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Help! Head unit removal / Head unit wiring

4K views 34 replies 9 participants last post by  jrock645 
#1 ·
I'm installing new speakers and what not today. Video says the underneath bolts are 8mm but both my 8 and 9mm ratchets are too small. 10 is too big. Wtf!
 
#8 ·
Help! Head unit wiring

So I began installation of a new sound system today. Component JBL power up front and coaxials in the rear. Wired the front speakers, installed the rear speakers, ran speed wire which will go to the LC7i, and ran power wire for the amp.

I'm stuck on the head unit wiring. I've already bugged supafresh quite a bit, and he was helpful to say the least. I got a list of the speaker output wire colors coming out of the head unit. I'm seeing multiple yellow wires, so I'm hesitant to cut anything.

Does anyone have info on the wire colors? I spent 8 hours on all of it today- taking the car apart, wiring, applying the gt mat etc. I've never done any of this before so it went slow. I was planning to finish but I ran out of daylight- I'm working out of the parking lot of my apartment complex. Difficult to say the least.

Any help would be most appreciated.
 
#9 ·
#12 ·
Ok cool. Got a similar list elsewhere. Will start on that soon. Trying to finish all the trunk wiring to the amp, lc7, etc. I have no idea how I'm going to get this 4g wire into the distro box. It's rated for it but I dunno how.
 
#13 ·
Mine didn't fit either, funnily enough, in a 0/4 gauge, and I was trying to insert 4 gauge.

Anyways, twist the wires like a typical strand, then start shaving/cutting off little clumps on the outside "perimeter". Eventually it'll get down to size. Just dont go cutting off a huge chunk. It also may help if you remove the metal "cuff" from the distributor block, if yours has one. I was able to manually slip it onto the wire much easier than it would've been to jam it in the socket without the cuff already on.

Ah... Indeed they are. I'll try that
You will strip the screws out if you try to initially use a screwdriver. Trust me here.

Hopefully you haven't already. i believe I managed to get a US small socket wrench up there, using something like 5/16ths inch socket.
 
#15 ·
I ended up getting the 8mm to work. Had to take a breath, get comfortable-that was hard- and carefully get the right angle. Got it finished today. I went in thinking it'd be fun. It was Anything but.

Got the job finished today. Had to shave off the power wire and it still want pretty. Obviously every failed attempt frays it more, which makes it harder- basically impossible- to get a tight twist. Wonder if there's a distro block that would give a better result.

I still need to go clean up all the wiring in the trunk. Prety ugly right now but fixable. Mounted the lc7i to the roof of the trunk- glad I bought the cordless drill last minute, came in very handy. Amp is on a sidewall board from zenclosures. Problem is, that cavity in the trunk isn't flat, so my Velcro plan didn't work. I've got it wedged into a groove in the trunk tray, so it's ok for now. Need to figure out a better way to secure it, though.

Wtf is with the Scosche speaker adapters? Half fit perfectly, the other 2 I had to drill a hole to screw into. Makes no sense.

All in all, I'm so glad it's done. Took me two full days and I didn't touch the foam or vinyl I bought. That will have to wait for another day. Which could be a while from now. I was really nervous about cutting into the head unit, but it all worked out.

System sounds great though! Went ahead and ordered a powered sub to put in and complete things. Came this far, right?
 
#17 ·
When I'm on my pc later I'll put up pics. Haven't figured out how on the iPad.









I'll have to go back and clean everything up big time. I'll remount the amp on the board to use the space better. I'll need to mount brackets to be able to secure the board. The original plan was Velcro but the board is nowhere near flush against that trunk side cavity. Also have to secure the wires to the ceiling. Not pictured, but the lc7 is mounted to the trunk ceiling.

I didn't take as many pictures as I'd intended, but oh well. I cut the get mat into tiles and pretty well stuck it anywhere it'd fit(that's what she said).
 
#19 ·
It's not a bad idea but, you'll have to rewire the amp regardless. Once you add the MS-8, You won't need the LC7i anymore, as the MS-8 will take high level signals and then supply your summed signal to the amp.

As it looks, you might want to trim that power wire from the battery to the distro block. Also, does your amp use spade terminals at the power/ground/remote/speaker ends to secure it to the amp? If so, I would splurge for some just to tidy up the connections and avoid any issues. Lastly, I would replace the distro block with one that is fused just for peace of mind.

You can use self-tapping screws to mount the amp to that board. It kind of sucks that the amp board didn't come with instructions on how-to permanently mount it to the car.
 
#20 ·
Yeah there's a lot I need to do to clean that wiring up. I might mount the amp to the roof. We'll see.

The amp instructions call for it to just have the wire in it. My first thought was adding connectors but I don't know that they'll fit. Also, I'm probably gonna get another distro block- one that will actually fit 4gwire.

I'm a bit frustrated with the amp board. I bought it because it seemed like such an easy solution, and it fit so nice in the picture. Doesn't at all accomplish what I'd wanted.

As for the ms8... I'm being advised elsewhere that mini DSP is a better, cheaper option. Thoughts?

I won't be able to get saying done until Monday. Clean up wiring, turn off ANC and then hook up the powered sub.
 
#29 ·
Got the new distro block in today and swapped that out. Adjusted the wiring slightly but it's still not good. I'd like to mount everything to a board, screw 1x1's into the trunk roof and mount to that, and tuck excess wire in between roof and the board. I do t have any saws, so it might have to wait a coup,e months until I get home and can use stuff at my dad's.

Also installed a JBL 12" powered sub today. Drove around for a while afterward to enjoy the system. Sounds good :)

MS-8 arrives tomorrow. If it comes in by the afternoon, I'll install tomorrow. Can't believe how much better the sound is already, so I'm looking forward to having a complete system.

 
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