Finally got my stuff from a fellow TBHPian (ABHIBH - THE SAVIOUR). Yeah ! My wait for the Kenwood KAC 8401 is over now. I did it

Now the next step is the installation.

Well have two ideas in my mind: 1) Got to the installers (Driven/Gyro) or 2) DIY (my way)

I am terribly inclined on making it a DIY so I'll try to do a DIY first.
This thread is simply intended to gauge my capability to do it myself. If I find that I wont be able to do it better, I'll any way get hold of the GURUS.

The Gear:
I have already bought Sosche E1000 wiring kit for this day Just need your help to get one more RCA interconnect cable (Suggestions needed for under 600 bucks RCA cable)

The Kenwood KAC 8401 will be with me in a week's time.

I guess, I don't need anything more than that.

Amplifier Placement:
I am still unsure about the right place. It essentially depends on the RCA cable length I get finally. If its 6ft, It'd have to go below the front seat else in the boot. (Suggestions ???)

The Wiring:
This is what I am little unsure about. Although I installed my HU and speakers myself, but here in this case things are not so easy, it seems :P

I'd require some brief pointers on how to go about this, the key contact points and what key things to take care of. (Instructions )

The Tuning:
This one is little subjective and is a pretty iterative process, as I take it. There already is thread stickied about this, but I am including this one in this thread since there might be some personalized things that'd be required (after I finish the install).

[live2drive]

Hmm nitin if you are keen on installing the stuff yourself, Just go to an installer, install the stuff yourself there so that the installer can guide/correct you. This would be the safer option rather than doing a DIY at home. Coz then you can get proper tools to work with at the installer's place.

Scosche RCA cable costs Rs550/- available at Driven.

^^
Well actually I am at gurgaona and dont want to waste a day to go to delhi and get the stuff installed. If I dont't get into the BLING factor, thats hardly an hours job (not counting the TUNING time) :P

BTW that Scosche RCA is plain or twisted ? I need a twisted pair RCA. Can someone confirm ?

[live2drive]

Originally Posted by nitin.dangayach

^^
Well actually I am at gurgaona and dont want to waste a day to go to delhi and get the stuff installed. If I dont't get into the BLING factor, thats hardly an hours job (not counting the TUNING time) :P

BTW that Scosche RCA is plain or twisted ? I need a twisted pair RCA. Can someone confirm ?

No, the scosche RCA is non-twisted.
I think the Stinger RCA is a twisted pair RCA. Costs around 900.

[vibhu_f430]

Hi man , let me help you with a few pics,

In my swift, there are 2 amps.. each mounted under the front seats, All the wiring ( RCA, Power cable etc ) go through the transmission tunnel ..





Just taught i can help you with some ideas..

Cheers !

Any other RCA, Twisted of course, under 600 ?

Originally Posted by vibhu_f430

Hi man , let me help you with a few pics,

In my swift, there are 2 amps.. each mounted under the front seats, All the wiring ( RCA, Power cable etc ) go through the transmission tunnel ..

Attachment 101968
Attachment 101969
Attachment 101970

Just taught i can help you with some ideas..

Cheers !

This is grt. You installed in under the seat. I was just thinking of placing it on the floor under the seat. Thanks for this man.

[abhibh]

nitin you should edit your signature now

And take it to GYRO. They will do it professionally and tune it the way you want it.

Originally Posted by abhibh

nitin you should edit your signature now

And take it to GYRO. They will do it professionally and tune it the way you want it.

Sure sir ! Anything for you

Ok I have bought the AMP from ABHIBH and it will reach me on Tuesday. Till then, I am hunting for a good RCA. ANy suggestions ? Can anyone ship them to me ?

Got the Amplifier. Wiring Kit was already there. RCA cables are in transit.

Time for some action now.

I stripped off packing of the Amplifier and the Wiring Kit. The amplifier is sure a beauty. But the wiring kit amazed me. Damn those wires were too heavy, too thick. I wondered if we actually need them but later realized, I bought a wiring kit which is pretty much an overkill for the TRANSISTOR (Panky's favourite) errr.... KAC 8401.

I was confused to see those different types of wires but then started working on them, one at a time.

Splitted the Power cable into two parts (to fit in the fuse). The next step was fixing all the lugs/or whatever they are called, to the wire ends. That was definitely a task. Spent like an hour to do 6 ends :P. But the results were satisfying.

Then there was time to enclose the power cable with that black sleeve. Took 10 minutes (could have taken much less had it been done before fixing the connector ends.)

Then was the time to fit in the Power cable, One RCA into the car. This one was terribly challenging. I started with the Power cable. Opened the bonnet and removed that rubber thing to let the power cable move into the car cabin. That was easy. The tough part was to route the cable into the boot. Had to take out a number of fixtures on the right side of the car to put in the power cable. The portion where it was really painful was routing the cable, lying upside down on your back, under the steering wheel and to move the think wire ensuring that it doesn't get in the way of the Accelerator, Brake or Clutch. Took me just 20 minutes but they were really painful.

Next was to open up the Stereo Chasis to hook in one RCA interconnect cable that came with the wiring kit. That was easy so was just a breeze. another 10 minutes and I laid down the RCA cable (through the left side of the car to the back.)

Now the power cable was done and one RCA was done.

Next was fixing the Earthing connector. I searched for some bolts that I could take out and hook in the grounding wire. Took out the stepney to locate some. Located one bolt which was on the rear left end of the car and was about a feets distance from the prospective place of the Amlifier seating. But since I did not have any spanner of the right size, I could not turn it out. Tried hard with a plier but failed

Then changed the strategy and found another hole nearby and rubbed the paint on the surface, to allow better grounding. But again I did not have the screw/bolt of the right size to fix the ground cable.

By this time, I was little tired and it was time to have the breakfast so left the things in the very messed up state, they were.

Will try to work more on it tomorrow. I am hopeful that by that time, I'll have the other RCA with me. Also I'll go to some mechanic ang will try to get one screw that will fit in the grounding hole that I have chosen.

Here are some of the pics:
-------------------------

The package


Closeup



Pandoras Box




The Thing





View 1





View 2





The DIY Mess



Ground Cable (LOL, for the fingers are actually in focus)



Fuse Block



Will post more pics tomorrow.

[abhibh]

Nitin use thimbles for power and ground wire in amp terminals. Don't just put the cable directly in the terminals.

Originally Posted by abhibh

Nitin use thimbles for power and ground wire in amp terminals. Don't just put the cable directly in the terminals.

Yeah man. Using them. I didnt know that those things are called thimbles.

Had a hard time fixing them on wires. And they a little big for the amp. I had to break small chips of the bakelite body, at the amp, in order to accomodate them.

[noidaboy]

Congrats buddy! Diy have begun? Keep us updated with pic's

[low_bass_makker]

Originally Posted by nitin.dangayach

Yeah man. Using them. I didnt know that those things are called thimbles.

Had a hard time fixing them on wires. And they a little big for the amp. I had to break small chips of the bakelite body, at the amp, in order to accomodate them.

You have to use correct type so that you need to alter the amp terminal. One would require this tool to crimp them properly to get the best use of the thimble else it would not function properly. Here are few pics of the same...

Hydraulic Crimping tool



Good crimping result



Bad Crimping result



In this wire will not hold in the thimble and will come out resulting in loose connection and it might result in some major consequences like fire, amp damage etc...