1988Z51man

I'm replacing a pair of Bose speaker amps in the doors of my '88 Vette
and I need specific instructions on removing the metal plate inside the door without doing damage. It looks like it's attached with several small bolts, some plastic retainer clips along the bottom and some other attachments I'm not familiar with

Can anyone tell me exactly how to remove the metal panel so I can get at the Bose speaker enclosure to replace the amp? Thanks in advance for any help you're able to offer.

1988z51man

Yellow2015

It's a PIA doing the door speakers. I loosened the metal panel enough to push it inward then kind of wiggled the speaker box out. The speaker is "semi glued" to the door and you have to gently pry it loose.

1988Z51man

Did you just take out the small bolts holding the metal panel, or did you have to also take out the plastic retainer clips and the other couple of attachments (not sure what they are or how to get them out - brads or some other connectors - but they seem to holding the metal plate in place, too)?

1988z51man

65Z01

I removed all the retaining screws holding the panel in place and think I removed the door lock rod from the Al panel.

I can't recall if I had to position the window up/down or remove the two screws holding the window lift to the bottom of the door to squeeze the speaker housing past??

TripleBlack88

This might help:


http://carstereohelp.com/strcorvette.htm

seenalot

Sent you an PM / email.

Its a PITA. Afetr doing what nyernga1 suggest, I dismantling the enclosure in the door and took the front and back sections out seperatley - removed speaker first so as not to rip it.

MrRenoman

I have removed the door housings before. Once you get all the perimeter screws out there's at least one 10mm bolt that has to come out too. You want to get the aluminum panel out of the door and swing it out of the way. Moving the panel up and down will get it through the opening. Also, along the bottom on the inside of the aluminum panel is a wiring harness that's held on with plastic retainers. Push the retainers through the panel so the panel will swing away from the door. The door linkage will swing with it too but only so far. The housing is glued onto the door with a mastic type of seal. You can remove the door linkage so the panel will move some more. Be really careful prying the housing off the door because the tabs that the screws go into to hold it to the door will break off.

Art

1988Z51man

Thanks for the suggestions. I spent hours on it today and just could not work the speaker enclosure out with the aluminum panel still in the door.. I'm doing this for the first time and I'm not familiar with all the ways these parts are held in place, so I'm being very careful not to do any damage.

Taking the enclosure apart while it's still in the door seems like it might work. I can see the screws holding the pieces of the enclosure together.
So I'll either try that or try removing the metal panel entirely.

Does it matter if the window is up or down during this removal of the speaker enclosure?

1988z51man

1988Z51man

Hey TripleBlack! Great web site with step by step instructions and photos. I'll get 'er done tomorrow armed with this new information and pics. Thanks for responding so fast, everybody!

Aardwolf

If you want to you can remove nothing and just cut a line between the speaker opening and the rest of the door panel fibreglass. Cut on top of the opening, it goes very fast and lets the speaker box come right out. Fix what you need to, replace it, then expoxy or glue the two parts back together. This takes very little time to do.