# First DIY: 2007 Subaru Forester



## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

So I have an old 2007 Subaru Forester I want to start driving more often and use for my first DIY project. At 12yrs old and our third vehicle, I’m not terribly concerned with trying to keep it in mint condition, which it’s not. It was my daily driver for about 3yrs after we got pregnant and bought my wife a van. Two years ago I bought the ‘14 S4 for which I’m saving money to do upgrades in and have a very slowly progressing build thread. 

I figured that in the meantime I could try my hand at upgrading the Subaru’s shrill-at-any-volume stereo on my own. It’s a dbl din radio and 6.5” in the front doors, and presumably, the same in the rear doors. At this point, I just want to dip my toe into the DIY work because I’m not sure how far down the rabbit hole I want to go with this build. I’m not ruling anything out, but I’m not interested in spending much money on it either.

I have my old system that was ripped out of my ‘02 S4 before I sold it in 2011 to help fund a career change. Many times I’ve thought I should’ve just left the system in the car when I sold it because all the equipment (except the HU) is now 13yrs old. It was all purchased and installed at Car Toys in Aurora,CO in 2006. They did a great job and it sounded fantastic. 

I’ve thought about putting it in the Subaru a few times over the years, but didn’t want to spend the money on it. I’ve never really liked the car, but I have appreciated its reliability. It’s a loud drive, handles like a turd, gas mileage isn’t great (avg about 20mpg), gotta floor it to get any power and the stereo sucks. I was gonna sell it until it developed an oil leak that turned out to be caused by some ass hat replacing the spark plugs with some that were too long. I went to every shop we ever knew that had worked on it, but nobody had records over 5yrs and none mentioned spark plugs. Real convenient. After that repair bill, it made more sense to just keep it since the car wouldn’t sell for much. Which brings me to wanting to put at least some of this old system in it.

This is what I have to work with:









Got this kit for under $9 and the tools are of a surprisingly higher quality than I was expecting for this price.

























Kenwood ddx514 with 30pin iPod cable and Sirius connect (any chance it’d work with a usb to lightning cable?
Alpine MRD-M300 v12 mono sub amp
MTX TA564 4ch amp
Focal 165 cv1 6.5” coax 
Focal K2 5 1/4” 2way components 
MTX 12” sub in ~1cuft box
Assortment of RCAs and other cables
8pc panel removal tool kit

I’m thinking of just installing the HU, coax speakers and sound deadening in the front doors to see how it sounds. I know the k2 components would sound better, but not without a sub and I haven’t ruled out using the tweeter in the S4. I found a YouTube video that showed me how to bench test the head unit. It works! That’s a big relief since I really didn’t want to buy a new HU.

Other things needed:
HU & speaker wiring harnesses. Crutchfield has them cheap and will include install instructions for your vehicle which sounds like a good idea. 
Also, my HU is missing the thin, metal cage it would normally slide into. Is it necessary or possible to install without it?
Fast rings?
Sound deadening. Suggestions and avg cost for two doors?
Anything else?

I’m kind of excited to see how this goes because it’s something I’ve been interested in and wanted to learn how to do since high school in the 90s. If anyone is still reading this, any tips and/or suggestions are greatly appreciated!







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## gumbeelee (Jan 3, 2011)

U will need the double din install sleeve for sure. I meant u could probably fab something but it would be way easier to just buy one off ebay and there dirt cheap. Also I would just do the front doors as well and see how it sounds from there. Use those focals in the front door, deaden it, install that amp and see how she sounds. Want cost u hardly anything since u already have most of the gear. Good Luck!


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

I've built an 05 pretty extensively. Idk if its the same interior but if it is.

In order to get the stereo out. The panels will come out pretty easily. Normal screws in obvious places. If i remember correctly. You won't be able to pull it out without pulling the climate control knobs as well. They come out with screws and the two metal black wires. 


