QuestionQUESTION: Hello,
Just bought a 2001 Lincoln Continential a few weeks ago. It has the factory installed cassette. No cd player and it is not the Alpine system. I installed a 2 amp set up in my old ZX2, so I am a bit familiar with wiring, amps, grounding etc.
I can not figure out where to put the amps power wire through the firewall. There seem to be 2 rubber gromets to the left of the brake pedal. On I believe may run the hood release. When I open up the hood, I can not find where the wires come out (the other side of the gromet) for the life of me. I was wonder where the best place is to run the power wire through the fire wall to the battery. Once the power wire is in, pulling out panels and getting it to the trunk should be easier. I bought a new Pioneer head unit which in on the way and have a US Acoustics USX 4085 4 x 85 amp. I plan on installing Alpine 6.5 Comps (Crutchfield say these are the only 6.5 which will fit), 5x7 Alpines in the door (powered by the head uint) and put my Polk Sub in the trunk powering it by bridging the 3/4 channels in my amp.
Sorry for this lengthy explanantion. I just wanted ot have all the bases covered before I started popping door panels and taking apart the dash.
Thank you in advance,
Mike
ANSWER: Hi Mike,
Unfortunately, I'd probably need to inspect the vehicle firsthand to advise you on the best spot to run your power wire through the firewall. I haven't done enough amps in these cars to have a good recollection of the firewall layout. I think the rubber grommets are definitely your best bet; I'd be extremely wary of drilling the firewall in a luxury car like this.
I have a few specialty tools I use in these situations. If I'm trying to run wire through a grommet, and I can't see the other side, I use a special wire-pulling tool. It's a flexible rod with an end that's tapered to punch through the grommet, but not sharp enough to pierce a wire jacket. Some installers will use an old antenna mast with a sharpened end to punch through a grommet; but I've seen these punch right into a wire on the other side and cause an instant short circuit.
Without the specialty tool, your best bet might be to carefully cut a small hole in the grommet and push something through that you can look for on the other side. One option might be a large cable tie; this is rigid enough to push through a hole, but unlikely to damage anything on the other side. If you can get a general idea of the grommet location, you'll have a better idea whether it's practical to run a wire through.
Hope this helps!
Brian
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Continental Door
QUESTION: Oops, here is the picture!
AnswerHi Mike,
Sorry about the delay in answering this question.
I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with placing the tweeter below the woofer. The sound waves produced by the woofer won't block or distort the tweeter's output, and this placement puts the tweeter fairly close to the woofer location, which is usually recommended. My only concern would be whether the tweeter's output is likely to be blocked by your knee or your passenger's knee. If you can adjust the mounting angle so that the tweeters can be aimed upward to some extent, this might help as well. One common method of "aiming" a tweeter is to point the driver's side tweeter toward the passenger's head, and the passenger-side tweeter toward the driver's head. This is meant to help compensate for the difference in path lengths between the two drivers; ie, the driver's side tweeter will obviously be much closer to your ears than the passenger side tweeter.
You might consider trying out various tweeter locations, by temporarily mounting the tweeters with Velcro or removable putty. Then you can test the tweeters in a few different spots and see how they sound to you. Other common mounting locations would be the sail panel (the small triangle at the top front of the door panel) or the top of the dash. If surface-mounting the tweeter is an option (as opposed to a flush-mount) you'll have a lot more possible mounting locations from which to choose.
Hope this helps!
Brian
