I wanted to know if anyone could help me with some information on how/where to run an amp from the battery into the 300zx. The obvious place I guess would be in the crack where the door and hood meet, but I wanted to know if there was a better place to run it so it's hidden more. Besides, I have an 8 gauge wire and I'm not sure if it would even fit in that crack.

If I have to drill in the firewall...any ideas on the best place to do so?


Thanks

 

don't run it through the door, that's ghetto as hell...

Since it's 8 gauge, you might have to drill. The best place would be on the drivers side, next to and below the brake master cylinder (I think that's where I ran mine). It's a bitch to get to, but it's the cleanest install. Then you can catch it underneath your dash and either run it along the center consol, or underneath the kickpanel, depending on where your amp is.

 

There's a rubber gromet in the passenger side floor board just above the ECU That should be plenty big enough and in a good spot to run the wire...

Rod.

 

I ran mine through my passenger fender. There's a hole right next to the battery. go through there and take off the kick panel closest to the door, pull it up and through. Run it underneath the sill plate. I have an 8 gauge as well, this worked great...no drilling, straightfoward, I recomend using a wire hanger to help you as it is hard to weave through there.

 

Yep, this is how my power wire runs to my trunk also

 

I forgot about that passage... I might have to re-route mine through there to minimize my wire length.

(btw, I run 4 gauge wire, so the grommet wouldn't work for me... with 8 gauge, the grommet might be big enough)

 

Cool. Thanks for the info everyone.
It just snowed here in MD, so as soon as i can get out there and do the install I'll let you know how it went. It makes me sick to walk by my Subs and amp everyday sitting on the floor instead being in my z. lol

 

Thats a good place to relocate your cruise control module too as well if you don't want it in there.

 

moved to 300ZX (Z32) Appearance Exterior, Interior

i ran my amp power wire thru the grommet under the clutch master cylinder.
I'm running 4 gauge wire also, i didn't hafta drill any holes.

 

good timing on this thread. i just yanked the bose head unit out and put in a brand new alpine. sound is 1000% better, even through the stock bose speakers. i have my JL 10w0's in the back of the z32, but the amp is still in the z31, so they arent hooked up yet. i was going move the amp soon and ask this very same question. also, my amp is not very large, and would fit in the little hidey hole where the headlight tools go. can anybody think of a reason this would be a bad spot for it? i think it would work great, i like my installs as stealth as possible. also, i have never had to deal with more than one amp. the stock bose speakers are individually amplified, and therefore require an amp turn on lead, which my headunit has only one of. when i install my sub amp, can i just splice off the same remote turn on lead, or is there something special i need to do? i am assuming that the lead just provides a pulse that tells the amps "hey, turn on now", and dont think this would be a problem, but i like to be sure.

 

If you plan on mounting your amplifier there make sure there's plenty of air circulation available. Hot amps are not happy amps.
since you're planning on keeping the stock bose amps, i would suggest you wire in a relay to serve as your turn on lead. FYI, the turn on lead is a constant 12v when the radio is powered up. i think the bose amps, sub amp and power antenna might be too much for your radio's turn on lead. If i remember correctly, those usually only hold up to about 1/2 amp before they fry out. The Alpines' usually come with a seperate turn on for the amps and antenna, if so then i would say try it out but fuse it if it isn't already. If not, i'd go the relay route.

 

shouldnt be a heat problem. it isntt a very big amp, and i've had it in a similarly sized and enclosed space in my z31 (the storage compartment behind the seats) for 2 years or so and havent had a problem. and yes, the alpine does have a seperate power antenna lead, which is nice because the antenna stays down when i'm listening to a cd, only comes up for radio. dont many head units just use one lead for both antenna and amp turn on? because my antenna lead is seperate, i would only have 2 things on the amp turn on lead, which should be ok, right?

 

technically you'll have 5, each of the four Bose amps and your sub amp. I'd fuse it at the very minimum if it isn't already.

 

Hears what to do i use to install car stereos for a living run your cable from your battery to your drivers side steering wheel area looks for the RUBBER BOOT that lets the wirs come threw the fire wall now all u have to do is take a small knife cut a slit in the rubber and run your wire throught that now get under neather the steering wheel area and pull it through run the wire along the drivers side quarter panel then under the plastic side door frame all the way back towards your trunk by the way run it under your carpet !! make things eazier for u at the same time also run your C.D. player Blue remote turn on switch to make your amp turn on !!! thats very important !! any more help just ask me !!! 5 years installing custom car stereos

 

why in the world would you keep the factory amps wired up to the speakers? the new alpine puts out at least 17 watts per channel and reproduces the entire sound spectrum cleanly. the factory amps only put out 6-10 watts and they were designed to only produce between 80hz and 10k. you need to rewire all four speakers in the z and hardwire them direct to the new stereo...it will sound MUCH better. i have been a master installer for 13 years and have never left the factory bose speakers wired to those lame little amps when installing an after market radio

 

because it's not something i feel like messing with right now. when i get around to it the bose speakers are coming out and Infinity Kappas are going in, 6.5's front and 4X6 plates in the back. but for now i am content with having a cd player instead of a tape deck.

 

thats where i ran mine alson

 

I ran my amp wire in the crack between the hood and the door. When the door is wide open you can see about an inch of wire but that's it. I ran the rest of it under panels. I didn't want to mess with drilling. It turned out pretty nice.

 

^ Yikes!

There has to be a better way than that...

Rod.

 

Why? It doesn't affect the sound and you can't see the wiring unless you pay close attention to that one area. The only other way would be to drill or possibly squeeze the wire through the firewall hole by the hood release cable. Too much of a pain. My install looks professional except for that one very tiny spot.

 

its the lazy ghetto way. it can be done more professionally without drilling any holes or going through the hood release cable. there are other grommets in the firewall, and there is another way explained in this thread that doesnt go through the firewall.

 

It was the parking lot way for me. I was freezing with the wind blowing from the ocean in the winter time. I wasn't about to go searching for a small hole to run the wire through, especially when I didn't even know where to begin to look for it. I'm satisfied with the install. If you saw it I think you would be too.

 

hey, how do i want to go about adding a fuse or relay to my turn on lead? i'm keeping the bose speakers for a while, but my subs and amp are just sitting around collecting dust. this is my first time having to deal with running a turn on lead to more than one component, and i would rather be safe then sorry, so what do you guys suggest?

 

well, i did a little digging in the FSM, and it looks like the bose amps are on a relay. so all the turn on lead is powering is that relay. i also checked with the crutchfield tech guys, and they said the alpine's turn on lead should be fine if i just splice. im off to the store to get a wiring kit.

 

Good luck... There is currently no head unit in my Z32 and the previous owner had rigged some pretty ghetto fabulous shi* up in there at one time. I am soooooo not looking forward to the time when I go to put tunes in this car

Rod.