1997 Honda Accord LX Wagon front console removal

[hondajoe88]

I need to remove the front console to install a new radio.

The rear console comes off after 3 screws. The manual shows 3 screws for the front console but I found 5 and took them out. Problem is it has a sort of lip or clip at the top and it doesn't want to let go where the top of the dashboard is. There must be a trick - either push and pop out but it just won't budge. I can see tabs in the service manual. I am assuming the hazard button does NOT need to come off first.

By the way, anyone know how to find the radio's 5-digit protection code. I want to find this before I remove fuse 39 (7.5a) so I don't trip the anti-theft alarm.

Any ideas here appreciated.

[hondajoe88]

Well folks, it's been, a long, long time since I was interrupted while installing my Pioneer DEH-P3800MP - Sept. 11, 2006 (9/11 must have been bad luck - knock on wood). I had started getting the dashboard out but it was rusted tight on, and I ran out of time. This week I found the new stereo bought in 2006 in my basement with the rear console and screws, so I pulled it out and decided to try again now that I had 2 free hours in my schedule.

Well yesterday, I realized that all I needed to do is pull the console by the trim to get it out. I don't need the whole center dashboard out. In five minutes, I had it out. I had been trying to take the WHOLE dashboard center section out - this is NOT necessary, so it's actually easy to do.

So here's how I uninstalled the old stereo and installed the new stereo into my 1994-1997 Honda Accord. Much of the procedures (such as bracketing) are the same for earlier and later years too. By the way, you may want to purchase a heavier-duty bracket system. The plastic brackets are perhaps a more inexpensive way but investigate for yourself and you will probably find metal somewhere or make your own.

Removing the old one:
October 23, 2013 update:
Take a look at page 20-121 if you have the Honda Service manual - it describes how to take the consoles and radio out and it
explains what to do with Fuse #39. You may also want to refer to some of the pages I mention in Chapter 23 immediately below.
Refer to page 23-128 (front console removal) and to page 23-211 (rear console removal) in the Honda Service manual if you have it.
1. Remove the rear console.
Take the three screws out that hold it in, two are in the bottom of the compartment and there's one that's under the beverage holder and which comes out at an angle.

2. Remove the front console (this is where I started spinning my Honda wheels in '06).
It's like the above, two down screws (both right in the front of the front console), and one behind the ashtray (like the beverage holder). Now simply pull a wee bit on the trim and tilt the back of the front console up a little since it's held in by some tabs at the front of it where it meets the dash. That's all you need to do to get it out! Now you can disconnect
the hazard cable (squeeze on the spring-clip a little, then pull), disconnect the clock (just pulls out I believe, no spring, whatever), disconnect the car lighter (DO THIS where it meets the harness inside the dash, not RIGHT at the lighter itself, it's easier to leave the connections on the cigarette lighter and unhook the WHOLE cable). NOW THINGS ARE LOOSE ENOUGH TO rotate the front console out of the way. NOTE on the above: Keep in mind that after removing the front console, the radio is still IN the dash - if fits UNDER the console. THIS WILL BE important to know when you put in the new stereo. This is to say, it's EASY, not hard.

3. ROTATE THE front console out of the way. The next part is slightly tricky but not too bad.

4. Remove the two screws that hold the Honda factory radio in - they are under the radio system - you might have to crane your neck a little to see them. I then tried a Phillips screw-driver but I couldn't get them to loosen without the screws starting to plastically deform so I went in and got my ratchets (thankfully, they are hex-head/Phillips combo screws). I tried 1/4" and 7mm (both too small), 8mm too big, and then settled on a 5/16" ratchet - you'll probably need an extension bit (and it HELPS ALOT to have deep sockets - not shallow sockets - you need to somehow have the clearance to turn the ratchet to get the screws out). Another thing, the 5/16" wrench? Well, if you have some buddies who have a 9/32" or 19/64", give -em a yell, it wasn't exactly a tight fit, but in only seconds, I had each of them loose. The Phillips I first tried might have loosened them some. NOW you have the two (long and nicely-threaded, they are more like bolts, than screws) out and the whole entire factory radio can come out. Then you can pull the 16-P connector off and the antenna connection off and the stereo's OUTTA THERE!

