I decided to purchase a set of Polk DB6502 front component speakers for the Mustang. The set includes a tweeter that I'll install in the dash speaker location, a 6.5" woofer that will go in the door, and then the associated crossover. As part of installing the speaker in the door, I decided to take the opportunity to install sound deadening and a splash shield.
While this isn't a race car, I do want to be a little sensitive to the weight added to the car. These Damplifier Pro sheets work but are not near as heavy as other products I've used. Each sheet is about 1 lbs so I've added essentially 3 lbs to the driver door. The original door speaker was 1 lb 12 oz and the new one is 1 lb and 9.5 oz so they are about the same. The difference appears to be just a slight bit larger magnet and the thick front plastic that protected the front of the stock speaker.
The door is lacking the original splash shield but the factory adhesive for it remains on the door. I elected to use some gel Goo Gone spray to remove all the adhesive residue from the door. I had to use a blue Scotch-Brite pad to get some of the stubborn adhesive off but it all ultimately came off the door. One of the wiring brackets in the door was rusty so I soaked it in Evap-O-Rust and painted it a light silver before riveting back in place.
I then cleaned the inside of the door so that I could have the Damplifier Pro sound deadening sheets adhere properly. In doing so, I noticed what looked like black protectant sprayed in the bottom of the doors. It was done after assembly because it is on the door lock actuator too. It covers most areas except the pinch weld at the bottom of the door which has a layer of light surface rust. It almost looks like they put something along the pinch weld, sprayed everything, and then pulled that piece out so no drain holes would be impacted.
For the best long lasting solution, I cleaned the surface rust in the lower doors using a foam 3M sanding block followed by a small stainless steel brush. I vacuumed everything and then wiped it down with some alcohol. I sprayed it with some Eastwood Rust converter, checked it about 12 hours later, and gave it an additional coat. I then let it dry for about 36 hours and the coated it with the Eastwood Rust Encapsulator. After everything then had another 48 hours to dry, I moved on to the next steps.
I've used Dynamat Xtreme before and don't like the aluminum facing on it or how the butyl ends up protruding from all the side of the sheet, makes a mess, and ends up with carpet and everything else stuck in it. Due to that experience before, I wasn't sure I wanted to use any sound deadening sheets but then I found Second Skin Damplifier Pro sheets which are much nicer. They look better and while still butyl it is the right amount so that I don't expect to have it protrude from the sheet and be really unsightly.
I placed an 11" x 20" piece immediately behind the front speaker on the outer door skin. I added another 11" x 10" piece on the lower back side of the door. I then cut a 6" x 20" piece and put it along the top of the door just above a brace that runs from front to back about 12" from the bottom of the door. Knocking on the panel from the outside is now much more solid without the previous high pitched ring.
I then turned my attention to the inside metal panel of the door. I put all of the sound deadening on the inside of the door so it isn't visible with the door panel removed. These pieces were much smaller with many 3" x 8", 4" x 4", 6" x 10", and other unique sizes to fit between the hardware, holes in the door, and other barriers. It was hard to put the material around the speaker opening but I put a few pieces. In total, I used the equivalent of two full pieces on the outer side of the door and almost another full piece on the inner metal panel.
I had some blue Stinger 16 gauge speaker wire and 1/4" TechFlex braided loom which I used for the door speakers rather than what came with the Polk set. It is of better quality, larger gauge, and the TechFlex protects the new run of wire through the door and to the cross over. In the event that I need to remember later, the blue wires have white writing on one of the two wires and I used that one for the positive.
I spent some time on the power window setup in the driver door. I wanted to pay a little more attention to it before closing up the door as it seems to drag from time to time. What I found was the rod that the window glides up on has a fair amount of dried on lubricant. I cleaned some of it off with alcohol and then used 0000 steel wool. I then coated it with a light layer of lithium grease and now it works quite smoothly.
I purchased a plastic weather shield set which adheres to the metal of the door and protects the door panel from any water in the door itself. The plastic is nice and thick but some of the for the door pins do not line up. The pieces also didn't come with any adhesive. I decided to use some 3M Acrylic Tape that is 3mm wide. It works perfectly as it sticks well to both surfaces but if you had to, you could pull the weather shield off of it. I only did the top, sides, and around the speaker as the bottom has tabs that tuck into the door to hold it in place.
I also purchased some closed cell foam pieces to cover the inside of the door panel from LMR. They were excellent quality material but were a little short of covering the entire door panel. I ordered some sheet 1/8" closed cell foam from Second Skin thinking I could just make my own piece that would cover the entire panel but when it arrived it was super thin. That caused me to ultimately go with the original LMR piece and applied it to the door panel itself with some 3M 90 spray adhesive.
With that all done, I mounted the speaker. Strangely, the Polk speakers didn't come with any foam to line the back of the surface that mates to the door. I have some SoundSkins foam tape to use on some panels that rattled and at 3/8" wide, it was the perfect choice to put on the back of the speaker. It is probably of better quality than anything which might have come with the speakers anyway.
This project isn't fully complete as I have the passenger door left to do. I also need to work on installing the tweeters and crossovers. This hasn't been the most exciting project for me so I've delayed it a few times. I like making the car better but not cleaning the inside of doors, sanding surface rust, or cleaning off the old adhesive. These type tasks are certainly not the most fun of this type project. That said, the finished product looks exceptional and I'm glad I invested the time in doing it all right.
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