sir nuke - wiring question

[yay for cars]

so ive decided, at least for now, that id like to go with a setup somewhat like yours, using the same 5 channel amp with one sub and replaced speakers. my question is how exactly did you do the speaker wiring? did you use stock wires? did you cut into the factory harness? could you please run thru how you got the wires from the HU to the amp? im assuming you went thru the door on one side of the car from the HU to the amp, but then im confused as to how you got the wires from the amp to the speakers. also, are you using any capacitors?
thanks a lot!

 

[1sty]

If memory serves, Nuke cut and grabbed the speaker wires from the radio and ran them to the amps speaker level inputs. Then from the amp the new speaker wires ran back to the radio and connect back to the factory wires going to the speakers.

A capacitor isn't really needed for that amp, If you feel the need a 1/2 farad cap will do.

 

[Sir Nuke]

well my ORIGINAL plan was to buy two wiring harnesses....one regular harness and one REVERSE harness...then connect them bck to back with the exception of the speaker wires.....this way I could just plut the reverse harness into the head unit and the regular harness into the cars harness and I wouldn't have to cut ANY wires of the cars harness.....alas I could not find a reverse harness with out waiting a good while....so I decided "what the hell"...and I did as 1st described....

where the speaker wires come out of the deck I cut through each one, one at a time and connected BULLET NOSED CONNECTORS to the wiring......just remember if you are going to do this as well that you put opposite connectors on each side (males and females) this way...if for any reason in the future you wanted to remove the amp you could...and just hook up the speaker wires back the way they were by plugging them back into one another.

NOW.....I had the speaker wires that need to go to the amps speaker level inputs....and they were plugged into the HU side of the speaker wires using the bullet nose connectors on them as well. then I connected those wires to the Plug that has all the speaker level inputs and plugs into the amp.....

then.....I put the ring connectors on one end of the speaker OUT wires coming from the amp and ran them up to the dash where i put the appropriate bullet nose connector on them and connect them back to the speaker wires going out to the speakers in the doors.

and NO....the wireing did NOT go through a door....seeing as how my amp is mounted under the drivers seat....all the speaker wiring ran from behind the HU down to the front of the concole and under the console to about where the "arm rest/pocket" is and them put them inside loom to make them look nice and neat.....of course all the way from front to back they are all nicely tyrapped about every 6 inches to make a nice bundle and to keep them out of the way of anything else. Oh...also the POWER ON/OFF is run from the harnesses AUX POWER (tap into it, its the pink/black wire) and run it along with the speaker wires.

the POWER lead for the amp is run along the bottom side of the drivers side below the sill plate with the other wires in the cars harness......

keep the speaker and main power wiring as far apart as you can....this will emiminate noise in the system.

 

[yay for cars]

all right, thats pretty much what i needed. unfortunately, im not too comfortable cutting into the stock harness. do they actually make reverse harnesses, or would i ave to fashion something myself? also, what gauge power wire did you use? and im sorry if the question is repetative, but ive never really understood exactly how you connect the power. does it just go straight to the battery terminal under the hood? and what connects it there?
thank you.

 

[Sir Nuke]

all right, thats pretty much what i needed. unfortunately, im not too comfortable cutting into the stock harness. do they actually make reverse harnesses, or would i ave to fashion something myself? also, what gauge power wire did you use? and im sorry if the question is repetative, but ive never really understood exactly how you connect the power. does it just go straight to the battery terminal under the hood? and what connects it there?
thank you.

YES, they do make reverse harnesses....both Metra and Scosche do.....and I would look into getting them as it does make the job a lot easier...as you don't have to work through the hole in the dash at all this way...

as for the power wire for the amp....I used a #8.....what I did, was went to wal-mart and got a scosche amp kit for an amp of my size (wattage output) and everything was in there to do the job....with the exception of speaker wiring.

as for how it attaches to the battery? there is a ring lug on the end of the power cable...just take the nut/washer off of the positive terminal clamp...and slip the ring lug over the stud and put the washer/nut back on and tighten it back down.

 

[yay for cars]

thanks, thats what i needed. the only other thing im a little confused about is fuse placement. i know it needs to be within 18 inches of the battery, but where should i put it to make sure it isnt affected by engine heat? i remember reading a thread a while back where someone's thread casing was melted, possibly by enigine heat.

 

[1sty]

any decent fuse holder won't melt unless its touching the engine block. For a small fuse you can just wire tie the fuse holder against some factory wire looms.