Running Cables

TheDan

Morning fellas,
I tried to run the cables for a sub and amp last night but it turned out to be a right pain in the neck. After an hour trying to push that damn grommet back into the firewall i ended up cutting a slice out of it and using a bit of sealant to fill the gap so the power is all ready. Now, my question is this - how the devil do you get the cables to the boot??! I manged to get the trim off under the bonnet release but the long bit of trim by the door wouldn't budge. Do i need to take the seats out to run the cables?
Any advice would be ace
D

blue_se2

hello and welcome to the site what car is it a vectra, astra, zafira etc???

TheDan

Its a 3dr Astra Mk4 2.2 🙂

Matt

I just pushed the cables under the plastic trim where it meets the carpet.

JohnnyN

Either or mate. The sill trim should just pull up and away with a sharp jolt. But as Matt said, you can tuck the cables up under. Make sure that you're running shielded phono cables too. This will eliminate interference. Running phono along side power cables can lead to noise problems.

I have run cables under the carpet in the past too.

Sjdickso

All my cables run in the trim as well then earthed at the rear seat and run under them to the boot.

JohnnyN

I used the rear seatbelt anchor point for my earth. That's about as good an earth you can get.

TheDan

Thanks chaps..i'll give it another go when it stops ruddy snowing :thumbup:

TheDan

Right, it stopped snowing and i tried again to run the cables under the trim...i have thin fingers so I gave up :oops: So my question is now - is £65 a good price to get them done by the pro's?

JohnnyN

I would say yes. Sounds like the going hourly rate for a professional.

blue_se2

on my coupe i had to remove the bottom of the door seals and remove the trim from the top

JohnnyN

Neil, why don't you pop along and do it for him? I'm sure you and Drakey can balls it up for him, he's in your neck of the woods??

;-)

blue_se2

If he took a road trip to fakenham sure i could do something. TBH honest though johnny i love spending every minute with Kaitlyn at a the moment so don't get much spare time.

JohnnyN

I'm the same nowadays Neil. Back in the day when I had dark hair and weighed only a few stone, I was working on someones car all the time. Timesvchange when you become a parent.

TheDan

See now I'm in 2 minds of what to do...do i pay the £70 odd quid to get the cables run for the sub, or just use that money and the money from selling the amp to put awesome speakers in the front. What do we reckon?

Matt

Or wait a month and pop along to the Rolling Road we're having at Courtenay Sport and we'll all give you a hand??

2_216v

hi, dunno if this would help... but i hav astra coupe aswell.. couldnt find anywhere 2 run the power cable through.. so mine is now running through the passenger side front arch and then going through behind the front passenger side wing.. then into the car then i pulled off the plastic running down the inside and ran the power cable through to the back of the car, threading it under the rear seats to the boot.. i then ran the phono leades on the drivers side of the car so i didnt get any interferance probs. the romote wire was run on the same side as as the power cable... took a while 2 do.. but the sound is pukka!! i even hav put 6x9's in the rear panels where the standard mids were, theyv been amped up aswell.. sounds amazin!! thts not jus my view.. when people hear it they think i'v paid loads of money gettin it set up n put it.

Matt

2.216v said:
hi, dunno if this would help... but i hav astra coupe aswell.. couldnt find anywhere 2 run the power cable through.. so mine is now running through the passenger side front arch and then going through behind the front passenger side wing.. then into the car then i pulled off the plastic running down the inside and ran the power cable through to the back of the car, threading it under the rear seats to the boot.. i then ran the phono leades on the drivers side of the car so i didnt get any interferance probs. the romote wire was run on the same side as as the power cable... took a while 2 do.. but the sound is pukka!! i even hav put 6x9's in the rear panels where the standard mids were, theyv been amped up aswell.. sounds amazin!! thts not jus my view.. when people hear it they think i'v paid loads of money gettin it set up n put it.

I did exactly the same with my MK4. I ran the power cable down the inside of the front arch.