how to remove front seats to replace speakers 2003 SANTE

[rjohnson]

Need some help. How do you get the front seat backs out to replace the speakers? Also where I can get the replacement mesh covers for the speakers?

[Dave210TE]

I dont think you can. I had the same problem in my 06 sante when i was upgrading the sound system. so i just had to alter the hole size withe the seat backs in place.

[rjohnson]

Actually got a few minutes away from the wife and kid and went out to the boat. There are screws under the windshield. There are 4 screws, 3 on the top, 1 on the bottom towards the aisle, that hold the seat back in place. Once those are out you pick up on the seat back and it comes unlatched from the side and you can get to the speakers. You have to take the footboard loose and lay it down on the driver's side to access these screws. On the other side you have to take the factory sub "wall" down, not too bad actually. You should not have to completely remove the footboard and subwall just lay them down a little.

Looks like the factory speakers are 5.75's, will probably take those out and replace with 6.5's. The fronts are in plastic speaker "baskets" if you will that are screwed into the side of the boat. The rear speakers are screwed into the back of the fiberglass on the sidewalls. So I will probably just screw the front speakers into the back of the fiberglass on the trim.

[jward]

Helped a buddy change out the bow speakers on his 03 a few years ago. We looked at every option and just really didn't want to pull the seat back out. Soooo, we took a razor and cut out the mesh. Then had to cut out the speakers. Installed 6.5's and mounted grill covers over them. Looked just like the 04's and up.

[h2ohangtime]

There are screws under the windshield on both the driver's and passenger's side. As rjohnson said, you'll have to remove the board that the sub/heater/circuit breaker mount to and slide it down to gain access to the screws on the driver's side. The passenger's side screws under the observer's seat are fairly easy to access. There are also a couple "clips" that the back of the seat slides into so that it stays attached to the sides. Finally, you'll need to do some arm contortionism and reach underneath the cupholders to get at the nuts that hold the pads to the side in the more forward section. I believe they're 7/16".

Once you get the pads out, do yourself a favor and front-mount the speakers. They look and sound a lot better. There are a lot of threads on here and on WakeWorld that describe ways to do this. I ended up making speaker rings out of mdf and coating them with resin--I cut out some of the foam near the speaker cutout to form a larger hole, then screwed them in. Finally, I stapled the vinyl into the rings and screwed the speakers into them. Takes a little work, but it's nothing that someone who is moderately skilled couldn't handle.

[rjohnson]

There are screws under the windshield on both the driver's and passenger's side. As rjohnson said, you'll have to remove the board that the sub/heater/circuit breaker mount to and slide it down to gain access to the screws on the driver's side. The passenger's side screws under the observer's seat are fairly easy to access. There are also a couple "clips" that the back of the seat slides into so that it stays attached to the sides. Finally, you'll need to do some arm contortionism and reach underneath the cupholders to get at the nuts that hold the pads to the side in the more forward section. I believe they're 7/16".

Once you get the pads out, do yourself a favor and front-mount the speakers. They look and sound a lot better. There are a lot of threads on here and on WakeWorld that describe ways to do this. I ended up making speaker rings out of mdf and coating them with resin--I cut out some of the foam near the speaker cutout to form a larger hole, then screwed them in. Finally, I stapled the vinyl into the rings and screwed the speakers into them. Takes a little work, but it's nothing that someone who is moderately skilled couldn't handle.

So the coated mdf ring went between the fiberglass seat back and the vinyl, staple the vinyl to it, and then screw through the vinyl and mdf to mount the speakers? Sounds like a plan to me!!! That mesh stuff looks like crap anyway. Didn't really want to put it back in there. THANK YOU for the idea!!!

[Chopper]

In addition to the screws under the wind shield, and the nuts above each cup holder, there is also a nut to remove right up front at the bottom.

To get to the side nuts a little easier, pop out the cup holders too. Just watch your hands on the screws that mount the grey plastif cup holder piece - they are sharp.!

My mesh grills were shot also, so I mounted my speakers from the front. I found you dont need to make rings up though.? The speaker can be screwed directly into the old speaker grill surround.

[rjohnson]

so what size speakers did you guys go with?

[Chopper]

I have the 6" polk's in there. Only because I had them handy at the time.