5. Next I went into my new Pioneer box and started putting on the brackets. I used a Metra kit 99-7898 Turbokit - works for Hondas from 1989-2004. Just follow the directions (99-7898 AT-807HD manual) on page 5 and then on page 12 figure B. You'll find the parts but part R1 is the one that's not labelled so make sure you find that one (it will allow you to hold your new stereo in place with the same two nice machine screws you removed to get the factory stereo out) - it had two screws. On page 12 in figure B, you'll find what they call the ISO brackets - they will make your stereo slip nicely into the console but ONE POINT NOW - don't tighten the screws down onto the ISO until you slip the new stereo in - otherwise, it's too tight to slide the new one in - (PROVE ME WRONG IF YOU WANT, but boy was it easier when I left those 4 screws (3/8" loose). And I stripped one of them so I had to go into my basement and find a different screw - then I grabbed my LOCTITE - woo boy, did I want things tight with my plastic cheap brackets. Anyway, take all the tabs off except tabs A and H, it's easy to take them off. So I pushed the new stereo in and then I applied loctite to all 6 of the 3/8" screws which should now be in place. Now that Pioneer new baby is in, tighten all six screws and leave the rest to loctite chemistry. Now it's time for the wiring and then the two machine screws - no big deal with the screws. And frankly no big deal with the wiring. I just used a smart cable - Metra part 80-1720. But just to be extra, extra sure, I made a set of 4 diagrams which I am attaching so you can look at them if you want. The diagrams show in detail how a smart cable takes a Honda factory connector and transforms into the Pioneer's connection. It works perfectly - they orange wire doesn't do anything. But keep in mind that it's a transition from a 16-p to the Pioneer's 18-p. Now just hook up the radio's cable and the other cables that you previously unhooked. I found it easier to rotate the front console over to the left some to get the hazard hooked back up. This part is pretty easy. Then put the antenna back in the right hole on the Pioneer or whatever you have in your case. Now I turned it on and it worked great! I haven't yet done the new Polk audio speakers but it sounds great already, even with the factory speakers.

DONE!
NOTICE: I NEVER EVER UNHOOKED FUSE #37. I simply made sure that each wire from the smart-cable matched up correctly by making the diagram which I will scan into my computer and show you in a follow-up to this. Look at the pics if it helps you. Good luck.

NOTICE 2: YOU MAY HAVE YOUR OWN WAY OF REMOVING THE FRONT CONSOLE - ie. perhaps you would disconnect it from the shifter, I just left it on - it didn't bother me to be that way.
HondaJoe

[hondajoe88]

Now that it's 2013, I'm just about to start to install my Polk Audio speakers. The existing speakers from Honda are 6 1/2" types and I believe my Polk Audios are the same except that they are probably a little deeper (2 1/2" deep) than the factory originals. I forget where I put the original (when I find it, I'll edit this post).

But anyway, I've laid a Polk audio in the rear speaker's plastic bay (consult your Honda serivce manual if you need to, the speaker installation is right near the end of the manual - like page 900 or something). The Polk audio WILL fit in the bay, it's just that I will need about a 1/4" "GASKET" so that it will sit nice and tight and not be "squirrely" inside the plastic bay. So the Polk audios are not recommended for this Honda (5-speed wagon, 1994 - 1997) but they will actually fit behind the door-panel since they fit inside the plastic housing.

Now, if I'm wrong, I'll know this when I pry the door liner off (for the second time). I had pulled it out originally to analyze the situation. I may have a pic or two on an old computer that might help me. So anyway, I'm just getting started on this project.

The Honda original screws are part #: 93911-15620 screw, tapping (5x25)

Now I will need screws which are 1/4" longer. Today, I went to a hardware store and found some screws which have the
same thread pitch, same number of threads per inch and roughly the same barrel size. The original screws were actually
somewhat loose and the new ones are also a little loose so I'm going to try one size larger in diameter screw and see if
they are a little tighter. The "test" screws are 1 3/4" long (the original ones are only 1"). So I should get to the gasket
tomorrow. Making progress anyway. If the next larger is too big or there is another problem, can just use the screws
I have - I'm just being picky before I pry off the door liner for a 2nd time.

