front door speaker spacer

[lazytiger]

I installed some Alpine Type-S component speakers in my front doors a while back. I gutted the old speakers and used the shells to install the Alpines. I have plenty of room behind the speaker, but I've discovered that the rubber surround is touching the door panel grille. Not good. I don't think any damage has been done yet, but I'm afraid to take a real good look. Anyway, I heard that there's some Toyota speaker spacers that can be bought. I was wondering if anyone knows how they compare to the gutted factory speaker shells. Are they exactly the same size? Slightly more shallow? I'm just lookin' for a way to get the speakers back a quarter inch or so from the grilles.Thanks!

[Jahntassa]

You can get 1" spacers by Metra at Circuit City. What I had to do for my MOMOs in the front was take a dremel and actually grind down the back of the factory grills so it wouldn't do that. It shouldn't take much to do it, but it's kinda trial and error to get it right.

[lazytiger]

Yeah, grinding down the grille has certainly crossed my mind, but A) I don't have a Dremmel and I'd rather not spend the money on one right now (even though I know they're super handy) and B) I'd rather not do anything destructive to the door panel. I know it wouldn't even be visible, but I'd just rather not. If I had a Dremmel, I'd try shaving down the speaker spacer before I went after the door panel. Although I don't think there'd be a surface to screw the speaker into after I did that. Sigh...

[Jahntassa]

Yeah, cheapest option would be those metra spacers. Probably sell for $17 or so.. Only problem might be speaker depth...but... You can always return them.You may also be able to shave down the panel with a knife, which is what I did at first. Though, that's only a second option if the spacers fail.