Audio Systems: running a power wire, 1990 toyota camery, rubber gromet

Question
i have a 1990 toyota camery. where do i punch through to run my amps power wire. Can i drill a hole through the fireblock?
frustrated in florida


Answer
I have heard of many people doing this although I hope to never have to do it myself since it can be very risky.  you never know what you are going to hit in there!  I have never found a car yet where I had to do this.  most cars have the battery under the hood and there are lines that go from the battery to a fuse block under the hood and from the fuse block the wires go throgh a rubber plug in the firewall.  they may simply go out the back of the fuseblock or down a covered channel and through, but somehow there's already a plug, you just have to find it.  in the rare cases that the wires are run in such a way that its not feasable to use their path a hole can be drilled.   stay as far to the sides as you can since the heatercore is usually in the middle of the dash/ firewall area. have a buddy stand outside the car looking at the firewall while you are inside laying on the floor, take a small pick or punch tool and a hammer and bang a little dent in the firewall in a good spot and see if your buddy can see the dent raised from the other side,  this will tell you if your firewall is only 1 layer thick or if its 2 layers with stuff in the middle (hoses, tubes, wires, etc)  if you punch a good dent on the inside but cant find it on the other side I would strongly sugest either not drilling or taking extreme caution!
If you drill a hole make sure you use a good rubber gromet or something to protect the wire since over time the sharp drilled edge will cut into the wire and you'll have major problems.

Good luck!
Let me know how it goes!