ABOVE NEEDS TO BE SCRAPPED - I FORGOT ABOUT ACOUSTICS. I'LL BE BACK.

Now that I'm back, I decided to try to screw a Polk Audio db650 into the plastic "bay" for the original factory speaker for the case of the rear door that I'm working on. Note in the pic that I can screw 3 screws into the holes - in other words, 3 of the Polk Audio db650 holes line up with the Honda factory plastic "bay" housing's holes. So I screwed it in - note that the terminals on the Polk are a bit close to the edge of the "port" for the wire harness that's on order from ebay - www-spiralinstallations-com. I ordered 4 sets of 2 so I don't have to cut wires. Wow, I am getting lazy! But anyway, for 11.95 a pair or something like that, I have the whole job and it's nice and modular - no wire cutting necessary. So at least in a pinch, I could use these Polk db650s rather than the db651s which are the recommended speakers for this Honda station Wagon - 1994-1997 Honda 5-speed LX wagon. One other observation - the #10 x 1 3/4" screws are longer than needed and they are a little loose. The looseness is fine for now but it won't so later when I make a little 1/4" spacer. Later, I might need a different gauge screw but we'll see when we get there.
But lastly, I am simply going to use the factory bay for now. Is this creative - no way? It's only a way to get my speakers in for now. I will need a better long-term solution but for now I will simply put in a 1/4" thick "gasket" to lift the speaker up a little. This may eventually be as thin as an 1/8th or 3/16". Right now I cannot quite tell the thickness. So the speaker is not a real good fit but it will play music in the car. After I listen to the music, I will then possibly redesign a nicer housing or extend this once a half inch or so. But Jesus, I want to hear my music.

One idea I may ponder tomorrow is could I get away with cutting a slit at the bottom all the way around and then "snapping" the db650 into place - I will at least look into this. This does NOT now look like a really good idea. One other thing to think about is how high did the original speaker fit - if only I could find where I put the original.

PS When I make my "gasket-spacer", I may just put new holes into the factory bay and rotate the thing so the terminals on the speaker
line up - no problem but best to wait until the gasket is done and use it as a guide.

[hondajoe88]

Wow, here's a surprise! When I rotated the speaker and drilled some holes, I suddenly realized that the original plastic "bay" that the factory speaker went into has deep "hole-sockets" to make things tighter. So if I rotate, I only get shallow holes. So for this round of the project, I will rotate the speaker back and simply have a slightly hidden electronics - the spade lugs should be accessible by a little and if not, I would just have to cut a small notch in the plastic or bend the lug slightly - no problem. The deep holes will make things tighter.

So this morning, I made myself a home-made gasket-cutter - I'm waiting for the JBWeld epoxy to dry - tomorrow I'll try out the tool for my first gasket. In the meantime, I made a trip to Home Depot and bought 3/16" and 1/4" board for the gaskets - they have 2'x4' sheets of what looks to be soft fiberboard MPF or something. So here are some pics of what I've done for now. I will also need some epoxy when I put the 1 1/4" #10 screws in as they are a bit loose - the looseness is ok when installing and it will disappear when the epoxy dries. Note that the first pic shows a mistake that I've fixed in the second pic - I accidentally set my radius using the dimensions for the diameter - woops!

So here are some pics of my homemade "double" circle-cutter - I will put a spring on it so it sinks as I cut further. 20 minute tool but worth it!

[hondajoe88]

Today, I tried out my gasket cutter tool and have now cut out my first gasket - I still have to punch through the center - I left the center a little in since it's important to get the outer radius exact and perfectly smooth and circular. I used a drill and sandpaper to do this - it's perfectly round, not a single imperfection! The only hitch was the gasket needs to be a shade over 6 1/4", but I made it 6 3/8" accidentally so I had to sand an extra minute or so for this first one. So for the next ones I'll make the tool a tiny bit smaller.
Progress but a little slow.

For now I'll show a couple pics but for later viewing, I've made Quicktime movies - only problem is they are over 1MB in size and they are Quicktime. When I convert them to .avi and downsize them, I'll post the movies.

But the 2nd pic shows a perfect outer gasket with the inner almost ready to punch out - the light hits each hole - best to put 3 drill bits through for an even better test.

