Car Audio installs.

Soldato
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So have ordered the lot, and read a good bit and watched a good few videos on installations etc, but im sure im missing some things.
It looks.."relativly" easy....or am I fooling myself?, the trickiest part seems to be getting the Amp Wire power wire from the battery into the cabin?

Have bought the stuff I liked, ordered the facia adapters ( comes with what they say needed connections to swap the HU out), speaker adapters for the front door cards etc.
 
Completely depends on the car, my Focus had a grommet directly behind the battery which was used for running the power into the cabin for example.
 
I think there is a grommet ( Fiesta Mk7) that has other cables running through it, I have seen another vid though where if that turns out to be tricky, you can hooky it via the Power side mirrors ports.
I guess it all depends how accessible it is.
 
Some people drill holes! I've never done so myself.

Getting the sub(s) secured properly is a must.

Removing interior panels can be fiddly, the securing clips can be flimsy.

Reducing rattles might be a mission.
 
I have already trim removal tools so those will come in handy.
The Mk7 is pretty easy to take apart, was hoping to not HAVE to remove the back seats but will see.
WHen you say "securing the sub", how do you mean?..I ordered this.
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/pioneer-pioneer-12-sub-amp-mosfet-1400-watt-deal
So teh Sub would be fitted into the box, the box just "sits" in the boot.

Also bought a good few sheets of sound deadening material.
 
It's generally easy, just expect to have lots of cuts on your hands and lots of left over screws and trim tabs :p
Ahhh, you jsut reminded me, meant to order those cloth finger like gloves ive seen guys use which I assume saves your fingers from that!

One thing, jsut realising I ordered this Headunit.
http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/hea...ia-receiver-bluetooth-touch-screen-double-din
Does the HU need to have a separate Sub out..can see anything on the spec sheet, or is it just something that always comes as a standard?

Edit nevermind found it does.

This was all I got, thi nk its all about right.


Kenwood KNA-RCDV 331 IR Remote Control Black
Kenwood DMX100BT Car Monitor
Pioneer 12" Sub & Amp MOSFET 1400 Watt
JBL GTO-609C - 270w 16.5cm Component Speakers

Silent Coat 10 x Tiles (187x265mm) Car Sound Deadening / Proofing Pack

Roll of Speaker cable and a large varied Crimp set.
 
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Shouldn't be too difficult. I also did it to my Fiesta MK7 a few years back. The big grommet you mentioned is easily accessible but although I managed to push the cable in through it, I couldn't get it to feed out behind the glove box at all and I didn't fancy trying to stuff it through with a coathanger or similar attached. What I ended up doing was pulling the grommet down a bit and pushing the wire in between the metal chassis and the outer edge of the grommet and I found it came out into the cabin pretty easily after that. I just popped another rubber grommet onto the power cable to protect that against the metal and it was fine for the 3 and a bit years it was installed - even when I came to remove it there were no problems with anything in that area. Can't remember what I used for a ground point in the boot but it wasn't too difficult to find one. I can look it up as I do still have the car though, just with the kit removed.
 
Its good to know there is something cut in the foot well to save me the ache of drilling. Is that Drivers or passengers side? ) batttery side I assume?

Also, its been pointed out a lot of times I should run the audio cables to the opposite side of the power cable to the amp, any tips or ideas in how to run the audio cables from the HU via the drivers side. Is that even really needed at all?
 
Yeah, it's battery side so comes out behind the glove box. If you squeeze the glove box sides in then you can pull it down and it'll come out nearish to the fuse box in there.

People do say that you should run the cables to the opposite side and I did on that car. Power and amp remote from the head unit down the passenger side and RCA lead down the driver side. I just pulled the wires out from behind the head unit and into the driver's foot well (quite easy with the stock head unit out), cable tied the wire up in a couple of places so it didn't dangle down and then just popped the trim pieces off and ran it behind those and down the car.

I couldn't be bothered to do it with my next car though so just ran power, RCA, remote, reverse cam power and reverse cam video cables all down the same side. Never caused any issues with mine but then my kit isn't exactly top notch stuff. Still, there's no interference or anything that I can hear (or see on the reverse feed) anyway.
 
Cheers mate, I appreciate the info, didn't realise I would have to look behind the glove box, took it out before so thats pretty easy, was the last part I was worried about actually.
 
Will jsut have to wait and see what its all like tracking the wires, but yea, with it all hanging out over the place ill switch it all on to make sure.
 
You'll want a wire coat hanger to help run cables! Having just installed a double din unit today it proved the best tool to run 4 cables behind the dash (2xUSB, GPS, Mic)
 
You'll want a wire coat hanger to help run cables! Having just installed a double din unit today it proved the best tool to run 4 cables behind the dash (2xUSB, GPS, Mic)
I saw that tip in a Youtube tutorial I Was watching lol. Seems really important for getting the Power line through.
Im hoping I have i way of jsut putting the USB cable into the glove box for my Ipod.
 
Yeah you'll easily get the USB into the glove box in a MK7 Fiesta. You'll see when the stock stereo is out that it's dead easy to thread cables through to just about anywhere :)
 
Make sure you fuse the power cable as close as you can to the battery, definitely before it enters the car. They can carry a lot of current and if it happens to short out inside the car a fire is a very real possibility.

I'd advise securing the sub box somehow. It's a heavy piece of kit and you wouldn't want it flying around inside the car in the event of an accident or roll. A ratchet strap is one ghetto way of doing it.

And the earth/ground wire for the amp is just as important as the power wire. It's something many don't pay enough attention to. Make sure you get a solid clean connection to the body of the car.
 
Make sure you fuse the power cable as close as you can to the battery, definitely before it enters the car. They can carry a lot of current and if it happens to short out inside the car a fire is a very real possibility.

I'd advise securing the sub box somehow. It's a heavy piece of kit and you wouldn't want it flying around inside the car in the event of an accident or roll. A ratchet strap is one ghetto way of doing it.

And the earth/ground wire for the amp is just as important as the power wire. It's something many don't pay enough attention to. Make sure you get a solid clean connection to the body of the car.
Cheers mate..was planning on putting the fuse just to eh side of the battery?
The "Earth wire" etc..can I use a cut off of the gauge wire that im getting ( if any spare, and use some of it?)
My plan is to remove a bolt in the back..remove the paint, and put it there.
 
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