New to the Civic family

[wvufootball 10+ year member]

Just bought a new(used) car, a 2000 Civic coupe. I have all the equipment from my last car that I want to install, and I have few general questions.

What is the stock alt size?

How are the doors built? Are the doors solid? Easy to deaden/seal?

Where is the best spot to run the power wire through the firewall?

Also, do I need to buy a tool to take out the stock CD player?

Any tips for taking out the interior panels? On my last car (escort) I ran into some problems I broke a couple of the plastic clips that hold them in....would like to avoid that this time around haha

Basically, tell me anything you can about installing audio equipment into Civics. I appreciate the advice!

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[Shadow7874 10+ year member]

Cant help too much but i have a 2000 accord so if its similar its not a hard task.

The doors come off easily, not sure how hard deadening would be but taking the panels off is a piece of cake. My accord has like 2 screws you have to take of and the rest pops out. It takes a little force but ive taken my door panel off numerous times with nothing breaking.

Also there was already a spot to go through in the firewall from what i recall, but im not to sure on that.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

any pics?

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

Your stock alternator will be between 70 and 85 amps depending on if you have an EX and depending on which one Honda installed that particular day.

The easiest way to get the power cable into the car is to pull the battery tray and cut the grommet where the main harness runs into/out of the car. I ran a 1/0 wire from battery to trunk, but I removed the passenger seat and center console to make it easier.

As for your door speakers, they are 6.5 and the door takes a fairly slim speaker and it is a tad bit smaller than traditional 6.5s..... More like 6". The Alpine Type S, R, and Reference speakers tend to fit rather well.

If you have a coupe, pulling the rear deck speakers out is a royal pain in the ***. I'll edit this post when I find the instructions on how to do it.

Lastly, a Kinetik HC1400 fits under the hood just fine, but you will need longer J bolts to hold your battery in place.

ETA: Here is the link to removing the rear speakers: http://www.hondacivicforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18391

 

[wvufootball 10+ year member]

Thanks for the info. I already have some Boston pro 60s that will hopefully fit.

 

[Loud3 10+ year member]

With a small spacer, they should.

 

[Fusion_FREAK 10+ year member]

Just bought a new(used) car, a 2000 Civic coupe. I have all the equipment from my last car that I want to install, and I have few general questions.

What is the stock alt size?

How are the doors built? Are the doors solid? Easy to deaden/seal?

Where is the best spot to run the power wire through the firewall?

Also, do I need to buy a tool to take out the stock CD player?

Any tips for taking out the interior panels? On my last car (escort) I ran into some problems I broke a couple of the plastic clips that hold them in....would like to avoid that this time around haha

Basically, tell me anything you can about installing audio equipment into Civics. I appreciate the advice!

I had a '97 coupe.

Stock alt size is around 90 amps. I was running about 1000rms on 4 gauge wire with a Big 3 in 1/0 and I had no dimming.

The doors are built fairly well. I deadened mine and it was pretty easy.

Best spto to run the power wire is by the battery. There is a rubber plug that you can make aslit in to run your wire. It's right behind or right to the left of the battery, I don't remember exactly.

To make the OEM radio out, you have to remove the lower panel under the steering column, which is about 3 screws, removed the lower dash under the radio, which is 2 screws, open the glove box and remove another screw or two. Look here for the installation article.

When taking off the door panels, be careful. It's fairly easy to break the plastic clips.

And for running wire through the doors, you have to take the molex plug out, and drill an empty section out. I should have done that, but I just took the doors off and drilled a hole.

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

With a small spacer, they should.

The only problem is he will have to deep 6 the factory grills if he goes with too much of a spacer. Trust me, I have a little bit of experience in this area

 

[wvufootball 10+ year member]

Thanks for the info! Is there enough space to mount crossovers in the doors?

So I will be fine with pro60s and a spacer?

 

[Loud3 10+ year member]

We fit some Boston 60's behind the factory grill in a '99. I don't think they have any adjustments in those two years?

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

You have a nice big spot in the door card! Check it out to the left of the Styrofoam:

ETA: My recommendation is that you buy an extra pack of door panel clips because chances are you will break some no matter how careful you are. Murphy loves to screw with me because if I have extras, I won't break a single clip. If I don't have extras, I will break a bunch of clips!

 

[thegreatestpenn 5,000+ posts]

Everything is a pain with the civic. doing the big 3 is a pain because of where the alt is. running 1/0ga. is a pain (if you don't remove anything) because you have to twist and bend it through stuff behind the glove box to get it to the side or floor. Deadening the doors is a pain because they are double-paneled and the outer panel is hard to reach for deadening. THe rear panel is way too hard to get to, gotta take off the side panels and all this other stuff. YOu have to deaden all of the trunk or the lid will rattle like crazy. THe rear deck tends to rattle like crazy too if not well-deadened. THe stock alt is small and i recommend upgrading if the system is over 1500wrms. The opening isn't that big so don't expect to drop any box bigger than 2 12's in. ANything larger would have to be built inside. THe trunk lid bars are inset so the widest box you can do without accounting for them is like 38"

 

[wvufootball 10+ year member]

I'm doing a relatively simple setup. Sealed 13w7 + Pro60s. When I get cash the first thing I'm gonna do is order some Sludge and deaden the doors.

Thanks for the pics, they are very helpful.

And Loud3, you got some pro60s behind the grill? Did you have to make any mods to the door?

Where do you get extra door clips? Partsexpress?

 

[gunz4me 10+ year member]

I purchased my extra door panel clips off of eBay. You can also bring a non-broken clip to Autozone because sometimes they will have what you need or they can get it for you.

 

[wvufootball 10+ year member]

About running the wires from the doors...any advice on that?