The last pic shows a frame from the movie of sanding the gasket down a little from it's original diameter of just over 6 3/8". So I had to take about an 1/8" or so off - I used 40 grit sandpaper from a belt-sander to speed things up.

[hondajoe88]

Here are a couple pics of my progress so far.

The gasket is nice and clean (well, a couple scratches - thank God it's not a cylinder head or something) and the speaker fits.

The last pic shows the speaker screwed into the original 3 "factory-socketed" holes. This exposes a problem - the screws are too big at the top and they come down on the rubber ring on the Polk Audio db650 so I will need to grind them on a bench grinder. I will also need screws longer than 1 1/4", like 1 1/2" should do for most of them. These same 3 screws are what hold the speaker "bay" and the speaker onto the door of the car. There is just one operation - put the bay in, put the gasket in, put the speaker in, put the 3 screws in (after connecting the speaker wires. So unless I can find a screw with a smaller head, I have to grind them down.

[hondajoe88]

Well, what have we done?

We've cut the perfect gasket using a procedure - score pretty deep with the scoring tool, then cut the gasket out with the jigsaw. Then sand, then cut the inner part out with an exacto knife and pen-knife alternating. The pen-knife is easier to use because it's thicker and hugs the score-line better. The Exacto knife can be used more and more as we get deeper in the hole until Voila - it pokes through. SAFETY WARNING: WEAR GLOVES AND ALWAYS ROTATE YOUR HAND OUT OF THE WAY AS YOU SLICE IN A CIRCLE! ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN ALSO USE THE JIGSAW FOR THE INNER CIRCLE - EITHER WAY IS FINE - MY WAY MIGHT BE A LITTLE NEATER BUT NEATNESS OF WHAT'S LEFTOVER IS NOT REALLY IMPORTANT.
Then hand-sand the inner circle. You can also drill-sand the inner-circle but it requires mounting the gasket onto another cut-out circle - a little extra labor. I would now like to coat this with some soft coating to keep dust out of the speaker. Keep things smooth and clean - I haven't thought this through yet and it's not absolutely essential. If I think of something, I'll add it to the project.
Now, the pictures show the BACK of the Polk Audio db650 - notice that the gasket looks mighty perty from the backside - no possible interference with the speakers undulations. The metal frame of the speaker pretty much ensures this - and it looks nice.
And notice the picture of all the tools used to make the first gasket. Knives, a jigsaw, rulers, a pen or two, JBWeld epoxy (by the way, this didn't hold the nails - the nails sunk - so 24 hours cure may not have been enough or maybe I didn't put on enough epoxy, so be more careful than I was).
So now I have to buy some 1 3/4" screws and grind them down on my bench grinder. The wire harnesses have arrived and I notice that one of the tabs on each speaker is kind of small - I may add something to this tab - we'll see. So this project still have some "how-to-figuring-out" but it's coming along - albeit SLOWLY BUT SURELY.
Enjoy.

Monday, August 26, 2013 update: I cut the 2nd rear gasket and I ground down the screws today and so I just need to seal the gaskets with some sort of sticky stuff and then install the first two speakers.

[hondajoe88]

Today, I pulled off the door panel of the left-rear door (only needed to grip firmly and pull - the tools I ordered were not necessary, perhaps due to I already had it off once).

I then screwed in the speaker to the plastic housing (with the brown gasket I made and the yellow softie from Polk) and I hooked up one of the 8 wire harnesses I had bought from the company I mention earlier in this article, the one on ebay: www-spiralinstallations-com. I had only needed to buy 4 wires - I bought an extra 4 by accident.

Just look up your color codes to get negative and positive:
http://www.carstereo.com/help/carwires.cfm

In my case, it's blue/yellow goes to white on the spiralinstallations harness (unless I wanted to phase the speakers or something).

So then I tightened the 1 1/2" screws which I pre-ground much of the heads off of on my bench grinder's coarse wheel.

Then I tightened the 3 screws until snug. I do not recommend going with anything longer than 1 1/2". They will do. If you went with 1 3/4" screws with only a 3/16" or 1/4" gasket, you might risk someone scraping their arm sometime when they look for something that's fallen into the inside of the door panel. Snug is good enough here. I in fact DID find something sitting inside the door - I have no idea what it is - some sort of black trim.

