93 Sportwagon tailgate interior removal and centre speaker swap?

[Neilman]

Hi all,
I am now swapping the dreaded 7 paper speakers and will manage the doors and dash l/r but how on earth do you get the centre speaker out? Am I being a complete doughnut!:embarrest: Is it glued in?

As I have the sport wagon how do you get the interior of the tail off, is this a case of undoing the two Torx screws and using a bit more force? I am a big lump and worried I am going to snap things or do I just need to man up some more and get Neanderthal on it? I found loads of PDF's to get the door panels off but cant find a single one for the tail interior?

Any help and guidance would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Neil:bigsmile:

 

[T9 man]

Assuming it's the same as my Aero, then a very small screwdriver to prise up the cover, do this very carefully working your way round starting from the right and moving to the left. Then used a stubby screwdriver for the screws as there was no room height wise for anything bigger.
The tailgate panel has I believe those plastic poppers which are keyholed into the panel to hold it then snap into a tight hole in the bodywork, assuming it's similar to an estate.
You may find it easier to go to Halfords and buy a Popper Removal tool (Not really what it's called - they will know) it has a handle like a screwdriver and a metal front fork end shaped like a snakes tongue! You ease this under the panel gently feeling your way around for the poppers and then lever them out, TIP wrap some tape around the shaft to stop any lever marks on the bodywork. Look very carefully around the trim for dummy plug covers with screws hidden behind them.
Best I can do i'm afraid.

 

[Neilman]

Awesome, I will give this a go. I had taken the Torq screws out but I was worried that someting important may slip off. I was also concerned I was going to bend things if I applied too much pressure. The way the Glass in the screen and the plastic covers roll over the interior near the speaker grils wont allow a screw driver in at the right angle, plus you have to open the boot lid so you end up doing it all upside down! I will have a visit to Halfords and see if I can find a popper oojimeflip! The K and N and speakers have arrived so I know what i will be doing this weekend, really I should be writing my PGCE assignements but thats way too dull.

I had a look at the photos of your car when you won the Saab owners 93 award. Very, very Nice. it has given me some inspiration although I am not sure my budget will stretch that far. Is there a link to any more photos of your beast?

Thanks again for your help.

Neil

 

[T9 man]

Thank you kindly for the comments Neil! were you looking on my TorqueCars profile gallery or the Saab Owners Club website?

 

[Neilman]

Credit where its due, it looks lovely and you have clearly put a lot of thought, time and money into it, I saw it on the Saab Owners club, do you have some on here?

Regards

Neil

 

[T9 man]

Credit where its due, it looks lovely and you have clearly put a lot of thought, time and money into it, I saw it on the Saab Owners club, do you have some on here?

Regards

Neil

Thank you Neil and I do indeed, click on "T9 man" in my post then select View public profile, click on the car picture in Albums to take you through to some of my photos.

 

[T9 man]

Oh for accuracy, the stubby screwdriver used, had attachments for a Torx bit for the Torx screws which hold down the speakers!

 

[Neilman]

Hi All,
sorry it has been ages, too long, works been a bit busy and then our first baby (boy) took up a serious amount of time :bigsmile:.

Anyway, I have now changed nearly every speaker in the car except the rears which will happen this week, it has made a fantastic difference to the quality and clarity of sound. I have the ICM 2 7 speaker set up in the Sportwagon and want to keep the standard look of the car.The rears in the panel of the tailgate which are nicely designed to be rather difficult to get to, from popping the grill off as it has a very odd shaped cut out over the speaker which prevents access to the second retaining screw. I have almost completely removed the Tailgate interior but it is still awkward so I may just use a dremel tool to cut the plastic from the speaker holder to allow me to get to the second screw. Does anyone know an easier way other than getting someone else to do it for me ?

I have been hunting High and low (A-Ha) and cant find exactly what I would also like to know. Firstly, I do not want to replace the the Saab amp that powers the door speakers but I do want to add an amp that will power the other speakers. Is there a connector on the back of the Entertainment head unit (bear in mind I have a 2006 pre latest stereo, its ICM2) that will allow me to attach an aftermarket amp to power the Front Dash x 2 and Rear x 2 speakers ( not bothered about the centre speaker ). If there isnt a connector to do this could I use the appropriate speaker wires and make these into RCA connectors to connect the amp and then reconnect to the standard speaker wires? Does that make sense (it does to me) :blink1:? If it is possible does anyone have a connector diagram for the speakers from the back of the EHU of which wires are for the speakers so I can make this into RCA connectors for the an amp? I have looked for ages all over the internet and cant find any information on how to do this or a rear connector diagram for the Amp, everyone appears to have done a full head unit unit and Amp upgrade which i dont have the time or money for thanks to Mini me :blink1:

Thanks guys for any help and advice

Neil

 

[T9 man]

Not sure I can be of much help to you buddy but you could try here for some possible advice: http://www.extendedgmwarranty.com/owners-manual/saab/

Just select the model of your car and see if they might have some relative information for you.

