Jared W.

I was just wondering if there were any "natural" holes running from the trunk space to the interior of the car. I need to run some speaker wire from an amp in the trunk to the head unit. I didn't want to break out the drill with the gas tank etc. all right there.

Any help is greatly appreciated !

Jeff Curtis

Jared, good one...and perfectly simple. There is a place, right on the passenger side, run your RCA and speaker cables...don't forget the remote lead to turn on the amplifier...right in between the passenger front fender and the hood hinge on that side.

You'll have to pull back the carpeting on your passenger kick panel and remove the paper/foil hose to your heat ducts...this will allow you to see up into your dashboard and there's a couple of cutouts where you can run your cables through.

This will be FAR easier if you remove your dashpad, a relatively easy task. Go along the bottom and remove the 5-6 allen screws, pop out your center vent and remove the nut behind your gauges, remove the (four??) screws that hold your defrost vent in and you will see the two bolts up towards the windshield that you need to remove...the dash pad comes right off. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

You will then see daylight, if your front compartment is open, as well, you will see a couple of cutouts where you can run your cables.

Also, notice the connection to your windshield antennae and make note of it for future reference.

Good luck! If you need pics, email me from the icon above. <img border="0" alt="[cheers]" title="" src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" />

Jared W.

Thanks ! I'll give it a shot.

Ade - C4 91

Hi,

I'm not sure if Jeff is talking about the same hole, but there's another hole to the trunk area on the right hand side which feeds the main wiring harness into the cabin. If you pull down the rubber grommet you can see there is plenty of space left to feed amp and speaker wires through. I don't remember having to remove anything to get to this hole, but my car is RHD so it's just next to the steering column. May be different for LHD.

Anyway, run a pilot wire through and shine a light from the cabin and looking from the trunk you will see where it emerges (behind one of the gas struts, below the fuse box). It's a bit of a fiddle to get to.

Just make sure that you correctly seat the grommet when you have finished.

There is quite a bit written about this in the archives regarding Amp fitting.

Good luck.

Ade.

Jeff Ward

Hi Jared, I recently installed a CD changer in my 94 cabriolet and found it easy simply to drill a new hole and use a nice grommet around the cable.
There is an excellent spot just to the left of the clutch pedal where the trunk release cable goes through. There is good access from both sides. Also, the carpeted kick panel pops off easily, so you can get it out of the way for an even more discrete drilling site. I drilled from inside the car toward the trunk.
As a pRecaution, before drilling, I slid a 2x4 board down behind the fuel tank, just in case the drill got away from me! I've been pretty careful about such things since setting my Austin Healey 3000 on fire in 1976.
Good Luck!
Jeff Ward

Ruairidh

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by Jeff Ward:
<strong>Hi Jared, I recently installed a CD changer in my 94 cabriolet and found it easy simply to drill a new hole and use a nice grommet around the cable.
There is an excellent spot just to the left of the clutch pedal where the trunk release cable goes through. There is good access from both sides. Also, the carpeted kick panel pops off easily, so you can get it out of the way for an even more discrete drilling site. I drilled from inside the car toward the trunk.
As a precaution, before drilling, I slid a 2x4 board down behind the fuel tank, just in case the drill got away from me! I've been pretty careful about such things since setting my Austin Healey 3000 on fire in 1976.
Good Luck!
Jeff Ward</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Hey Jeff, where did you locate the changer itself? I'm just about to do this and am stuck between (a) velcroing it to the fuel tank (but think that will put it under the carpet) and (b) putting it in the spare wheel well - but doesn't that mean you lose the air compressor?

Thanks

Rick964

On my US left hand drive I was able to use the same hole that Ade mentioned. Really quite simple to get to from the passenger footwell. If you pull the mats and carpet down a bit you should be able to see some wires running through there now. You will need to run a stiff pilot wire through and then use that to pull your new wires through becuase on the trunk side the wires come out down in a tight crevice and you will not be able to reach your hand into it.

Carl Muckenhirn

The factory location is in the front of the luggage compartment, left side of the car. There's a bracket that rivets into the side rail just above the battery.

carl.

Rick964

Ruairidh,
For my CD changer I built a false floor in my front trunk by making a wooden box covered in black carpet and putting the CD changer and air pump inside the box. I can't put the air pump inside my spare tire because I have an amplifier in there already. Here are some pics that may explain it better.
<a href="http://home.san.rr.com/korfin/DSCN1384.JPG" target="_blank">Picture 1</a>
<a href="http://home.san.rr.com/korfin/DSCN1384.JPG" target="_blank">Picture 2</a>

Rick964

Ruairidh,
For my CD changer I built a false floor in my front trunk by making a wooden box covered in black carpet and putting the CD changer and air pump inside the box. I can't put the air pump inside my spare tire because I have an amplifier in there already. Here are some pics that may explain it better.
<a href="http://home.san.rr.com/korfin/DSCN1382.JPG" target="_blank">Picture 1</a>
<a href="http://home.san.rr.com/korfin/DSCN1383.JPG" target="_blank">Picture 2</a>
<a href="http://home.san.rr.com/korfin/DSCN1384.JPG" target="_blank">Picture 3</a>

Ruairidh

Thanks guys - Carl I'll investigate the factory location and Rick - nice solution, I like the look of that.

jonfkaminsky

A real easy place that I used is under the front bonnet on the passenger side. What you do is install a little wooden plank about 1-in larger than each dimension of the changer as would stand in the installed postion. Install this plank on the underside of the carpet. Then screw the changer to the plank through the carpet. The carpet is stiff enough to hold it all together. Its easy, takes about 15-minutes and you don't have to drill sheet metal. And, when you need to remove the unit, it looks like nothing was ever there.

Rick964

Jon,
I started with an install like yours, but then I felt that the changer was in the way whenever I put anything in the trunk and that it may get damaged by other objects sliding around, and into it. That is why I went with the method of building it into a box and having it protected from everything else.

Jeff Ward

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Ruairidh:
Hey Jeff, where did you locate the changer itself? I'm just about to do this and am stuck between (a) velcroing it to the fuel tank (but think that will put it under the carpet) and (b) putting it in the spare wheel well - but doesn't that mean you lose the air compressor?

Hi Ruairidh, Sorry it has taken me so long to reply. I haven't checked in for a few days. I wrestled with the placement decision. I didn't want to put it inside the spare as that would displace the compressor and tool bag. I didn't want to install it under a false floor because I had enough of wooden structures in MGs Healeys and Jaguars and I would have had a flashback. I didn't want to mount it in the factory location because I didn't want it showing, and didn't want to cut holes in the trunk carpet, etc. Accordingly, I went to the local craft supply store and bought some super-velcro in a 12 inch strip, and stuck it to the front of the fuel tank. The carpet does bulge just a bit over the CD changer, butit wasn't exactly a form fitting fit from the factory (by the way, what the heck is that funny little pocket for in that area- is it really just for the lug wrench?) The cd changer has not skipped one time, and if I ever want to move or remove the changer, the velcro should not cause any cosmetic damage.
Well, that's my story for the week. Best to you, Jeff (ps how's that tonneau working out, Ruairidh?)

Rick964

Jon,
My spare sits under the box in the normal position, but I have a stereo amp mounted inside of the spare where the air pump used to be.
<a href="http://home.san.rr.com/korfin/DSCN1385.JPG" target="_blank">See photo</a>