donbrew

Fine, if you can find the right size spades. Seems like a 3M tap would do the job just fine and avoid shorting.

donbrew

Like this:

halomademeapc

That works, too. I'm assuming the advantage of wiring it parallel to the original plug is a lower chance of the connection coming loose.

donbrew

Not exactly, you can keep it stock and modify it. I guess my drawing was worse than yours. Mine does not use the OE connector at all, it goes around it.

firemangeorge

Don't make the job harder than it needs to be. Just cut off the factory plug and leave about 2 inches of wire on the plugs in case you ever want to put them back.
I doubt you'll ever reuse the factory plug ends unless you go back with factory stock speakers. Throw the old ends in a zip-lock bag and store them in your old parts bin.

I've replaced many speakers over the last 40 years on various vehicles. Just about every time I would have to cut off the factory plug end.
I've never found the need to put back those plugs at a later time.

halomademeapc

Done! Wasn't too bad and now I have four working speakers again!
(pics are a little out of order)

Started off as per instructions by taking off the interior door panel. I just looped some twine through the lock hole and tied it to the frame to hold it up so I wouldn't have to disconnect the handle or window controls.

Stock speaker (light grey is rear, darker is front)

Punched out the cone part by hand. A pair of side cutters made short work of the structure in the back. On the speakers after the first one, I left the plastic tab with the speaker connection attached.

Marked off spots and drilled holes.

Loop some zip ties around and pull tight to secure the new speaker.

Solder the leads from the new speaker to the original male plug.

New speaker plugs in with the original connection.

The entire assembly just slots into place, zero modifications to the actual car.

Everything back where it belongs.

Also went ahead and popped a new head unit in. I've been wanting bluetooth for a long time.

All in all, this wasn't too difficult and I though it was pretty fun for my first time working on a car. I don't think I'll touch much of anything under the hood anytime soon but I am very happy to have a functioning radio once again. They're pretty cheap parts but they're good enough to drown out my terrible singing voice so I'm satisfied. I'm going to look into getting a backup cam for this head unit in the near future and maybe putting in MHL and HDMI-to-Composite adapters so I can display Google Maps on my phone (can't afford one of those fancy units with Android Auto).

Thanks to everyone for your tips on this, please let me know if you see something I can do better next time!

donbrew

Would you consider recompiling this post into a How-to for the how to library? Or, I can separate it for you.

It would be nice if you put your pix on our server, so they won't disappear when your imgur account expires. Instructions are linked in my sig.

Do your door chimes work? Just wondering if the previous owner installed the head unit right with the chime module.

halomademeapc

Sure, I can do that later today.

Chimes work, I just put that head unit in yesterday with a harness (was stock before that). It's a touch quiet with the little speaker built in to the unit, so I'm thinking about replacing that or wiring the chime speaker out to one of the head units inputs to see what happens.

halomademeapc

Done. Use Factory Speaker Frame to Mount Aftermarket Speakers - Chevy HHR Network

donbrew

Thank you!