Yesterday I finally got around to fixing my dead left = front speaker. Sure enough, the blue speaker wire had been = severed by the action of the door. (The break was located inside = the rubber boot that runs from under the dash to the door at the = hinge). First of all, this was a major PITA to work on - the = break was located deep inside the rubber "conduit", and I = could not see any easy way of removing it. I actually had to pull = it back very forcibly, and then hold it there with some hemostats = (medical clamps for blood vessels) so that I could get to the break = point of the wire.
Unfortunately, the wire was so filthy that I could = not get a good solder joint (and I couldn't strip it back any = farther). I ended up using a solderless butt connector. = :-(
While I was inside the rubber conduit, I noticed that = several of the other wires were beginning to give way as well (cuts or = breaks in the insulation). I could not get at them to repair = them, even though I removed all the door panel and trim. I even = pulled all the cable ties that were holding the wire bundles and = removed the "vapor barrier" (plastic sheeting)., but I still = couldn't move the wire bundles to a position that would allow more = flexibility.
Has anyone ever successfully re-wired their door in = order to replace these broken (or breaking) wires? What needs to = be done in order to get to the wires inside that piece of rubber = conduit? I am planning to replace the 4" Alpine font = speakers with something else bigger soon, and I want to replace the old = broken wires. I prefer to run the wires inside the existing loom if at = all possible, but it looks to be a MAJOR PITA to get that rubber = conduit moved out of the way...
Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA