Installing an AMP

[mrcfo]

I'm a semi newbie in car audio so here goes, Ive inherited an amp from a cousin and basically need to put it into mine. I drive a 1990 Toyota Camry (Australian but basically the only real diff is that ours is right hand drives).

Q1: Installing the positive gauage, is there any spare grommet in this gen's camry? I don't want to muck around with drilling in the firewall.

Q2: Is it better to run the positive wire under the car or inside the car? That is, on the edges of the car doors and through the boot?

Q3: In terms of placing the amp, it fits into the boot but i'm not sure if drilling a few holes is a good idea (i'm mounting it on the side of the car) The wall there seems very thin and im a bit worried about this, also it's near the fuel tank but im pretty certain it's not gonna cut thru the tank as such, seems to run the other way.

[537]

A1: Typically you can piggyback the wiring harness between the fuse box and the ECU inside the cabin. That's universal with all vehicles unless the ECU has been relocated. Be careful not to nick any of the wires. You will want to put a shroud that is EFI/EMI shielded over the cable itself before you run it, or use cable that specifically says it is EMI/EFI shielded. Which leads me to:

A2: Running a positive power cable is fine as long as you do what is necessary to shield it from emitting EFI/EMI that will wreak havoc on your audio system, not to mention the ECU.

A3: You don't want your amp near your fuel tank. Apart from the battery cables that pose a hazard, amps are known to blow circuitry here and there, and as such you do not want a spark to ruin your day. If you have the urge to mount it there anyway, make sure you take special precautions to either drain the fuel tank before you drill, or remove it completely. Drilling through metal creates heat and potential sparks.

When in doubt, place the amp under the passenger seat if there is room.


Hope this helps.

[mrazntre]

A1) typically you can find a grommet just above the pedals. Just look. You should find ample room to squeeze in an extra wire. sorry, not too specific, but all the toyota's that i've had has had one.

A2) with older audio equipment, it was crucial to run emi type shielding. nowadays, i believe that technology has advanced enough that you don't necessarily need any extra protection, HOWEVER, you should always wrap wires that you run in electrical tape, just shove it into the rest of the wires under the door sills. This is just my opinion from what i've done in the past and my then-results. The most important thing that you want to do is to keep the power wire AWAY from all of your other amp wires (ie speaker wires, RCA cables).

A3) 537 answered this question really well.
What you could also do is to make an amp rack of some sort that might hang from the rear deck or something. I dunno, you'll have to get some ideas from a car audio site. Anything and everything you ever needed/wanted to know http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/caraudio.asp