Good luck

 

[Neilman]

Hi All,
I have eventually done about as much as I can cope with, the stress a 9 month teething baby and a Saab that I am slowly becoming obsessed with making changes too. I have decided against any expensive, complicated and lengthy upgrades as I do like the look of standard Saab bits but I didnt like the sound. So I did get round to lining the door panels with the Fake lead lining from a DIY store. Placed nicely this made a big improvement to the weight of the Panel, I used a wall paper edge roller to get these strips nicely contoured to the inside of the panel. This reduced the rattle with High volume Bass from my door JBL speakers. The door panels are very sturdy when on the door as they are so well attached but are actually quite flimsy when removed so I would recommend as much lead liner strips or if you have the money proper Dynamat as you can get in there to make the panel as solid as possible and I would also wrap the door pull cable and check any of the other switches are taped solid with Duck Tape and felt lined or padded as the original Saab tape holding the switches etc had dried and failed, this will stop rattles appearing. I will go back into the door and do some more of this having seen and heard the benefits of what a simple improvement can make to the sound.

I made a big boo boo on the tailgate of my 93 estate so please follow this advice. I spent ages searching the internet trying to find how to get the interior tail of the estate off with no joy. I tried undoing numerous bolts clips etc and couldnt get the whole tail gate off, I did this at least 2 time before I attempted the following. So in my wisdom I took a Dremel to the plastic cut out as they are awkward shaped and I couldnt get to the speaker screw. This was a mistake. It makes a hell of a mess, it is near the rear glass, you run the risk of scratching or possibly breaking the glass and is awkward as you have to sit in the boot with a little power tool with the tail gate down. You need to wear eye protection. Not comfy and quite a stress in all honesty. Once I got a good shape to the cuts I discovered the scews for the speaker were also glued with the black rubber stuff and I still couldnt get them out!! That was an hour of my life I will never get back! In the end I came to my senses and thought this really cant be as difficult as I am making this look. Even my wife would have made this look easy and she makes most things look hard! Saab's are generally very sensible in design. So I had another look on the internet with no joy and then i decided down the undoing all screws and clips and I DISCOVERED, in this order:

2 x Torque screws undo these

Unpop all plastic retaining clips by prising the panel off with your hands all the way round the panel, theres a lot and two towards the centre of the panel. DO NOT TRY TO PULL THE PANEL AWAY FROM THE PLASTIC BOOT PULL DOWN HANDLE PANEL, THIS IS PLASTIC WELDED TO THE INTERIOR PANEL AND THE WELD WILL BREAK. It should all remain as one.

I had got this far numerous times what I hadnt spotted that was holding the panel on near the glass underneath the speaker covers which i had now removed was, Dun Dun Dah:

two black plastic push through clips. Press these up from inside the panel whilst supporting the interior panel. It should then fall away and then you will need to remove the original speaker cable clips. TAADDAA.

The rest is easy and obvious. I replaced the rear speakers with some inexpensive alpine coaxials as i couldnt get the Bostons and although they get mixed reviews for the price ( I was dubious about fitting these ) the sound quality difference overall in the cabin is so much sharper from the back, they do sound tinny if too much fader to the rear but they are 3.5 inch so can only be expected but when faded just slightly to the front the car sounds ace.

With 2x Boston S35s Front Dash L and R
Alpine 4" centre
JBL 2 ohm 6.5" 3 ways in the door
2 x Alpine 3.5" coax in the rear tailgate.

I don't need any treble on the stereo and near max Bass and it sounds so much better. I would like to replace the cabling to the front speakers and put in an amp for the three fronts but this is probably even more of an epic I wont have time for and the time spent may not be warranted.

I hope this helps any Sport wagon owners who may wish to replace the rear speakers as I couldnt find a guide anywhere.

I do have photos of my door panel lining and the tailgate panel and will post these when I have made enough posts.

Take care Neil