Yeah trust me, I don't ghetto rig anything. If your going to do something...do it right, unlike my PO.

 

boone provided specifics but there are basics needed as well

I'm concerned that you don't understand why the harness you wanted to get was useless

question: do you have a mulitmeter at your disposal? If not Harbor freight has cheap ones $4 which will work fine and radio shack has some as well. You need it to read DC Volts

How do you identify constant 12 vdc and one which is energized with the key on and in acc position?

You need a multimeter and a good ground source. The steering column bolts to the firewall are always a reliable ground underneath. You then take the positive lead of the meter and read for voltage on the constant and then tun the key to acc and verify voltage to that lead as well


wiring is simple

a head unit directly to speakers requires power and ground to the unit and it then in turn sends out power to the speakers

if you have an amp in between then naturally the concept is the same but an amp then needs power and also must receive the speaker "feed" before sending it out to your speakers because it amplifies it. So, speaker output to amp, and then amp to speakers. The amp basically becomes the gateway to your speakers. (think of the router at your folks home which allows all the smart phones and computers to access the Internet)

it's really a very very simple concept so do not over-complicate it or fear will be what causes you to make a mistake or think a simple bad connection is some major problem when all you need to do is re-check your connectors

If you have a couple old speakers keep them handy because you can quickly check along the way by touching speaker feed wires to the + and - of the old speakers to verify the wiring is good.


You'll get this done and then wonder why you were so nervous about it.

PS- do not run the wires under the carpet where people's feet rest and shuffle. Run them along the edges under trim panels The reason is self evident.

 

Thanks torque, makes a lot of sense. Between everyones input I feel much more comfortable with doing this.

 

No problem. Let us know how it turns out.

 

the biggest problem you're going to have is remembering how to adjust the clock every time we turn back or ahead.

 

One thing I think we all forgot to mention was to run power and ground wires along a different path from your speaker wires and your RCA cables connected to the head unit and amp(s). I like to run them on different sides of the car along the door sills. I've seen others just keep them on different sides of the center console. Either way, keep them separate. This helps prevent interference. Also ground your amp(s) as close as reasonably possible to the amps themselves.