In the first pic. You can see the things named temp and mode. They reach under to the the side of the dash that you'll have to stick your head under the steering wheel and passenger side to see. It should be really obvious what they connect too. They pop off realllly easily. Once those are off. The climate control should pop out enough for you to unplug the wires and pull it out. Then its just 4 screws to the headunit.

The 2nd picture shows a different control front knobs but its sameish to what you'll see to give you an idea. 

Be gentle though.

















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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

I noticed quite a bit of road noise as well but i nailed it down to quite a bit less. Like..you can have a conversation. 

It comes down to 3 different things.

The sail panels on the window have two issues. First, if you take off the sail panel. There is a huge hole directly to the side mirrors. It lets a lot of air in. just plug that up with foam or cloth or whatever. The sail panel gusset also lets the window move way too much. To address this you basically need to get some channel locks and very gently squeeze the metal part of the sail panel. The part where the window actually sits in. Just do it slightly and see how well the window fits. Keep doing it till the its a really tight fit. It will stop the window from fluttering and stop any road noise from coming in.

2. FOR WHATEVER REASON,Subaru decided not to have framed windows. Every other car on earth has a window that sits between two pieces of rubber so no air or noise gets in. But not Subaru. Subaru has your window directly on one piece of rubber. So wind catches it and noise gets in. So what you need to do is make your rubber around the window push on the glass more. Get some small clear tubing and run it inside the actual rubber parts that goes around. It should be invisible and hidden once its done. You can even use a small bit of adhesive to make it stay. I think i did. 

3rd. The air pressure vents that are in the car. ARE RIGHT THE **** NEXT TO THE EXHAUST AND TIRES. There is two of them and they are on the far back left and far back right of the vehicle. I dont remember if they are visible or not without taking off the panels. If you plug these or even cover them with just anything. It will make your car 100x quiter.

Links to the window/sail panel fix. Photobucket blurred the pics cuz they are assholes but you should be able to get an idea of what needs to get done by blurry pics.

https://www.subaruforester.org/threads/solved-window-wind-noise.16049/

^^^ Pics on page 2.

https://www.subaruforester.org/threads/the-end-all-be-all-window-gusset-fix.342233/#post3576553

Video for the window rubber. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHKLN0JAvUg

^^^ another but similar way of doing the window rubber thing.


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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Jscoyne2 said:


> I've built an 05 pretty extensively. Idk if its the same interior but if it is.
> 
> In order to get the stereo out. The panels will come out pretty easily. Normal screws in obvious places. If i remember correctly. You won't be able to pull it out without pulling the climate control knobs as well. They come out with screws and the two metal black wires.
> 
> ...




Thanks for all the info! Yep, same car. It’s the second gen Eddie Bauer edition, ‘02-‘09. My wife actually had her dad’s old gen 1 too. They’ve had about 5 foresters over the years between them.

I’ll definitely attempt those tips for the noise and wind reduction. If I ever go deaf, I’d rather it be due to loud music and not this. I’m pretty sure the window guy was in charge of insulating the car too. He was efficient in half assery to an astounding degree. I’m just glad the car has floor mats AND rubber weather mats since they provide the only sound deadening in the whole car.

So basically everything in front of the shift knob needs to come off before I can get to the radio? 

I need to order those wiring harnesses, etc too. Does the metal cage have to be kenwood specific or would one of the universal ones work too? Some of those offer the keys and other things in a small kit for about the same price.

Did you add sound dampening to your doors too? 


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

ambesolman said:


> Thanks for all the info! Yep, same car. It’s the second gen Eddie Bauer edition, ‘02-‘09. My wife actually had her dad’s old gen 1 too. They’ve had about 5 foresters over the years between them.
> 
> I’ll definitely attempt those tips for the noise and wind reduction. If I ever go deaf, I’d rather it be due to loud music and not this. I’m pretty sure the window guy was in charge of insulating the car too. He was efficient in half assery to an astounding degree. I’m just glad the car has floor mats AND rubber weather mats since they provide the only sound deadening in the whole car.
> 
> ...


