So I took an 8" mdf speaker rings, applied 4 coats of trunk liner. I know it will have to be replaced in the future with baltic birch, but I wanted to see if it could be done. The Audison AP8 are shallow anyways so with the added depth of the ring, I didnt have to cut any metal. I mounted the ring using sheet metal screws and duct seal. To make the door card fit over the speaker I used a dremel and sanded away at the plastic until the card fit on and the speaker had plenty of clearance . For most of the area, there is plenty of plastic but in a couple of spots I was worried about breaking through, but luckily it all came together.
These sound so much better than the 6.5s that were previously there . Midbass is in your face. I still need to work on rattles but the sound deadening really made a difference in resonance.