How to: Remove VE centre dash speaker

[TehFastyOne]

A few people on the forums have asked this question and I don't really blame them, I was also a little bit baffled as to how to get to this speaker. Taking the grill off was something I was apprehensive to do as the fit is really tight and pulling on it felt like it was going to snap.

If you pop the window side of the cover, you need to apply upward pressure on the outer side as you work your way back towards the front of the grill. It will pop out. It is extremely unlikely you will snap the cover as I've done it 3 times to mine and it eventually pops off. Unless you reef it out with those 'pills in the bum' guns you have, it will not snap!

One of the white plastic clips fell down into the dash, just be mindful these clips are a pain in the ass to lose so make sure you recover all of them or the cover won't pop back in properly and it won't look right. Those clips are all over the dash. The dash itself is fairly easy to pull apart as well. There are a bazillion clips so don't be worried about pulling. Chances are it'll pop off. Even the doors pop off with ease, you just need to be persistent.

Here's pictures of the removal (apologies the pictures are not in sequence, the image upload system has a mind of its own):

 

[Archers]

wow great write up m8 fantastic job i will be doin this asap

 

[aedeau]

hey guys, it's ekka holiday today in brissy so i've got a bit of time to stuff around with this. I'm trying to remove the mesh but for the life of me can't get a good grip of it on the window side. Any tips? I've got a small screwdriver i can probably get into the side of the mesh grill, but i don't wanna scratch up the plastic surround.

 

[Sabbath']

Only tip i can give is to pull harder


Small screwdriver might work, in either of the corners where the clips are (shown in pics) but as you said, be careful of damaging surrounding trims.

BTW, the reason these speakers sound so **** is because they're worth $4

 

[Woollie]

hey guys, it's ekka holiday today in brissy so i've got a bit of time to stuff around with this. I'm trying to remove the mesh but for the life of me can't get a good grip of it on the window side. Any tips? I've got a small screwdriver i can probably get into the side of the mesh grill, but i don't wanna scratch up the plastic surround.

I did this yesterday. Put a short flat head screw driver down the back of the grill and lift up enough to get your finger in to pull it up. Then just keep pulling to the front until it all unclips. I thought it was going to break as well but thankfully it didn't. Hope this helps

 

[sweefu]

Only tip i can give is to pull harder


Small screwdriver might work, in either of the corners where the clips are (shown in pics) but as you said, be careful of damaging surrounding trims.

BTW, the reason these speakers sound so **** is because they're worth $4

They are rubbish speakers to start with, yes, but the stock headunit has no proper means of processing / tuning a centre speaker. If someone wanted to install a decent Processor and replace the speaker with something decent, it could be done with an excellent result. Having said that though, it's a lot of work and money for a relatively small gain.

 

[aedeau]

thanks for the tips. I started to use a screwdriver in the corner of the mesh on the windscreen side as there's a gap, but it was starting to leave very minor marks. I ended up getting the grill off by forcing down the plastic surround on the windscreen side (it's flexible-ish plastic) and then was able to get my fingers underneath the mesh to pull it out.

I've now got one of the speakers screws out, but the other wont budge. Might have some lunch and then give it another crack later. Any tips for getting out the stubborn screw?

 

[sweefu]

Use a small screwdriver (stubby) and ensure it is the right size for the screw head, and focus on pushing down rather than turning, maybe 80% force down and only 20% force to the side.

 

[aedeau]

finally got it removed! In the end, I had to used a mini ratchet to get the stubborn screw out as there was not enough room to get a real screwdriver in there. It was way over tightened, no way I could have got it off without the ratchet.

I tested the audio and it does seem better. Got bass and treble on 6+ and doesn't distort/vibrate excessively until 20. Good mod!

 

[doccortex]

It is amazing just how much better the standard stereo in the VE SS sounds, by just disconnecting the center speaker. It's a total waste of time, and destroys the whole sound.