Electrical Power Connections for the Stereo

[PRM]

I installed an in-dash stereo in what was a stereo delete...at least it was when I bought it. 1986 CJ7 . AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l L. I'm told the jeep was rewired with an aftermarket OEM type harness. Does anyone know if there's already a plug (or tail) behind the dash for the power connections( pos, ground & ignition)? If so, approximately where should I start looking. I can no longer contort myself to where I can get a good look. I did find a 3 wire plug above the washer switch that has maybe 4" slack. I tested it, but got no voltage (ignition off, accessories, and engine running).
Lacking some factory wiring, there's wiring to the cigarette lighter that's switched to the ignition...any reason I can't tap into this? This is a low wattage head unit with a 1 amp in line fuse, so I'm guessing the lighter fuse will handle this.

Also, can you actually fit a 4.5" speaker at the drivers side? Even if you removed and reinstalled the parking brake, it doesn't look like there's enough depth for a speaker...has anyone installed one?

Any insights will be appreciated.

 

[Manic Mechanic]

i just pull the dash when doing stereo work makes life much easier

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[hollasboy]

I just ran a new dedicated hot wire from the stereo through the firewall to the battery. This was made even easier because I installed a power distribution block on the inside of the passenger side fender, in the engine bay, which gives me 4 separate "hot" bolts where I can add or remove any hot wires I please over time. I made sure there is an inline fuse on the stereo hot line (the stereo hot wire came with this from the factory; if it had not been so, I would have added one). Wiring directly to the battery eliminates worry about overloading another circuit (like your cig lighter) and no need to trace any other wires.

For the speaker, I kept the in-dash speakers, but they are weak and don't put out a lot of sound, so I added 2 more speakers at the floor board, just under each door using these kick panel kits. I was worried they would be in the way, since I'm a big guy, but they have never caused a problem and put out way more sound than the dash. Even so, at high speed the road noise is so loud that I can't really use the stereo above 35 mph. I still plan to put a marine grade flat subwoofer under the back seat at some point, maybe Santa will bring me one for Christmas...

Good luck with your project!

 

[PRM]

So I removed all of the dash screws including the window shield brackets, but couldn't figure out how to actually remove the dash. That said,I was able to pull the drivers side away enough to get the speaker installed. Removing the glovebox made the passenger side a breeze. I set these 2 up as the fronts. Now I will ponder whether to use kick panel boxes ( per hollasboy), a 'hump' mounted enclosure, or the roll bar mounted boxes for the rear. Given the loud ambient noise, I'm thinking something in the front will be best. Any opinions out there?

 

[Masscj7]

You also can get your constant and switched in the harness coming from the column. Ensure to fuse the constant as mentioned.


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