DIY - Replace stock rear speakers for Proton Gen2 (no drill method)

New rear speaker

Date 19/9/2010




Tool:

1. Philips Screwdriver - 1 unit
2. Flat screwdriver - 1 unit
3. Multimeter - 1 unit
4. Mini hacksaw - 1 unit
5. Flat file - 1 unit
6. Silicone - 1 tube

Parts:

1. New speaker (6")- 2 units
2. Slide connector big - 2 units (size may differ for different brand of speaker. Mine use 6.35mm)
3. Slide connector small- 2 units (size may differ for different brand of speaker. Mine use 2.8mm)
4. Shrink tubing   

Steps:
1. Remove the trunk board and flip down both the rear seats.
2. Remove the speaker cover's screws. 3 at the back and 2 at the front. Remove the cover.

Remove speaker cover

3. Remove the speaker bracket's screw.

Stock speaker

4. Lift the speaker a bit and remove the wiring connector from below.
5. Take out the speaker from its location.You have to lift it up and pull to take it out.

After remove the stock speaker

6. Note the wiring colour coding. Yellow/blue is for rear left speaker positive (+). Yellow/red is for rear left speaker negative (-).

7. Cut the negative (-) terminal. (if you not sure, its with the weird connection type).
8. Strip away part of the rubber insulation at the end of the wire. Using a stripping tool, place the end of the wire (about 0.5 cm) into the hole, clamp down on it, then pull the insulation away.
 9. Slide the wire into the crimp connector. If the conductor is multi-strand, twist it so that the wire is tightly wound. This way, individual strands won't get stuck as you insert the wire into the crimp connector.
10. Place the crimp connector into the crimping tool. Squeeze the crimping tool. The connector will not move if you pull it slightly. It is a good practice to cover the connector with a shrink tubing. It will protect it from the elements and some additional strength.

11. It is optional to replace the positive (+) terminal connector. In my case my new speaker use the same type of connector as the stock connector.
12. You can try to attach your new speaker and test the connection. If no sound come out, check your crimping.
13. Lets move on to the speaker bracket modification. Cut all the speaker legs. Six leg to ampute. Cut the paper cone and remove the magnet.

14. Overturn the bracket. File the notches area. Your speaker will not sit flush on the bracket it you do not file it to make it level.

15. Apply generous amount of silicone on the under side of your new speaker. I use a clear type silicone. You can find it at any hardware store.

16. Attach the new speaker to the plastic speaker bracket. Leave the silicone to dry for at least 2 hours.

17. After the silicone cured, install the speaker bracket in its place.

18. Connect positive (+) and negative (-) wiring to the speaker.

19. Next is speaker cover modification. During my reinstallation of the speaker cover, i found out that the cover have a cilindrical sound passage behind the plastic grill. When I tried to put the speaker cover, it clash with the new speaker height. So i trim it down.

20.Install the speaker cover. Screw back all the holding screw.

21. Repeat on the right side rear speaker.

Wiring Colour Reference :
Yellow/blue= rear left speaker positive(+).
Yellow/red = rear left speaker negative (-).
Blue/yellow = rear right speaker positive (+).
Blue/green= rear right speaker negative (-).

Project summary:
1. These steps are valuable if you do not have an electric drill like me.
2. If you have an electric drill, you do not need to modify the old speaker to become your new speaker bracket. You need to drill 2 additional hole on the mounting base in step 5 above. Usually the new speaker come with the hole dimension on its back. Use this to mark the hole location before you start drilling.
3. I found that, with the new speakers, the music i played sound much better.