bottom and headrest. Pry out the powerseat switch and disconnect it. Unscrew your plastic door lock cap that allows you to manually lock and unlock the door. Remove the plactic cover that your silver door unlock handle comes through (top and front of door near the dashboard). Check for a Philipps head screw behind it and remove it. Remove the 2 philipps screws that hold on the silver horseshoe strike plate at the center of the rear edge of the door. Remove the two larger Philipps screws that attatch the door handle that you use to close the door from inside. Disconnect the light connector at the bottom of the door. If the door panel comes of easily you reinstall in reverse. If not simply look for whatever is holding the door on. What I am trying to say is that it is simple- no tricks. Just go slow and constantly look for hiden screws. To pass a wire : With the window raised up and the panel and weather proofing plastic sheet removed, open the door and observe the black rubber tube that already runs between the door and body of the car. Push your new wire from the door through the rubber tube and into the car body/door jamb. You can carefully use a straightened out coat changer attatched to your wire to help feed the wire through. Make sure you disconnect the battery and remove the cars kickpanels to see where the wire exits into the footwell. I hope this helps. If you have any serious questions shoot me an email at adrianbroadnax@msn.com and I will drop a number that you can reach me at. Does your car already have a speaker in the door? My 1986 420SEL does not.

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

On a 126, do NOT pull the panel away from the door, It must slide UP first, or you'll break all kinds of plasic clips off.

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The Golden Rule

1984 300SD (bought new, sold it in 1988, bought it back 13 yrs. later)

Thank you both for your help, especially zla39fj for your nicely detailed instructions !

What materials would I need to rewire my door speakers(yes, my car did come with front door speakers)? Roughly how long of a wire, etc. ?

Thanks a lot.. will look forward on working on it this upcoming week.

Snibble
Roughly 6 feet per door. It is better to have too much rather than not enough. Try to use 16 or better yet 12 gauge wire with the appropriate connectors ( no twist and tape ). Your local audio store will probably have some highly priced speaker wire available but your local hardware store can save you a grip of cash. I have used zip cord (the same wire as a brown or white extension cord) from Home Depot with great results. Dont let some one talk you into $2 per foot speaker wire and use terms like "shielding" and "skin effect" or "RF attenuation". Good luck and triple check EVERYTHING before you power up. You are gonna have some fun. Check out the link I pasted on goldstones Ohmmmmmmm post. It has some very helpful advice.

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

Alright.. just got back from Home Depot. I bought 12 feet of 12-2 gauge speaker wire which was at $0.34/foot(pretty cheap). I didn't see any 12-1 gauge wires..so I went with this, is it ok? I will be printing off the instructions on removing door panel and attemp to slide it through. Let me know what else I may need. Thanks a bunch!

well.. I ran into a stuburn door. My fingers are covered in bandages and I accomplished very little.
Here is what I got done...

I removed the exterior pieces of the power seat switches.
was not able to remove the power seat box, but managed to disconnect thw wires from the back of it when I had it tilted.
unscrewed the inner lock cap. unscrewed the two philips screws that hold the silver C-shaped object on the side of the door. Removed the speaker cover on the door.

I am having difficulty getting the power seat box out. Right now its disconnected and its sitting there. I am trying to remove the da*n black plastic cover that goes around the inner silver door handle, but can't. I already chipped the top of it and I am afraid I might damage the wood. Is there a way to remove this?

About the wire.. I found a hole just above the hood release lever. I stuck my finger there and felt a passage into the rubber tube that goes into the door. The 12-2 wire is pretty thick I think. I am not sure if I need both wires, or if I should split it down the middle so I would have one wire. Anyways... I tried putting it in as is and I managed to get about 8 inches or so in. It would stop right when it passes the tube into the door. I believe I really need to remove the door panel to pull it in. Unfortunately, when I removed the speaker cover there was no room for me to put my hand in and attempt to try to pull it in.