The negative tab on the Polk db650 is a little bit less easy to push the lug over and it's not quite as stiff as the positive terminal. Otherwise, pushing on the spiralinstallations lugs was pretty easy work after first connecting the 2P connector end and pushing the little grey tab down and locking it over the wires. So there is a push to first engage the 2P female and male and then lock, and then a little tiny locking tab over the wires.

Once that's in make sure the other wires still dangling - the pushbutton lock wire and the window motor up and down do NOT get caught in the door when you close the door. I haven't yet put the panels back on since I am awaiting some caulk and stuff.

So then it's time to throw in a nice CD of Jimi Hendrix or Concert for Bangladesh and listen to All Along the Watchtower, Purple Haze, Crosstown Traffic, Here Comes The Sun, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and My Sweet Lord. If My Sweet Lord doesn't tickle your ass by the 2nd verse, just wait until the bass kicks in - you'll think there's a cat living inside the front seat of your car.

By the time I rotated the volume knob to about 30 or so, the cat was punching my butt with the the sound of the bass. But honestly, the sound of All Along the Watchtower and how crisp the treble was - was really something. Not bad for 50.00 speakers by Polk Audio. The crispness was what I liked the most. I sat in the rear of the car for a while and in the front for a while. It's really crisp. I love the sound.

On the Pioneer 3800, you can hit the audio and tweak the balance by using the arrow keys after hitting audio button.

Well, now 3 more to install - and of course I will have to reinstall them with proper caulking when I get the caulk in the mail.

Here's a pic of the left-rear.

[hondajoe88]

I installed the left-rear speaker and tested it with some rock CDs - I haven't done extensive testing but the sound is quite nice and plenty of power delivered from my Pioneer DEH 3800MP's 50 watts x 4 channels to the 6 - 60 watts (180 watts peak), liquid-cooled vintage Polk db650s. Nice crisp sound that I like.

Couple comments:
1) 1 1/2" screws are long enough as expected. Any longer and they might protrude inside the door panel and scratch someone looking for a dropped part or tool in there. Best not to use 1 3/4"ers. Note: I also need to check the windows - maybe 1 1/4" is enough -
STAY TUNED FOR THE FINAL SIZE OF THE SCREWS - IT MIGHT STILL BE 1 1/4" (makes sense huh? 3/16" gasket - why would
1 1/2" screws be needed. STAY TUNED!
I used a 3/16" gasket so the 1 1/2"s should work for 3/16" or 1/4" gaskets. Logically, even
1 1/4" screws SHOULD work. I'll have to feel back there with my fingers tomorrow but I don't
think I made it by much.
2) The ground-down heads worked really nicely - they just missed the rubber ring.
3) The connector from ebay - www.spiralinstallations.com made it easy. Here's a nice website to give
you the color-coding, assuming you don't want phased speakers.
http://www.carstereo.com/help/carwires.cfm
4) When I increase the volume, it really starts to tickle me on the carseat - so plenty of power coming from that speaker. I sat and watched the speaker going in and out - I hadn't really done that much in my life.
5) I DID have to drill out the holes of the speaker a smidgen so that the #10 wood screw's barrel would fit inside the hole.
I misplaced my caliper, otherwise I would post the drill-bit size - it's whatever drill bit matches the size of the barrel
on a #10 wood-screw. The drill I used was .1875" (3/16"). Try anything between about .179" and .1875" but to have
the screw go all the way in to the head, you will need about 3/16" (.1875").

[somick]

Oh man!

You did a lot of work!

I hope somebody will use your experience.

Thanks,
Sam

[hondajoe88]

Originally Posted by somick

Oh man!

You did a lot of work!

I hope somebody will use your experience.

Thanks,
Sam

It's funny, if I'm unlearned enough to go to the old Circuit City (they are out of business now) and buy speakers which are incompatible with my car (the db651s are compatible, the db650's are a tiny bit too big), I guess this giant project is what I was led to.
I'm not sure why the salesmen let me buy those speakers - perhaps they thought I would have them install them but then I walked away?

