Modifying Plastic Spacers

Is cutting into generic plastic speaker spacers like those manufactured by Scocshe or Metra and using them to mount speakers a common practice in the car audio industry?

This is the second time I've had a professional installer into the plastic speaker spacers I was using with the previous mids and use them to mount the new mids.   This just seems like a crappy way to do installs to me.   Most of these spacers aren't solid plastic, so you've only got the inner ring and outer ring for support.  Cut away the inner ring to make a speaker fit and you've just got the outer ring for support.  Also, I would think that it would leave you much more succeptable to air leaks.

However, these are supposedly good shops where I'm getting the work done, so I'm confused.   Is this a generally accepted practice?

I'm going to have the modified plastic speakers replaced with MDF rings next week for my own piece of mind, but I'm just curious.

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No, it's not a generally accepted practice.  That's horrible.  The only place I know that "could" do something like that is Circuit City, but that's only because they don't do custom work (no wood shop, etc.)- they have to use what they have available.  Just going by the equipment listed in your sig, that's not the case.  Other than that, no custom shop has an excuse to get away with it.  It doesn't take long to cut some rings.

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My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

This also depends on the level of install that you are paying for. If it is a "free" install, don't expect the world. if it is a custom install, well that is far from custom.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

It was a custom shop (complete with wood shop) and a custom install.

I just got a set of CDT EF-61NEO Braxials last week, and I could tell by the shape of the basket that they weren't going to fit through the Civic's funky cut out holes even with spacers.   I've done most of my own (basic) installs, but I don't have the tools or the experience to start cutting into the door frame.

When I was calling around to the different shops, this one specifically mentioned that they usually make MDF spacers for custom installs like this.   It was my understanding that this is what they would be doing, especially since there's not enough clearance for the door panels with a 1" spacer and the braxial tweeter.

Here's the worse part:  After I had the car done yesterday, I noticed that my door panels were vibrating.   I checked it out this morning before leaving to work and find out that the door panels won't snap back on in the corner where the speaker is mounted.  So I take the door panel off and lo and behold, there's those @#!*@ cut up 1" plastic spacers, and of course the door panel won't completely fit over them.  We're talking about less than a half inch here, right where the door closes against the frame, so it wasn't for the rattling, I might not have noticed.

Man, I am PISSED.   I called the shop, and of course they're going to fix it, but now I have to find time to get over there again.   As far as the spacers go, his answer was "Oh, I was just trying to save you the extra MDF charges."

Granted, when I checked out and it was only $45, I was thinking "Wow, that's pretty reasonable", but if it was going to cost a little extra to have the MDF done, why didn't he just ask me if I wanted to go that route?  Not everyone in the world is a cheap bastich.  I don't mind paying good money if the job is done RIGHT.

Part of this is my fault for not communicating EXACTLY what I wanted done in no uncertain terms and finding out EXACTLY what the charges were going to be at the outset, but I'm still pissed.   I didn't try to do it myself because I wanted to save myself the time and aggravation, but it turns out that I didn't save myself much of anything.

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It's time to get un-pissed.  The shop already said they would make it right for you.  Take your time, enjoy the day, chat a bit with the guys at the shop...and chalk it up to yet another one of those life experiences that you learn from.  The guy who did the install will learn from it too.  The fact is:  you should have communicated more precisely, that being the extent of your telephone conversation and your expectations due to that conversation.  An additional $45 can make some customers flee.  I don't work in the install business but we all slack off sometimes in our work.  See if you don't cut a corner sometime to shorten the day.

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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

I too would head back to the shop, next I would want even more clarification on the new mounts. I would not settle for just mdf, for me they would be ABS or at the least MDF that has been resined.

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Top Secret, I can tell you but then my wife will kill me.

I can chalk up the spacer to miscommunication, but knowing that the door panels woudn't fit back on properly and basically hoping that I wouldn't notice really sucks.

In the end though, you're right.   It's not worth staying pissed over and by this time next week, it will have been fixed.

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tomfin2000 wrote:

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In the end though, you're right.   It's not worth staying pissed over and by this time next week, it will have been fixed.

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Well, I just got a good look at the "work" tonight.   They didn't even remove the spacer.  They just ground it down from the inside out and then ground down the metal of the door frame behind it until the speaker fit.  Had they ground a little more (I'm talking another 1/2" here),   they could have just mounted the speaker flush without the spacer, and the door panel would have fit over it easily.  As it is, I've got multiple air leaks behind the speaker, so there's no point in doing anything with my system until I get it fixed.

I might as well just see if I can rent or borrow whatever tools I need and finish the job myself.  I don't think I even want them touching the car again at this point.

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