On the doors, does anyone know how to get the lower speaker covers off, and the armrest and surround. Do you have to take off the door panel???

Thanks,
merlin

 

>>On the doors, does anyone know how to get the lower speaker covers off, and the armrest and surround. Do you have to take off the door panel???
>>
>>Thanks,
>>merlin

Unless they have redesigned the door panels:

YES, you have to take the panels off.

AND: be warned, taking the panels off is very easy.
Reattaching the panels is very easy.
Removing the armrest is not that easy, but possible.
To do that you need to remove the oval surrounds.
removal of the oval surrounds is possible, but not that easy.
Reattaching the armrests and in particular the oval surrounds is not for the weak of mind and heart, in fact, unless you are very adept at improvising it is near impossible.

Both the lower speaker surround on my car
(Dec 02 mbuild 03 MCS with HK sound)
as well as the armrests and oval surrounds, are attached in the most stupid, cheap and ridiculous way I have ever seen parts assembled in a modern car:
they are attached by means of plastic extrusions (short plastic posts sticking out of the speaker surround and arm-braces, as well as the oval surrounds) that are heat melted to form a broad 'rivet' type head. The only way to remove them is to cut off the rivet head. To reattach: ....??? well, it can be done in different ways, but not in the way it came. I did this and successfully used heat melt glue sticks (from a heat melt glue gun), but it infuriates me how they can come up with such an unbelievably stupid design. The lower speaker surround is attached the same way.
The trim on my door arm braces started to peel, and the dealer would have had to replace the entire door panel, for a simple paint peeling spot!!!???

Sorry I cannot be more encouraging. I have heard there was a change in door panel design to deal with the speaker buzz problem which was related to this poor assembly method, so maybe the new panels are better. I certainly hope so!!!

 

Thanks for the input, i had a feeling that it was going to be something kind of rediculus... how do I actually take off the door panel.

 

>>Thanks for the input, i had a feeling that it was going to be something kind of rediculus... how do I actually take off the door panel.

Bridger's web page has links to many useful things, amongst them being:
this.

 

The door panel is not hard to remove. At the bottom of the door are plastic pegs that insert right into the door itself. Gently pry with a flat screwdriver and if needed a cloth to protect the door panel, create a gap so that you can work the panel loose from the bottom. keep increasing the gap until you get the upper panel a bit loose. Pull the door panel straight out perpendicular to the door itself. It does not go up towards the roof like in other cars but straight out to the driver or passenger. Be gentle.

Once the panel is off you can see the door speaker grille. I looks riveted onto the panel. I didn't remove it. I guess is you really wanted to remove it you could pry it out but then it would be destroyed. You can build an adapter to fit another speaker cover that is larger or build a speaker spacing adapter ring out of plastic to fit the door panel and raise the speaker up to the level of the inside door panel- over one inch difference. Then as the speaker reaches the door panel surface you can mount the speaker grille onto that height. Lots of work and the speaker grille will look different than stock which is unique but lets theives know that there is treasure on board. So I left my grilles in place and painted then black while on the doors- I just masked it with cardboard and sprayed black paint then added a thin crome trim ring for the MINI.


Looks similar to this minus the radio and center chrome to the speaker.


_________________
ALOHA

 

>>removal of the oval surrounds is possible, but not that easy.
>>Reattaching the armrests and in particular the oval surrounds is not for the weak of mind and heart, in fact, unless you are very adept at improvising it is near impossible.
>>
>>Both the lower speaker surround on my car
>>(Dec 02 mbuild 03 MCS with HK sound)
>>as well as the armrests and oval surrounds, are attached in the most stupid, cheap and ridiculous way I have ever seen parts assembled in a modern car:
>>they are attached by means of plastic extrusions (short plastic posts sticking out of the speaker surround and arm-braces, as well as the oval surrounds) that are heat melted to form a broad 'rivet' type head. The only way to remove them is to cut off the rivet head. To reattach: ....??? well, it can be done in different ways, but not in the way it came. I did this and successfully used heat melt glue sticks (from a heat melt glue gun), but it infuriates me how they can come up with such an unbelievably stupid design. The lower speaker surround is attached the same way.

MG-BGT isn't exaggerating this either... I removed my oval to paint the y-tubes to match the exterior color. I opted to re-set the oval and y-tube by 2-part epoxy instead of the hot melt glue. Either way works, and its been a couple of months and mine parts are still as firmly attached as they were before. But now I have BRG 'y-tubes'!

 

>>MG-BGT isn't exaggerating this either... I removed my oval to paint the y-tubes to match the exterior color. I opted to re-set the oval and y-tube by 2-part epoxy instead of the hot melt glue. Either way works, and its been a couple of months and mine parts are still as firmly attached as they were before. But now I have BRG 'y-tubes'!
>>
Got any pictures handy of those green tubes?

A natural would be for carbon fiber covers to be made- I think someone is working on that already and I have seen some teaser pictures of it.

 

>>>>
>>Got any pictures handy of those green tubes?
>>

Of course, right here in my wallet next to the wife and kids


Actually, here they are:

 

The BRG Y bars look great!

Good Job

 

MG-BGT and laclede,
Thanks for the guidance on this. One question for you: if you had to do it over again, do you think 2-part epoxy or hot melt glue is better for re-attaching the rivets?

 

JMB1,

I'll let MG-BGT answer on the hot glue...
I haven't had any problems with the epoxy since doing it. Installing it wasn't bad either, mine comes in 2 small bottles, just squirted a little into each spot of each part and mixed it around with a small stir stick and let sit.

 

I finally got mine done last week. I ended up using the 2-part epoxy, and although I don't know about long-term durability yet, I think the epoxy was just as easy to use as hot glue, and sure seems to stick solidly. Here are my results:





And here is a link to my gallery with more pics and info on the process:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...er=7739&page=1