I just wonder if most people would have bought different speakers or taken the car to an audio shop and paid money. At least I DID learn something about the whole process so I don't feel too bad.

Thanks - I hope it helps someone too - I should post a short step-by-step summary when I'm completely done - then it's even easier for people to use it.

Later on dude.

[hondajoe88]

Originally Posted by hondajoe88

It's funny, if I'm unlearned enough to go to the old Electronics Unlimited (they are out of business now) and buy speakers which are incompatible with my car (the db651s are compatible, the db650's are a tiny bit too big), I guess this giant project is what I was led to.
I'm not sure why the salesmen let me buy those speakers - perhaps they thought I would have them install them but then I walked away?

I just wonder if most people would have bought different speakers or taken the car to an audio shop and paid money. At least I DID learn something about the whole process so I don't feel too bad.

Thanks - I hope it helps someone too - I should post a short step-by-step summary when I'm completely done - then it's even easier for people to use it.

Later on dude.

Would polyurethane help - probably a little but not forever. Put them in plastic bags?
One last comment for the day, I may need to not advise using the Home Depot fiberboard or whatever it is I used - the HB stuff - the brown stuff that's not compressive but it's not like real wood either. The reason is moisture - so this project may take another turn - either I waterproof it somehow - will it need to breathe - who knows, or I might have to make the gaskets out of a different material - fortunately, this is MY car, and I can do whatever I want for now - I'm sure it'll last a year or so until I can cut some better ones - maybe wood isn't so bad - I don't know.

PLEASE SEE MY BELOW COMMENT ABOUT POLYURETHANE - SORRY THERE ARE JUST SO SO MANY ISSUES WITH THIS PROJECT!

[hondajoe88]

Originally Posted by hondajoe88

Would polyurethane help - probably a little but not forever. Put them in plastic bags?
One last comment for the day, I may need to not advise using the Home Depot fiberboard or whatever it is I used - the HB stuff - the brown stuff that's not compressive but it's not like real wood either. The reason is moisture - so this project may take another turn - either I waterproof it somehow - will it need to breathe - who knows, or I might have to make the gaskets out of a different material - fortunately, this is MY car, and I can do whatever I want for now - I'm sure it'll last a year or so until I can cut some better ones - maybe wood isn't so bad - I don't know.

I think I will just use a polyurethane spray - it is often used for pool speakers - it is even used on the cones themselves sometimes. Polyurethane DOES breathe some, yet it resists moisture, so it's not a bad choice - it might last about 5 years or so, maybe longer. On a table inside the house, it will typically last about 10 - 15 years with heavy use and longer with light use. I have a polyurethane table in the bathroom that is still perfect after 10 years despite repeated hosings of steam from the shower, and fairly heavy use. I had used about 3 coats of spray from my sprayer on that.

So it will be quite easy for me to do the other 3 with the polyurethane and the one I did NOT do, I just have to pull it out and re-do it - it's only a 5 minute job to remove the speaker.

I just hadn't really thought this through.

Glad I made the decision so I can relax!

PS It's funny, I first learned about polyurethane from my parents - they used to finish our oak dining table with it and it would need refinishing about every 10 years or so. I couldn't believe how hard they worked sanding and finishing - I was kind of humiliated by how good a
job they did. Too bad they have passed away - I could use their skill now!

[hondajoe88]

The first pic shows the old speaker. To get the liner off, I decided NOT to use my auto-liner tools from ..., and instead just grasped both sides of the liners and pulled a little until voila it came off. Easy to get it off. Then rotate the latch-bar plastic lock counter-clockwise, then pull the latch-bar out of it's hole. Then unhook all of the wires. Not hard to do this. Then unscrew out the old speaker and disconnect it from the wire harness - lift the little plastic part at top and then just squeeze the connector on BOTH sides while pulling - it's sort of "spring-latch" held shut - you just need to tilt each side's latch a little to allow the connector to slip out of the other side of the connector as you pull.