Is there a way that I can by pass the door panel removal to get a wire there to the speaker?? My fingers are aching like hell after all that work.

God... now I have to thing of how to put back my power seat plugs on

thanks

Snibble
Behind the silver door handle there is a thin plastic cover that can be popped of with a flat tipped screw driver. There is a phillips screw behind that to be removed. The power seat switch has 2 phillips screws holding it on. Remember that there are 2 phillips screws that are bolted through the large vinyl/plastic door handle, you can feel the 2 holes if you probe with your fingers. Just like jbaj007 said, slide the door panel up to remove it. With the panel removed and the window rollrd up it should be easier to run the speaker wire through the door jamb rubber boot. Use a straightened out coat hanger to pull the wire through. Keep us informed and do not give up.

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

Good and bad news...

I did careful examination of the area and just like you said, the plastic cover pops off exposing a screw. From there I had it a little easier. I couldn't get the entire panel off.. but had the right side(side closest to dash) off, and used my skinny arms to work around there. I pushed the cable, through the hole above the release hood lever and pulled it once I felt it in the door. Since the cable is relatively thick, I couldn't put the panel side that I unhooked back on because it was in the way. When I go see my installer on Monday, I will have him help me out. He is supposed to hook up my rear speakers. He would have done my door speakers too, but I decided on 2 things.. 1 that I wanted to learn how to do a little DIY work... 2nd, he wanted to drill a hole above the rubber tube to force the wire through. I would not allow him to do that, because once that happens, I will probably have rust developing in a few years.

Thanks again.

Oh yea, one more thing... I used up nearly 11 feet of wire to hook up my speaker, having it go through the door, coming out of a hole above the hood release lever, going around the footwell, and up to the center console. I haven't yet pulled the wire into the center console, but the size looks enough.

Man... I had a hectic day, but its all better now I believe. I will update yall later.

Snibble
Did you locate the 2 screws that attatch the door closer/opener (the big piece we hold to close the door from the inside) to the door through the door panel? They are what could be left and causing the problem for you. Your installer will probably put a rubber grommet around the hole he drills as well as apply silicone for a water tight seal. Rust will not be an issue, but he can run the wire through the door jamb boot. I am sorry I could not explain the process more clearly.

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

Are you talking about what is circled in this image? If so.. I only unscrewed one large screw at the top right besides the silver inner door handle. Is there another screw that I am missing? Should the entire thing be removed as well?

Snibble
That is the part I am talking about. There is one more screw that is around the halfway point. It is along the bottom edge, carefully run your fingers all along the bottom side. It will be a LARGE Phillips screw. The handle does not detatch from the panel. Remember that there are 2 screws that hold your power seat switch on. You are getting close.

__________________
1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

Will take a look tomorrow and update with results. I managed to get the power switches out, and yes I saw that there were 2 scews holding them. Hopefully I will have a more succesful day tomorrow. If I get this one door done, then the next will be easy. It usually takes me one time to learn something and get it done right.

One more question. I am not sure if the wire I have bought is correct. Its a relatively thick wire... diameter wise the size of a finger or so. Home Depot calls is a 12-2 gauge speaker wire. Its a copper wire in a clear plasticy coating. There are two wires side by side. Thats how I can describe what I have. Does this sound right? Let me know soon. thanks a lot for being there to assist

Snibble
12-2 gauge does not ring a bell. You will need 2 wires for a speaker. One for the positive terminal and one for the negative. The wire you are have sounds fine as long as it is actually 2 different wires seperated by plastic. Is one wire coppery colored and the other wire steel colored?

__________________
1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

I had a feeling I would need 2 wire(+/-)... I just wasnt sure.

Yes, there are 2 separate wires inside the overall wire... hope I didn't confuse ya there One wire is copper.. the other looks copper/silver colored. I guess I am fine on the wire part.. just didn't think that the wire would be that thick.

Will update tomorrow when I work on it again. Thanks for your help.. you are an asset to this forum, along with Scott.