I am in the process of trying to wire an amp from my battery to inside the car. How do I run the cable from the engine bay to the inside of the car? Do I have to drill a hole or is there another way? SAme question applies to wiring up some fog lights


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Flowmaster,Edelbrock open filliment filter with K&N filter in it
160 stat,

 

Yes! Do it on the passenger side.

your fog lights could be wired to your fuse box thought.

 

passenger side, why is that?

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Flowmaster,Edelbrock open filliment filter with K&N filter in it
160 stat,

 

Well, personal preference for most people. Others like to put the power lead on the + starter post rather than the batt. Also I personally like to run the wiring under the pass. side to the back where I mount my amps. I run all the RCA's and the radio ground together with the power and remote leads.

 

92,

You could route the power cables through the grommet for the ECM harness in the right kick panel. There is a bit of extra space around the ECM harness, and up to a #4 lead could fit through without drilling. Just silicone the grommet where you punch through, and you're adlready at the kick panel, so you can route the power down the right threshold channel and into the rear compartment.

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Later,
Vader
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"Make Me Bad"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

 

A little note about doing stereo installs...

Run your power/ground cables and your speaker outputs/inputs down different sides of the car (or at least apart from each other)

This cuts down on radio/engine noise that power cables carry and will transfer to speaker outs and ins.

Solder all connections.

I took the carpet, seats, and center console out on my 83 TA to install my last stereo.

I've never had an engine whine and never had to use a noise filter.

Just my 2 cents.

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ASE Mechanic/Machinist/Smog Tech

1999 NBM Trans Am
1986 Chevy 3/4 ton pick up
1981 corvette
1995 Kawi ZX6R

GO #3

[This message has been edited by Engineboy (edited October 12, 2000).]

 

Vader,

I'm assuming when you say the right side that its the pasenger side.

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Flowmaster,Edelbrock open filliment filter with K&N filter in it
160 stat,

 

Always...

 

If you -don't- have cruise control, there is a plug located below the master cylinder/brake booster that you can remove. From the engine compartment, I used a hammer & punch to smack it in towards the driver's feet.

I agree with Engineboy about the routing of wires.. I have the power on the left (Firebird, battery's on the driver's side), 3 RCA's down the middle under the (new ACC!) carpet, and speaker wires down the passenger side.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

 

On my car, i had the same problem.. I was looking for a nice place to route it, and the wire i had wasn't quite long enough to go across the passenger side...

So, I busted out the drill, found this interesting looking place, checked to make sure it was good on BOTH sides of the firewall, checked again, and checked again.

I started to drill....and POP... it was a grommet! It just popped right out! ahahahah! IT was pretty high up under the drivers dash, to the right of the brake (i think... been a while)..

But yeah.. just drilled a hole thru the grommet, put the wire in, caulked the wire in, and popped the gromet back in... works like a charm.

[Edit: btw, I Do have cruise control (or, at least, I'm supposed to.....it doesn't WORK!)]

-Tesla

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91 T/A 305 tpi SD
STB, Airfoil, Hooker cat-back, pseudo-cold air to K&N, Accel coil, !cat, !smog pump.
The Wankel Rotary Engine - The replacement for displacement.

[This message has been edited by tesla042 (edited October 16, 2000).]

 

Tesla, really? I thought it was for cruise control, since I don't have CC. Thanks for the info!


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards

 

If you're running smaller than 4 gauge, there is plenty of room to go through an existing grommet with other wires. If you're doing 4 gauge or larger, a new hole is probably best so that you can keep that high-current line away from sensitive signal wires. Run the wire down the side of the car that the battery is on. That means driver for most firebirds and passenger for most camaros. On the driver side, you can use existing holes as position references and find a spot below the carpet line or above the dash line to drill. For the passenger side, the kick panel is the best spot, but on cars without a/c, there is also plenty of room below the heater box. Whatever you do, make sure you use a rubber grommet. Otherwise you'll wind up with a crispy car. For my 2 gauge, I wound up with a 5/8" or 3/4" hole for the proper grommet to fit. I forget what size hole I used for the 4 gauge grommet.

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Thanks for all your responses, but I installed the amp 2 days ago, I ended up drilling. I did it on the drivers side, near an existing wire which i belive came from the washer fluid holder and ran it under the plastic. Although today my battery was dead, but found out not due to the amp, but overhead light, got a flat tire, and for some reason my fuse for my gauge lights blew and i had to drive home in the dark, not sure why that blew, I wouldn't thing it would be due to the installation of the new 6x9's and the amp, am I wrong?

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Flowmaster,Edelbrock open filliment filter with K&N filter in it
160 stat,

 

i believe the grommet on the drivers side is there for the clutch master to go through the firewall...my 2 third gens were autos, so i cant totally confirm that...but thats what ive come up with. and about the dash lights...pop your head unit out again real quick, and make sure the dimmer wire for the factory radio is taped up if you're not using it. this happened in my friend's car and it took so long to figure out...just a good place to start looking

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350, Comp 262, Edelbrock Performer intake 600 cfm carb and exhaust, headers

 

AH HA,

Thats right there was that stay orange wire, that must be it. I just left it there, it was guarded up but its insulator got pulled off by me, well that definatly helps, thanks