Now install the speaker. So I put my 3/16" HB fiberboard spacer back in (with it's fresh coats of polyurethane - the last one still drying), then the yellow spongy template - might as well use it, then the screws. It's kind of fun when the 3 screws finally line up. It always looks like it will never line up, and then the 3 screws go perfectly straight down into the holes - the yellow spongy template from Polk (which I used to make the spacer) gets the credit for this beautiful alignment. Then screw the speaker in. You may notice that the right-rear speaker's alignment is different than the left-rear. Not sure why this is so. Just get the job done. You've already connected the harness up from ebay's spiral-installations.com by now. Now the speaker is done.

Time to put the liner back on.

In order to put the liner back on the right-rear, there are a couple steps:
There are 4 things to hookup: 3 wires and 1 latch-bar.
1) Hook up the light at the bottom by pushing connector in. One wire harness gone.
2) Latch-bar: While holding it up, grasp the door latch bar and put it into the small plastic receptacle, then turn the white plastic latcher clockwise (whichever way is correct, I believe it's clockwise) over it to lock it into place. It's ok to pull on the latch bar outwards until it reaches the liner that you are holding. You may even accidentally pull the latch bar completely out of it's snap-in place on the door - that's ok, just snap it back in when your done with this step.
3) Of the two connectors, the one that's in the upper-left is somewhat tricky (on both rear doors, but a little worse for right-handed people on this door). Just keep pushing with your hand until you get it to go upwards. Just keep in mind that it hangs sideways but connects vertically, hence it takes some coordination. This one took me a full 3 minutes of strain - I guess I might design this step better, as it was considerable strain.

Now I tested that the window works and the door-latch and door-locks all work. They do, so it's time to push the liner back in to the door (not hard on my car, just push) then the door-handle part back into the liner.

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU ACCIDENTALLY YANK OUT THE LITTLE WHITE PLASTIC THING
This went smoothly - just push the door-handle part a little towards the front of the car first while pushing in, then a little to the right and then it should sit nice and that one screw can go back in. This assumes, you haven't pulled the little white plastic thing off the door (which the screw goes into). If you have, I will have to create a procedure for this - and add it later. When this happened on the left-side door, I
simply put the screw back into the white plastic housing and I just kept pushing until the white plastic thing snapped in. I did this
to ensure that I did not drop the plastic thing. Having the screw on it first is "safer". If you can push it in first without dropping, that's
good. I will try to analyze this step and describe how to do it. I need to see if there is a preferred orientation for the plastic thing - I suspect
that there is not, hence why I was able to simply push the liner back in place and push the plastic thing in until it snapped back into place.

I almost forgot the little door-cup, that takes one screw into it's yellow receptacle. So now the kids can keep coins in your door-cup.

So now the right-rear door is pristine except for the black plastic water-liner on the right-side of it, just put it back and click it into place.

We're done.

Now one problem I did NOT discuss, and admittedly, I have yet to publish in this post, the Honda manual pages - I will do this when I scan them.

But first, about water, I found a tiny bit of water inside the door - I know why. My car is parked next to a tree and water funnels off of the tree and into my car since I leave my windows cracked open a little in the summer. So be careful about crack-open windows - water will go down in there. But thankfully, all the gasketing kept the water from the electronics and speaker so there was no damage. But in a grander scheme, you might want to crack the window open, to let air out, but put a nice rubber cover or something over top to keep rainwater out!

One other comment on our gasket/spacer-"pickling" to keep water-rot out of this project. If all you had was some tung oil and a solvent
such as citrus solvent, you could probably just use that - particularly if you put a little wax on top somehow, perhaps by dissolving
some wax flakes into the concoction. I also may try spray
clear krylon. It is recommended for indoor or outdoor. I am agonizing on this because I want something that is organic if possible.
And I don't think I would worry about the tung oil or other oil being fire-retardant (how do you spell that?). So oil is ok to preserve your
gasket-spacer and not pollute the environment. I think the chances that you are increasing the fire hazard are extremely small, and
the advantages for the environment are great. But putting some wax over the gasket would make it even safer still. I don't recommend
a plastic bag since it doesn't breathe in the event it got wet. I'm not a polymer chemist, but I think you'll find that the tung
oil will polymerize over time and have the character of a sort of plastic, and not burn easily.

PS I need to get out my Honda manual and give you the correct terms for all this stuff. I didn't use the manual for this part. However I have attached a page from the Honda manual.

[hondajoe88]

I decided to hang onto the old speakers.