SnackMasterX

Hello I am in the process of overhauling my car's audio system and right now I am looking at upgrading the front door speakers with Infinity Kappa component speakers but my problem that I am having is that I plan to amp these speakers and I could theoretically run the amp through the stock speaker wire but the amp will be able to push 170 watts RMS and the stock speaker wire doesn't seem like it would be too happy running that wattage. I wanted to see what anyone else's opinions would be about running power through the stock wire (chances are I would turn the amp way down so it doesn't push that much wattage because even 50 watts is screaming) or if I should just find a way to drill a hole into my front doors for the speakers. I managed to drill holes in the back doors but I don't know how I would go about drilling a hole in the front doors. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance!

randomsuper

no need to drill holes. just follow the path of your factory wires. and you can use the factory speaker wire as long as you don't run too much power through it. it's not the best option, but it'll do the job. i'm currently hooked up through the factory speaker wire until i have the time to do it right.

SnackMasterX

How much wattage do you think the factory wire can handle?

randomsuper

i couldn't say. i know what i'm running is overkill at about 100 rms.

SnackMasterX

Well I plan on having the amp turned down so hopefully it wouldn't be pushing that much wattage but are you seeing problems like the wire begining to burn up or anything else bad happening? Maybe warping sound?

randomsuper

so far, no problems. i've been running this set up for about a month and a half now.

SnackMasterX

One other thing I was thinking of doing for running aftermarket wire (more damaging that I would like) is to drill a hole through the part of the dash/door panel where the dash and door panel touch when the door is closed because then its out of sight, out of mind but it would look terribly sloppy and reduce the value of the car probably around $2000. How do you plan to run the wire the proper way? I want to drill a hole in the front doors like I did my back doors to run a new wire but I can't see how I could possibly do that without removing the door completely.

randomsuper

just run them through the factory grommet. that black plastic thing in the door has all your wiring in it. pull it off, run some wire through there (a coat hanger will help here) , hook up the wire to your amp and put everything back together again. it's a pain, but it's the clean and professional way to do it. you absolutely do not have to drill any holes.

SnackMasterX

Oops, a little late on the holes for the back door but it looks like its supposed to be there anyway with the way my dad and I ran everything. I will have to take a look at running the wire like that though because I would love to run it through the gromet instead of drilling holes, its such a pain to do that. It took us like 20 minutes to get through the side pillars, theres like 3 layers of metal. We tried running the wire through the gromet but there was a cluster of wires going into a harness that plugged into the side that I couldn't get out and it seemed more worth while to drill a whole. I just used some silicone and it looks ok but we got the pain job a couple times. Its not in a noticeable place though, unless you are inspecting the car that is.... I will take a look into running some wire through the gromet on the front doors though, thanks.

randomsuper

no problem. good luck getting it done.

SnackMasterX

Alright, Thanks, next one will be the fun one, removing the headliner and putting up some noise dampers.

randomsuper

deadening the doors sucks but the results are totally worth it. do that first. i haven't done the roof yet. i figured i'd do it when i slap some suede on the headliner.

SnackMasterX

Well right now I have some Dynamat Xtreme for the front doors and going to toss dynaxorb behind the front speakers and whenever i get around to replacing the back speakers will do the same thing to those doors. Dynamating the doors doesnt seem like it will be that difficult but then again neither did running wire from the battery and what a nightmare that was.

chadfo

Running the speaker wire through the factory grommet is pretty easy if you release all the wire connectors and pull the grommet free from the holes in the doors. With everything released you can actually pull the grommet/tube out several inches making it very easy to push wires through. I taped the wires to a small stick and pushed through. Then you just have to pop the grommet back in place and reattach the other wiring connectors and everything will look professional.

Sound deadening the roof is a great thing to do. I don't think people appreciate just how much noise comes from that huge thin piece of metal right above their heads that has very little insulation(practically non-existant). I did my car two weeks ago and it's much quieter in the car. The slight boom when a door is closed it gone. The sometimes overpowering growl from the CAI is tamed. Everything in the roof is clipped in some form. There are no bolts in anything. The A pillar covers have a special two stage clip that allows the cover to pop out when the side curtain air bag deploys but not released freely. To release it take a small pair of pliers, grip the thin plastic and turn it perpendicular to the cover's length and the cover will release.

SnackMasterX

When I got home from work I took a look at how I would run the wire and thats when I discovered the front doors are very different from the back doors. I don't really know if there is a way to run the wires for the back doors without drilling a hole. I'm sure there must be but I don't know what it is and regarding the roof, you lost me at "The A pillar covers have a special two stage clip" I think for that I might pay someone to professionally take care of it if it is a reasonable price, if not I will do some more research but I will be working on the roof last because it is the thing i dread most. One other thing I need to figure out is there is a grommet from the engine compartment to the cabin on the passenger side and the wire I am using is way too thick to fit through the grommet so my friend and I just pulled the grommet back so it is out of the way for now, any suggestions on how I could fill that hole without several layers of silicone? Right now the wires are just hanging free, I ran 2 wires, both 2 AWG stubborn to move wires, one for power and one for ground, then I grounded the ground in the back of the vehicle as well with a smaller wire to keep the ground stable.

Also here is an idea that might peak your interest, I was considering finding 5.25 kick panels for the front and instead of putting speakers in the doors I would place them in the kick panels and put 6.5 subs in the front doors. If I don't put subs in the front doors I am going to make some boxes to fit under the front seats but I would much prefer the kick panels, gonna be easier. Thoughts?