Anybody completely remove factory amplifier?

94RioRedSnake

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I've got a 94 cobra and am in the process of replacing the head unit, amp, and speakers. I bought everything from Crutchfield so I have the "amp bypass" harness, which I don't think will work but more on that later. I was wondering if anyone has removed the factory amp that sits underneath the radio. I tried to last night but the bolts holding it in do not have a head if that makes sense, they are just round. Anybody have any tips that has done it before? The next thing I was going to try was to remove the shifter trim panel and see if that gives me access to anything else that I can't currently see.

The
amp bypass harness from Crutchfield is a Metra 70-1770. It comes with a grey connector for power to the head unit and a black connector that wires to the speakers. When I unplug the speaker connector that's plugged into the amp, that plug is a different size than the black Metra connector. Maybe I am missing something? Metra makes another harness package that comes with the same grey connector but with a black connector that looks more similar to the speaker plug that goes into the factory amp. I think I need that connector instead but Crutchfield doesn't even sell it, and I assumed they sent me EXACTLY what I would need (they knew I had the system with factory amp).

Any ideas? Thanks.
 

FinnCobra

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I removed all factory audio, 3 way speakers in rear and coaxial in doors. Good quality thick wires and 6 channel amplifier in back. For subwoofer I must make fiberglass box, so it won't take so much room. Some fabrication had to be made. Reverse camera in trunk near register plate light.

I used only power, acc, ground and dimmer from original wiring. I remember that amplifier was hard to remove.

Front speaker wiring. Connector from rc-car battery. Goldplated, low resistance.


2 din Pioneer head unit


3-way Pioneer
 

ttocs

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yes I have pulled the amp out but it was 10yrs ago and I can't remember the specifics. I thought I removed the bolts that hold is bracket to the inside of the console but pics might help. The 1770 harness plugs into the bypass harness that is mounted to the inside of the console next to where the radio is(8-pin harness clipped to it). You disconnect those harnesses and it plugs into there and then the speaker wire that goes to your tweeters is what you will use for the signal wire to the speakers, this is assuming you are going to or have already replaced the speakers.

Also not sure why but your text is showing up in dark grey and a lot of us use a dark theme here that it barely shows up on.
 
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94RioRedSnake

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I gotcha, thanks ttocs I think I came across your cardomain page in my research of all this stuff haha. So my 1770 connector doesn't go to what was plugged into the factory amp, it goes into another connector clipped to the side of the radio. I think I remember there being a connector or two there but didn't realize that was what I needed. Hopefully that's what I need. If I can't figure out how to get my amp out tonight I'll post some pictures.
 

ttocs

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holy hell my cardomain is still active? I am not sure I have looked at it for 10 yrs. It had a write up on how to use that harness and what to do but then they did a format change and it screwed everything up and I could not figure it out.
 
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94RioRedSnake

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That makes a lot more sense. I was trying to navigate your page and for the life of me couldn't figure out how it was ordered.
 

evilcw311

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Another way to do it. Get the non-amp harness and if you reach thru the radio hole and to the right you will feel a harness tucked to the side. It’s the regular speaker wire harness and the amp harness is plugged into it.


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ttocs

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as logan is saying, you will disconnect the tweeter/speaker harnesses on the side. You could just cut the one off leading to the amp and use it as the speaker output, is the same thing you will get in the harness but not color coded. The speaker wires are next to each other 2 at a time for all 4 speakers.
 
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94RioRedSnake

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Thanks for all the help, everyone. I got the amp out last night. I removed the center trim which made it a little easier to see the bolts on the factory amp. They were just smaller than all of my 3/8" sockets but a 1/4" drive got them. Removing the trim also made it easier to find the speaker wiring harness. I followed the wire that ran to the factory amp up to where y'all pointed me to. It splits into two separate connectors but the 8-wire looks to be the right fit for the harness I got from Crutchfield. Turns out they had it right after all.

I'm going to try and fit my amp to the bracket that held the factory amp. Here's a picture of it sitting on the bracket.
b39c247f630bf489db4f4cee2490369f.jpg


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