You should be able to YouTube how to remove your year of stereo. Believe i did. Should be shifter knob and above. 

Idk what cage/mounting kit you'll need. Ask crutchfield. They'll point you in the right direction.

If you're putting speakers in door. You should deaden the metal in the door.

The door panels on those cars is a joke. It like a 4x4 in hole for a 6.5in speaker.

.. actually i think they are 5 1/4 but don't quote me. You can easily make an adapter to fit a 6.5. 

You should get some of window insulation to put around the speakers so its playing into the cabin and not the door card. Also cover those holes in the door if u want any midbass.










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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Is it worth buying these plastic speaker adapters? https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120828900/Metra-82-8900-Speaker-Mounting-Brackets.html

What about these fast rings? I get what they're for, but $25? The weather stripping will work as long as I don't need more than about 1/2".
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_541FAST6/Stinger-Roadkill-RKFR6-FAST-Rings.html


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

ambesolman said:


> Is it worth buying these plastic speaker adapters? https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120828900/Metra-82-8900-Speaker-Mounting-Brackets.html
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The fast rings is what you're supposed to do with the weather stripping. Just stack it on top of itself. You can cut it in half with a razor blade if u need too. 

Those brackets look like they are made for the car. You can make your own if your half decent with a jigsaw. You're choice

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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Jscoyne2 said:


> The fast rings is what you're supposed to do with the weather stripping. Just stack it on top of itself. You can cut it in half with a razor blade if u need too.
> 
> Those brackets look like they are made for the car. You can make your own if your half decent with a jigsaw. You're choice
> 
> Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk


Ok, I see what you mean now with the stripping. I can make it as thick as I need that way. I'm pretty good with tools and especially love my router. Maybe I'll just buy some plastic to make these rings out of. How thick would you think I'd need? The manual for those brackets had a stencil I printed out so I should be good with that.

Do you have a build thread for your forester?


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

ambesolman said:


> Ok, I see what you mean now with the stripping. I can make it as thick as I need that way. I'm pretty good with tools and especially love my router. Maybe I'll just buy some plastic to make these rings out of. How thick would you think I'd need? The manual for those brackets had a stencil I printed out so I should be good with that.
> 
> Do you have a build thread for your forester?


I dont have a build log. I actually got it from my cousin who was a smoker and left his husky in it for 8 hours a day. The car was completely trashed. i had to tear everything out and rebuild it. By the time i was done. It had a full cld and mlv treatment and all the panels were black. All i have are these pics if you want to know what it looks like torn apart :0

https://imgur.com/gallery/9YVWvfj
https://imgur.com/gallery/QCt5l2z


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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Trashed is right! Did the dog snack on that headliner?


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

ambesolman said:


> Trashed is right! Did the dog snack on that headliner?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk?


Ohhh yaaa

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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Ordered the speaker and radio wiring harnesses from crutchfield along with their car specific instructions. Probably have that early next week. I still need the radio cage and while I see some that are kenwood centric, they don’t seem to come with the trim, removal keys etc.. Anyone use one of these universal cage kits with success?

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/382525892151


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

ambesolman said:


> Ordered the speaker and radio wiring harnesses from crutchfield along with their car specific instructions. Probably have that early next week. I still need the radio cage and while I see some that are kenwood centric, they don’t seem to come with the trim, removal keys etc.. Anyone use one of these universal cage kits with success?
> 
> https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/382525892151
> 
> ...


https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...llery/101047-2006-subaru-forester-xt-sti.html


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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Jscoyne2 said:


> https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...llery/101047-2006-subaru-forester-xt-sti.html




Thanks for that. I’d love an STI version of the Forester! That guy did a hell of a job on that car, great build log. Too bad it just kinda ended...

https://youtu.be/psZXyooc-AI


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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

I had a couple of hours to start working on the Forester today. I’d never popped a door panel off before today, but I’m happy to report it went pretty smoothly. Thanks to the instructions from crutchfield and YouTube I was able to remove both front door panels without breaking any clips. 

