DeLorean amp installation

[DeLorean]

You can hide a reasonably small amp behind the rear parcel shelf cover. I have a nakamichi PA-300 back there, totally hidden. Just had to remove some foam insulation, and replace it with an amp! you'd never know it's there.

[TTait]

By all the measurements I did, I genuinely believe the JL XD300 will fit in the cubby along with the DMC-CA sub enclosure. Things keep coming up and I haven't bought the stuff yet though. But I agree with Tom here that it really seems doable.

I don't have the enclosure, just a 10" sub installed into a spare cubby door, with an inexpensive crunch P500.2 amp inserted behind. It fits volumetrically, but its tight. The amp is not flush up against a surface but diagonally inserted and braced into the space. Its functional, but a smaller amp would fit better, and a proper enclosure might sound better at higher volumes - but it works fine for my needs.

[kobachi]

How have all of you run your powers wires? Are you wiring directly to the battery or is there an appropriate place in the fuse/relay area to get power from?

[Josh]

How have all of you run your powers wires? Are you wiring directly to the battery or is there an appropriate place in the fuse/relay area to get power from?

I have not wired up an amp in a delorean but I have wired up amps before. There is a constant and a switched power source on the amp. The constant runs directly to the battery and has an inline fuse. Some amps have the fuses built in so the inline fuse is not needed. Depending on the size of the amp this wire must be appropriately sized, but most cases you will be in the single digit gauges. The switched source is wire to the radio or any switched power source as a signal to turn on and off the amp. I do not recommend hooking the amp up to another circuit for the constant power, amps generally draw alot of current.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Most of these power amps draw very large currents. Not much existing wiring can provide that current and keep running what it was designed for. Make sure you have a fuse close to the battery in your new circuit you have added.

[DeLorean03]

Go straight to the battery for both power and ground. I am installing an Alpine MRX-V60 this weekend, and that is my plan. Here are all my goodies being installed this weekend:

Blaupunkt 3.5's (already in the car since 2006)
Blaupunkt 4 x 6's in the stock position (got them cheap)
12 foot RCA cables as seen here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/280908731474...84.m1497.l2649
Alpine MRX-V60 (5 channel capabilities): http://www.ebay.com/itm/160956384444...84.m1497.l2649
Pioneer DEH-P8400BH as seen here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/360692790992...84.m1497.l2649
And the amp install kit with everything needed to make the install happen: http://www.ebay.com/itm/390549851927...84.m1497.l2649

A sub-woofer will be installed in the future in the driver's lock box with the lid acting as the anchor for the sub and the lockbox being a natural enclosure.

[kobachi]

I'm definitely aware of the need to run dedicated wiring for an amp -- my question was more about the practical details of how people have done this before. I'm not suggesting re-using an existing circuit or wire, I'm just curious if there's an appropriate and more-convenient place to wire into in the fuse box, given that it's directly above the battery compartment. Otherwise, I would like to hear how others have routed their B+ wires in the past.

[Josh]

Go straight to the battery for both power and ground. I am installing an Alpine MRX-V60 this weekend, and that is my plan. Here are all my goodies being installed this weekend:

Blaupunkt 3.5's (already in the car since 2006)
Blaupunkt 4 x 6's in the stock position (got them cheap)
12 foot RCA cables as seen here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/280908731474...84.m1497.l2649
Alpine MRX-V60 (5 channel capabilities): http://www.ebay.com/itm/160956384444...84.m1497.l2649
Pioneer DEH-P8400BH as seen here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/360692790992...84.m1497.l2649
And the amp install kit with everything needed to make the install happen: http://www.ebay.com/itm/390549851927...84.m1497.l2649

A sub-woofer will be installed in the future in the driver's lock box with the lid acting as the anchor for the sub and the lockbox being a natural enclosure.

4 gauge is pretty thick wire for that little amp. I would use 8 gauge.

The lockbox is not exactly an enclosure. the top of it is entirely open into the electric compartment above.

[DeLorean03]

My thoughts when it comes to wire gauge: more is always better and safer - this is one area overkill is not a bad idea. I appreciate what you're saying. For me, it's a safe peace of mind.

As for the sub, it's a 6 incher. If necessary, the enclosure could be finished with a custom-made ceiling piece. After all, soon, I won't need any of that junk in the driver's side electrical compartment. More on that soon..............

As for kobachi's question: power and ground straight from the battery. I'm not running any wires to the fusebox. The only other wire I'm running is a 16-18 gauge wire to the blue/white remote wire on the back of the head unit.

Job should hopefully be done by the end of this weekend. I'll try to take pictures for reference.

[DeLorean03]

Been done for a week, but figured I'd post:

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Took a lil' while to do it right. Utilized a 1" hole saw drill bit and made a separate hole for all my speaker wiring and RCA cables. I utilized the already present trunk latch cable hole for the power wire. The ground wire was grounded by the front strut tower brace.

Speaker wire was 12 gauge (in case of upgrades down the road), power and ground cable were 4 gauge. Nearly everything was ordered off of eBay: amp install kit, Alpine MRX-V60 amp, Samurai RCA audio cables, Pioneer DEH-P8400BH receiver - and it was all well worth it. Buying this stuff locally at Best-Ripoff Buy would have cost you a small fortune (they wanted $400 alone for an Alpine MRX-V70 Amp - this year's V60).

Any questions, please fire away.