Amp ground, grounding in general???

[BDK]

Car, 89 Cab....
bunch of stereo noobie questions...

Ok, so I got a Precision Power a1200/4 amp....
the instructions say run a 4ga ground back to the battery,
Doesn't that require a second hole to be drilled, not fond of drilling more holes in the firewall.

Can I buy a grounding block and ground it in the trunk somewhere? I guess I will need to sand off some paint to get proper ground, correct?

Also, I have a set of Monster wires with the external ground wires, these ground to the source, is somewhere better than others to tie to source, or use the source ground wire? SHould I run a seperate, smaller gauge ground to the battery for that too?

Can I run the ground wire beside the power wire?
I plan on running the power wires on the passenger side and the patch and speaker wires down the drivers side...
Everything will run to trunk where the PPI amp and PPI speaker crossovers are and I will then run wires back out to each speaker from here...

The amp and cross overs take the entire rear seat back area of the trunk, is it is bad to use Monster Right angle RCA adapters to gain more clearance?

Is it bad to mount the crossovers on the powerside of the amp, my thinking tells me it is?

Thanks and sorry for the barrage but I don't want to fuck this up...

[StereoInstaller1]

OK, I am gonna suggest you read those instructions again.

The ground wire SHOULD NOT go to the battery: it is supposed to be no longer than 18", and the same size as the power cable.

That wire on the RCAs? Yeah, cut that shit off, both ends. That would be '80s tech, does not apply to your situation.

Crossovers in trunk? Sure, that is my preferred plan. Those PPIs are HUGE, aren't they?

That means 4 pair to the front total: 2 mid, 2 tweets, plus 2 more for the rears.

When you do the front speakers, figure out a spacer of some type to make sure the panel doesn't keep the speaker from moving: the thickness of the frame and the surround of the speaker being above the frame mean it is gonna take some work to allow full excursion of that particular speaker.

[IRON-E]

^^^ this guy knows his shit!, he's been doing it way too long.

take his advice or blame only yourself when you fuck up.

[BDK]

OK, I am gonna suggest you read those instructions again.

The ground wire SHOULD NOT go to the battery: it is supposed to be no longer than 18", and the same size as the power cable.

Check and you are correct...don't know where I came up with that shit...been reading too much and thinking too much...

Those PPIs are HUGE, aren't they?

No shit,
seriously the Amp and 4 cross-overs cover the entire board that I made for the trunk, too tight without Right Angle RCA adapters...I might raise the crossover's up/out above the amp on the board which would bring them a little closer to the rear of the car for adjustment....

When you do the front speakers, figure out a spacer of some type to make sure the panel doesn't keep the speaker from moving: the thickness of the frame and the surround of the speaker being above the frame mean it is gonna take some work to allow full excursion of that particular speaker.

I am using that guy's thread who installed them prior for guidance and already have the factory speaker covers to go with the kickpanels.
What sucks is, the the rears are not going to be factory looking, gonna have to work the center sections of the rears, probably a spacer with some sound deadening behind them...
sucks I know, but black centers are pretty easy to come by and I have already picked up on the speaker movement issue that you mentioned so the rear will require the PPI grills which are atleast somewhat tame compared to what is out there...

that's the best I can do until I can find and afford for someone to build/mold something better...

FWIW....SWFL is not the cheapest place for car stereo installation...

one more question, can I mount the crossovers on the powerside of the amp....

such as (and looking from left to right on the back side of the seat back):

two crossovers stacked on one side then the amp then the other two crossovers

or is it better to mount all 4 crossovers to the side of the amp away from the power feed? that is more for asthetics but trying to make it look as good as possible...

^^^ this guy knows his shit!, he's been doing it way too long.

take his advice or blame only yourself when you fuck up.

I know this, that's why I posted here, but thanks for playing anyway...

[StereoInstaller1]

No real worries on speaker level audio...I mean yeah, crossovers can pick up radiated noise, but I would worry about that when you get there, since it is pretty unlikely.

Take a look at your PS housings, see if you can mount the midrange driver under the housing, like bolted to the underside (if that makes sense) of the housing.

Otherwise...no wait, is this a coupe?

[BDK]

Ok thanks...

nope a cabby, so you know what the rears are like for speaker clearance...

FWIW, I bought a set of the PPI full range speakers too thinking they would allow me to keep a stock look in the rear, but they are deeper than the components...
the advertised depth's are a little off especially on the fullrange...

but thanks for the help,
I work pretty much everyday so I tackle one part at a time, but once I am done I will post pics....
it's really nice to use quality shit though, get's you psyched!!
There just needs to be more time in the day...

LOL,
thanks again for your help Luke!

[abepark]

why do you not ground an amp to a battery?

[StereoInstaller1]

why do you not ground an amp to a battery?

Basically, the battery is a fine ground...but the wire run means you now have twice the length of wire, so you would need to use twice the size or more to get the same current capacity.

On a car with the rear mount battery, it is no big deal. In fact, I often ground at the battery if it is convenient...but on a 'vert, the battery is up front, so that cable would make a hell of a bulge under the carpet.

[harv]

.When you do the front speakers, figure out a spacer of some type to make sure the panel doesn't keep the speaker from moving: the thickness of the frame and the surround of the speaker being above the frame mean it is gonna take some work to allow full excursion of that particular speaker.

What I did was use the frame of the supplied PPI grill and mount the kick panel over it. I then used a heat gun to CAREFULLY bend it slightly so I could get the door seal back on over the kick panel.

I could always use the stock rear grills, but even done my way the glove box could use some clearancing.

I hope it's enough room for them to move. No problems so far but then again I'm not throwing real power at em yet. That comes next..

John

[F34R]

Haha, you can always throw a second battery in the trunk to ground it. JK

[StereoInstaller1]

What I did was use the frame of the supplied PPI grill and mount the kick panel over it. I then used a heat gun to CAREFULLY bend it slightly so I could get the door seal back on over the kick panel.

I could always use the stock rear grills, but even done my way the glove box could use some clearancing.

I hope it's enough room for them to move. No problems so far but then again I'm not throwing real power at em yet. That comes next..

John

Shoot, John, all I did was slip a nut under under the screws to space the head out 1/4" or so, then put another nut under the panel where the 4th screw goes...simple but effective