I forgot to take a pic of the door without the panel, but I’ll add a pic later. This is the passenger side and that foam is the only insulation in the whole door. Not surprising the ride is so loud. The car is basically a plastic lined can. 










I’m going to try to keep the factory speaker bracket to mount the Focals. My thinking is I should keep them so I can keep the speaker wire connection and because they are angled. If this is wrong or unnecessary, please help me learn a better way. I ripped out the speakers and broke the basket off. Then sawed down the jagged leftover pieces. I’ll sand it down good before it’s done, but I wanted to see if the new speakers would fit.




























I think they fit pretty well.



















Even though they fit, there’s nothing for the new speaker to screw to so it’ll attach. The holes are either on or just over the edge. Due to the humidity we have here, I think I’m going to buy some HDPE or UHMW plastic to make baffles out of but have a few questions about it...

How thick should it be?

How much would I need to make rings for all four doors?

Any special router bits needed for plastic?

Is one kind better than the other? Does it matter?

Any suggestions on the best way to attach it to the factory mount? I’m sure I could just put enough PL premium to make it last, but I’m open to anything.

The last bit of interest is that there is wiring already available for a tweeter behind the sail. Separate tweeters were obviously an option not chosen when the car was purchased. But with them already there, I’m inclined to go ahead and put the 5 1/4” K2 components up front and the 6.5” 2ways in the back. They would still be running off the factory radio until I get a mounting cage for my kenwood. As of now, I’m not planning on installing amps or a sub. That’s a much bigger job involving more taking apart of the car and going through firewalls and finding a place for amps, etc. etc.. We’ll see what happens. 










The whole removing of the door panels had me the most nervous about starting this project. Mostly because I didn’t want it to end up an eyesore plus I have a history of tackling things I assume are easier than they are for one reason or another. So far, that’s not the case and I’m hoping it stays that way because I had fun.


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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

I finally got some supplies in. Scooped some heat shrink solder connectors, heat gun, a tube of PL Premium, tesa tape, threaded inserts and screws, weather stripping, 5 tubes of gorilla glue epoxy putty for tweeter pods, rollers, a 18x30x0.5” cutting board and a tool I’ve wanted for years but never really needed...a router table.

This is actually the second cutting board I ordered from a different company because the first one just showed up as an empty box. Even though amazon had already refunded my money, I emailed the company to let them know since amazon theoretically packed the box. The company appreciated that so they sent me the original board for free! Thirteen Chefs is the company I ordered from and their customer service is excellent and highly recommended.

Anywho...I decided to start with the rear speakers since I have to make pods up front. The stock rear speakers look like 5.25” with a ~4.25” squarish hole in the door.

















The basket keeps the focal 6.5” ~5/8” away from the door.










So I made a couple of ~7” rings cut with a jigsaw. Next I used a hole saw with my drill to cut a hole out in the middle so I could put the tweeter through it to be able to tape the speaker to the ring and then flush trim the ring on the router. Then flush trimmed the second ring to the first giving me two speaker sized rings. I traced the circular hole from the factory mount and tried to hollow out the center of the ring in an attempt to get the ring the same diameter as the speaker’s rim which is only about 1/4”. I realized pretty quick this wasn’t the best way to do this after the ring caught a couple of times on the spiral upcut bit luckily leaving me unharmed. I have a circle jig I made from building a couple of dual opposed 18” subs for the house. In hindsight I should’ve used it from the beginning as it would’ve given me better results and been safer to boot...but I really wanted to use the router table. Live and learn.

This kind sums up what I’m working with...










Even though the first round of making mounting rings is showing mild success, my favorite thing I learned in the process is that I like working with plastic over wood any day of the week. Yeah my porch looked like it’d been hit with a small blizzard, but there was no dust! I didn’t have my vacuum connected to the router table and won’t make that mistake again. At least with saw dust you can just blow it into the yard, but not so with the plastic.

