Does anyone know of a site that offers an interface or adaptor that will allow me to keep my factory headunit and add an amp. I have an 05MCLS. I found a site that has one for $60, is that about the going rate. Appreciate the help.

 

all you need is a high to low converter, you can get them at Radio Shack or any stereo shop. Don't pay more than $20 for one.

 

Thanks, how do I get the head unit out? Seems like most of the dash has to be removed.

 

Stereo removal

 

the dash dose have to be removed on the drivers side also in the center.

If you r hooking in a amp with that box he is talking of you dont have to take the stereo out unless you want to .

That box gose in to the speaker wires and will pick up signal from there, then you just hook your rca's up to it and then to the amp. Just did my 03 SS today with the factory amp in it. I can tell you the wires for the rear speackers are red and whit and belive it was green and white off of the factory loom.

I used the stock amps trigger wire and usde it for the remote lead. Nothign i did to day will leave a mark when the car is sold. I just took teh leads out fo the plug and added mine in there next to them so all of are now sodired in place and locked in to the plug.

Also if you need to run your power line to from the bat. to the amp it is a easy thing to do. I ran mine and all you see is one red wire comming up from a fuse and disa pering in to the plastic below the windshied. Then in the trunk all you see is a distro block and the amp.

If you run the wires like i did it is easy run them threw the pax., side door fram to teh rubber hose for all of your door wires then you can pull that hose out real easy side youlead in there and replace it. and it will drop right down next to the pax side kick pannel and you can take the moulding off all the way back past the seat. after that you can get the rear sail pannel to losen up enough tha tyou can get your hand in there and run the wire under the edge of it and out of sight. to get it in to the trunck take the 4 bolts that hold the plastic peice there that covers the rear seat latches lose and you can run the wires in threw behind that and it will come out under the porta shelf in the trunk. and out of sight and out of the way if you throw somethign in the trunk it wont hurt it. Snap everythign back to geather and your good to go. The clips for the carpet were the hard part so i fought one off and just slid the wire behind the rest of them and it sits right next to the factory loom going to the trunk. Other then where it gose in to the back seat . the factory one comes threw the sail pannel and a hold is threw the body there for that loom and i didnt have enough lead to go that route nor did i feel like tearing the whole right side intereior out to get it there, Thsi way works well and it dont pinch nor scrap the lead.

For your ground i got a 13 MM nut and a short bolt and used one of the exsiting holes in behind the rear strut tower there and it now runs being the carpet and out of sight also. The only bad part is i had to use cheap speaker wires for the time being as i didnt have any and wanted to hear it play tonight so in the AM i will change that also.

For your fuse it will fit right under the factory reenforcment bar for the fender and almost out of sight there but you need to take the top bolt out and one of the lower ones out then losen the last one to swing it out of the way, after that just put your fuse in there and connect it to bat. power post right next to the fuse pannel (those are a direct conet to the bat. ) and put her all back to geather and becarefull of your water line for your wipers when you shove the cover over the incab filter so you dont crip it in there. Had to replace one (actually jiffy lube had to) after i went in to have that filter replaced right before i shipped it here.

Hope that helps you some . If not let me know i can take some shots of it to apoint im not goign to tear it apart again LOL.
Late

 

Good info Mickey!

Can you show me where you ran the power lead through the firewall? And where it enters the trunk area. What guage power lead did you use?

 

ok threw the fire wall is the easy one. you know where your incab filter is?
I took up that plastic cover then i ran it down in to the fender well to the door and threw where that hose gose (the one that has all the wires for your door in it . It covers the loom)


Threw the trunk when you get the bolts out and pull it back you will see the latch for your seat there I ran it threw the same hole that was there for it. (checked it with clay it will not bind it up there.) And there was a hole in the body there that is like the framing for the porta shelf. It just ran out one of those holse (part of the skeliton for the car)

I will get some shots of it for you on here but it is dark out right now so i will do them in the AM and post them for ya.

But makes a nice clean install and you wont see your wires threw out the inside of the car and in the trunk they just come out over top of the strut there on the pax side. So works out great. You can use your strut for the ground if you would liek to but there was a hole there in the skeliton i used for a ground hook up just added a bolt and a washer and a lock washer with a nylock nit i had in my tool box to hold everythign tight. Word of advice it is a poain in the **** to get it in there and it will keep your wrench if your not careful when you tighted it down you have to back it off to get your wrench back .
But a verry solid ground there. and best part you dont have to drill in to the body for it.

 

I follow you on the firewall part, but you totally lost me on the trunk part, I think pics would help so I'll wait for you to get them up before I try understanding what you are saying.

I have never done an install where wires are visible inside the car, and I surely wasn't about to start now. But what guage power lead did you use?

I have heard that the strut is the best place to ground the amp, but I guess it depends on your amp placement. I never have a ground that's over 12"

 

ok cross you fiungers this works I had to reload my editing program again to day . This puter is just wore out LOL

Looking threw it today found out it only has a 600 mghtz chip set no wonder im beating it so bad LOL Used to be top of the line about 5 years ago LOL

Any way here are the photos if it will take them this time

this one shows where they come threw the back seat skeliton in to the trunk. and the ground wire is almost rigth below this but in a exsiting hole in the body as a good solid grounding spot.
Keep in mine this is temp. plans for a distro box are already in motion when i do it i will mount it riught here where the wires coem threw the back seat and then i will run longer leads to the amps and mount them on the sides of the trunk in a lighted amp rack im building now (still in the planning for it )

[IMG]local://upfiles/265/D962B4F762F245818A78292AE2B1585F.jpg[/IMG]

This one shows the wires from the inside looking in to the trunk area shows where they are out of the way and wont get hurt. Red is + blue is the neg.

[IMG]local://upfiles/265/80A4AEC2FAF84B909B86613B5F92FBED.jpg[/IMG]

this one shows the latch im talking about the wire gose threw right behind the plastic and threw that same hole tha tis made for that latch to sit in the body. and is lose in tehre so it wont crip the wire and ground it out on me

[IMG]local://upfiles/265/02BA7CE7FD24447D8CDC46C5A33F9BDD.jpg[/IMG]

this one shows it on the fire wall and goign up in to the inside of the car right where the incabin air filter cover plate is located ont eh front right cowl of the car. PLEANTY of room to get it under there with no mods at all

[IMG]local://upfiles/265/D08C2AA8FB024E37BB176A174BDA8A0F.jpg[/IMG]


thsi one shows it in the door jamb. I havent decided weather or not im goign to take a chunk out of that rubber hose there or not to allow it to sit in place better. Might see if i can get up behind the dash and drill a hole big enough for it to fit threw and then it would be truley out of sight . It would go in to the same place but the hole would be under the cover for the filter there.
Also i could get some silicone around it to seal it off. but the wires here will gig me in a show with the car.

[IMG]local://upfiles/265/3B3271AC9C1D427B9A3309A045120831.jpg[/IMG]

 

hey 04 what is the deal with the ground haviung to be less then 12"?
we used to ground stright to the fram and the body then we would run the wires back to the amp. We also made them as clse as possibel to the amp just never knew why.