Stereo & Electronics - Where to run wire?

hey guys, i'm about to start installing my stereo equipment, and i need to know where the best place is to run the 12v power cable for my amp thru the firewall. is there any place that already has a grommet that i can run my 8ga power wire through, or will there have to be a hole drilled?

i'd look myself, but my car is out at my mom's place, i'm about to head out there to start installing everything

Is your amp going to be in the hatch area?If so i ran mine underneight the car.Although mine was 4 gauge.

There's a couple plugs in the body of the rear hatch under the carpet.I just poked a hole and ran the wire up thru the grommet.

you think that'd be possible with 0/1 gauge? I want to do a little wiring overkill just to be sure, plus i'll be running two amps.

you think that'd be possible with 0/1 gauge? I want to do a little wiring overkill just to be sure, plus i'll be running two amps.

I'll dig up the Pic's. Snootch has run 1/0 though a spot near the ECM.

right behind the pcm (passenger side under the hood near the dash) there is a large rubber grommet. you can pass the wire through there.

I tried to access that grommet and couldn't get the PCM out of the way. I got it out, but couldn't access the grommet for the life of me. After thinking I was gonna F up the PCM by pulling on it too hard, I simply put it back and gave up. Does anybody have any good pics of how you're supposed to remove the PCM and of the actual grommet?

Theres a factory gromet thats fairly easy to get to on the drivers side. Im pretty sure you can run a 4ga through.

Is your amp going to be in the hatch area?If so i ran mine underneight the car.Although mine was 4 gauge.

There's a couple plugs in the body of the rear hatch under the carpet.I just poked a hole and ran the wire up thru the grommet.


yeah, the amp will be in the rear hatch area....i have built a speaker box for a single 10" sub, which will be sunk down in the hatch area (gotta love hardtops, don't have to worry about t-top storage! :) ). the sub will be offset from center, more toward the driver's side, and the amp will mount on the passenger's side on top of the speaker box, and i will have a 1/4" hardboard trim panel cover with a cutout for the amp's fins, and a speaker-grille hole directly above the sub. that way, the sound can still come out, but i can still use some of that storage area for storage on top of that trim panel (it will be carpeted).

it's generally a bad idea to run your power cable underneath the car, unless you can find a rail or something that the wire fits in completely so that there's no way it can be exposed to the elements or get cut when bottoming out or something. it's better to run it inside the car under the carpet....that way there's almost no chance that anything can happen to it (and if you install it right, you'll never even be able to see that it's there).

and i am taking photos of my progress as i go to document my install, so as to help others later on if they need a visual reference. so far, i have installed the head unit, and have gutted the inside of the car (seats, trim, etc.) to make it easy to pull back the carpet and run all the cables.

yeah, the amp will be in the rear hatch area....i have built a speaker box for a single 10" sub, which will be sunk down in the hatch area (gotta love hardtops, don't have to worry about t-top storage! :) ). the sub will be offset from center, more toward the driver's side, and the amp will mount on the passenger's side on top of the speaker box, and i will have a 1/4" hardboard trim panel cover with a cutout for the amp's fins, and a speaker-grille hole directly above the sub. that way, the sound can still come out, but i can still use some of that storage area for storage on top of that trim panel (it will be carpeted).

it's generally a bad idea to run your power cable underneath the car, unless you can find a rail or something that the wire fits in completely so that there's no way it can be exposed to the elements or get cut when bottoming out or something. it's better to run it inside the car under the carpet....that way there's almost no chance that anything can happen to it (and if you install it right, you'll never even be able to see that it's there).

and i am taking photos of my progress as i go to document my install, so as to help others later on if they need a visual reference. so far, i have installed the head unit, and have gutted the inside of the car (seats, trim, etc.) to make it easy to pull back the carpet and run all the cables.

Yeh,I agree about the safety issues of running it underneith.This is my 3rd F-Body i've done it on with no problems.I actually think its a lot less work to run it inside the car as well.Maybe the same.

I run it from the battery,down behind the headlight,across the front support and back up by the drivers headlight.I then ran it thru the fender well and just attached it to the top fuel line thru all the heat shields all the way to the back.Where the fuel lines end their is a grommet right above and to the center i believe.

This has been done on my current car for 4 years now without a single problem.Its up high enough and ziptied out of the way,so that nothing could ever happen.You can only see the wire in acouple spots from under the car.

well, i got everything installed, and it sounds awesome, except for one thing.....one of my tweeters is blown. :cry: :cry:

oh well, i definitely got my money's worth out of these speakers, i've been using them for going on 8 years now....i guess i will be getting me a new component set with my next check in about a week, good thing i'll have a $500 bonus on this check! :headbang:

here are the photos i took.....unfortunately, i couldn't take detailed photos of how i ran the wiring and the installation of the door speakers, as i was running out of time, and it was raining on top of that.....

http://members.cox.net/xunil76/001.jpghttp://members.cox.net/xunil76/002.jpg
http://members.cox.net/xunil76/003.jpghttp://members.cox.net/xunil76/004.jpg
http://members.cox.net/xunil76/005.jpghttp://members.cox.net/xunil76/006.jpg
http://members.cox.net/xunil76/007.jpghttp://members.cox.net/xunil76/008.jpg
http://members.cox.net/xunil76/009.jpghttp://members.cox.net/xunil76/010.jpg
http://members.cox.net/xunil76/011.jpghttp://members.cox.net/xunil76/012.jpg

i'll have some photos of the hatch area where the amp & subwoofer are located after i get finished with the trim panel that goes back there.....i didn't have enough time to finish it this weekend, plus i was dead tired by the time i finished what i did get done.