I found the factory speaker connector looks like it shorted or something because it’s blackened. There’s also a whitish goo in it? Not sure what that’s about. Any ideas?

















Lastly, what about the rain guard on the factory mount? Do I need to figure out a way to replicate this on my mounts?











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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

ambesolman said:


> I finally got some supplies in. Scooped some heat shrink solder connectors, heat gun, a tube of PL Premium, tesa tape, threaded inserts and screws, weather stripping, 5 tubes of gorilla glue epoxy putty for tweeter pods, rollers, a 18x30x0.5” cutting board and a tool I’ve wanted for years but never really needed...a router table.
> 
> This is actually the second cutting board I ordered from a different company because the first one just showed up as an empty box. Even though amazon had already refunded my money, I emailed the company to let them know since amazon theoretically packed the box. The company appreciated that so they sent me the original board for free! Thirteen Chefs is the company I ordered from and their customer service is excellent and highly recommended.
> 
> ...


Aren't new brackets fun! 

If the old speakers worked then the wire is most likely fine. Could be worth tracing it around the door and seeing if its being pinched anywhere. 

You could also use a multimeter and put a probe on the positive and a probe on the body with bare metal. If it's a dead short or makes the beep sound. Then you have issues. You can do this on the negative as well i believe. It shouldn't be grounded until the amp is on...but don't quote me on that. 

When cutting plastic. Do small amounts at a time. Like 1/4in around. Then raise the bit 1/4in up. Less likely to catch. 

Close your doors and run a hose at the window. If you see water pouring down the inside. Its a good bet to make a rainshield. We both know those windows don't seal well.

Remember to seal all the holes in the door to make it more like an enclosure. 

When i made my brackets. I made a piece of wood far larger than the driver and gave myself places to screw it to the frame. And then i made normal circle ones to glue on top of that one so the driver had clearance. 

1 being bottom piece. 2. Being piece on top 

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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Jscoyne2 said:


> Aren't new brackets fun!
> 
> If the old speakers worked then the wire is most likely fine. Could be worth tracing it around the door and seeing if its being pinched anywhere.
> 
> ...




So there’s two issues with these rear speakers:

1. The speaker is bigger than the factory mounting bracket.









2. The speaker’s edge is already very close to a mounting hole for the door panel. (See circled hole at bottom) I don’t see how I could make a mounting bracket bigger than the speaker and not run into issues putting the door panel back on.









Could it be that it’s not possible to put these 6.5s in these doors?

Also, should I just go ahead and remove all the plastic vapor barriers? Will I need to reuse them? Best way to remove the black tarry stuff?


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

I believe the back doors are 5 1/4. If they are 6.5 than its possible to fit aftermarket 6.5. you just gotta be creative with mounting. 

Keep the moisture barrier. Its there for a reason.

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## ambesolman (Feb 5, 2018)

Jscoyne2 said:


> I believe the back doors are 5 1/4. If they are 6.5 than its possible to fit aftermarket 6.5. you just gotta be creative with mounting.
> 
> Keep the moisture barrier. Its there for a reason.
> 
> Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk




Any ideas for creative mounting? Would I still be keeping the vapor barrier if I added CLD and enclosed the inner door skin?


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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

ambesolman said:


> Any ideas for creative mounting? Would I still be keeping the vapor barrier if I added CLD and enclosed the inner door skin?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk?


Think of water like light. It only takes a small bit to get through. If your inner door skin is enclosed then thats a huge help and probably enough.

Use acetone to take off the black sludge. Or better yet, diesel.









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## Jscoyne2 (Oct 29, 2014)

ambesolman said:


> Any ideas for creative mounting? Would I still be keeping the vapor barrier if I added CLD and enclosed the inner door skin?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk?


Just a note. Check your driver clearance with your window down.

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