contemptor

iTrader: (1)

Like the route to take and how to do it? The main part that worries me is going throught he firewall and such. I really have no idea what I'm doing.

DAVESS02

iTrader: (30)

I recently installed an aftermarket amp and speakers in my 02. Its not terribly complex, but will take some time. IMO, the easiest route to take with the power is to remove the engine pcm (computer) and its holder- held in with 2- 10mm bolts. There is a harness with a rubber grommet you can poke a hole in and run your power wire through. Inside the car, you will need to remove thefront lower plastic kick panel/sill trim cover that is held in with4 or 5 phillips screws, the bottom dash cover- held on with 2 plastic clips that release easier if you turn them 90 deg., and remove the lower seatbelt assem with a t-50 torx bit. Now you can run the power wire and wire tie it to the existing harness under the carpet. The rear panel assem. next to the back seat can be pulled loose where it meets the door seal gasket with a good tug but first remove the speaker grille to look for an attachment screw, my car had 1, remove if found. The rest of the panel is held in place with velcro like attachments. There is no need to remove the coat hanger, youre only trying to gain a little room to fish the power wire toward the back, assuming thats where you'll mount your amp. The rest of your wiring such as RCA's and speaker wire if you plan on running new, can be run down the same paths for the pass side and for the drivers, you'll need to remove/loosen the interior panels and seat belt on that side. To run the cable through the doors, I found it easier to run the cable from the inside of the door back through to the interior of the car. The rubber boot between the door and jamb has plenty of room for at least 2 runs of monster cable. Be aware that the door panels come off with 2 phillips screws for the door handle trim followed by 3 large phillips in the door handle. Push/pull the door panel straight up to remove, they dont attach with push clips like older GM cars! If your amp has high level inputs-inputs you hard wire in directly from the stereo instead of RCA's- then you can use the existing amp input wiring to the stock amp. An excellent source for F-body stereo wiring is http://www.houston-f-body.org/tech/monsoon/
Once you isolate the amp input wiring, you just have to make an extention to reach the amp. I cut the 4 positive and 4 negative wires for amp inputs approx 2 inches from the amp plug so I've got room to put the system back stock if I sell the car. The final thing to consider is a remote wire for the amp. The houston website has schematics for the back of the monsoon sterio. You'll be looking for the power antenna output wire location. Locate the pink wire on firebird stereo harness or locate the blank slot on the camaro one using the houston schematic. If your doing a firebird, just tap onto the pink wire and run back to the amp remote. For my camaro, I cut wires at my amp plug to tap amp inputs, so I then removed a terminal from the amp plug- this sucks btw, you need a pin removal tool or fine wire- and transferred it to the blank hole/slot in the wiring harness for the power antenna output. I then added wire to this and ran it to the amp remote input.