Ben–350Z

That's exactly the setup I have. Did the 4 speakers and the amp first, then added the active sub later. Both my sub and amp are hooked up to the same remote wire from the HU (using good old chocky block), and to a beast power cable coming down from the battery (m6 bolt encased in plastic). Have 5 RCAs Front L+R, Rear L+R & Sub running back there (only mono sub, as I didn't have another pair long enough). So what you want to do should be just fine. Correct with amp power, at least what the speakers can handle - a little more shouldn't cause a problem. It's also worth running any other cables you might want down there at the same time e.g. I have a USB cable in from the HU to the little cubby between the seats. Have you checked it's not out of phase with your main speakers? Mine sounded pretty awful when I had that wrong... Should be a thing on your HU to invert it.

IIRC, the plugs to the doors basically fill the cutouts in the body - so the only way through is to drill out unused parts of the plugs. Yep, just splicing into main power cable for the sub is fine - just make sure you get something that can handle the amp + sub power draw. And an appropriate fuse, of course. For mine i did get a terminal post, and some ring crimps - just so if ever needed either the amp or sub can be easily removed. There is a massive bunch of wires that go into the car through the firewall behind the battery... Sort of just below the bottom passenger corner of the windscreen. Just make a little cut in that, should be able to feed the power cable through, and it'll drop into the passenger footwell. Can then route it behind the kick panel, and along under the carpet to the back. There's a load of factory cabling down there you can follow.

Did mine a couple of years ago, and agree with the above. Only minor differences from what I did: 1) Installed my amp behind the driver's seat - knocked up a bracket / shelf that hangs off the LHD glovebox mounts. 2) Grabbed some Nissan Micra speaker adaptors (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072HSN162) to mount my door speakers - that was enough for them to clear the windows, but I guess that's pretty dependent on the speakers you're using. 3) Massively over spec'd my power cabling... As for a sub, after a failed attempt to bodge the OEM Bose one in, I grabbed one of these https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/product_m-alpine-car-audio-systems-pwe-s8_p-33197.htm which is now behind the driver's seat with the amp. Haven't got a reverse camera, or sensors, but what you're suggesting makes sense to me.

This happened to one of my fronts when I had the fluid changed... They tried extracting and heli-coiling it, and then the whole thing just stopped bleeding up at all. Replacement caliper is definitely the way to go.

Spark plugs ordered at 2pm yesterday. Already arrived

Just found this thread - read it all in one go. Excellent work! Makes me want a project car of my own...

Depends how they're defining won't fit. My rear setup sticks out ~40mm further than the RAYS did, which by some standards probably doesn't "fit". But in the real world, a little arch roll, and it's all fine. Not lowered, btw. Really, it's the tyre width, offset of the wheel, and if there's enough space behind the spokes to not hit the brakes. https://www.wheel-size.com/calc/ can help with the width and offset things - then just play with the tyre profile until the overall diameter roughly matches the factory spec. Someone like @Tarmac@TarmacSportz can help RE brake clearance. FWIW, other options I considered, that according to my spreadsheet of doom would fit: Bola B8R, Japan Racing JR6, JR23 and JR25, and a couple of other Rotas RT5 and D2EX. If I was shopping again now, I'd also look at Linea Corse LC818 and Dyna.

I had a similar problem... Before going for GTR-D's. In hindsight, I wish I'd gone for Grids, because 19", and still an epic lip on the back.

I just bought this guy: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392195995281 Appears to be fairly similar filter and baffle setup to the Mishimoto - just smaller and no custom brackets or hoses. Haven't had a chance to install it yet, so no idea how well it works, but feels like a solid bit of kit.

That is true. But it is more or less required... I originally looked at putting my amp in the boot, so I could re-use the exising speaker wiring. Decided it was a bad move when the round-trip impedance to the driver's door was roughly half that of the speaker I was using. Didn't want 1/3 of my amp's power heating up the wiring

I'd say it isn't plug and play. The Bose stuff is all designed to work together, so I'd recommend completely replacing it. For an aftermarket amp, you'd need power cabling from the battery, signal from the head unit to the amp, and then cables out to the speakers. Most installs seem to chuck the amp in the glove box or the void behind the factory sub. For a simpler solution, you could just unplug the Bose amp, and run speaker wires from the back of the HU to the speakers...

It's not really a thing I have much experience with, but a quick look over the specs it seems in line with the ones I was looking at when considering that route. In the end I just got an "under seat" sub, as it avoided the faff of building a box, and I wasn't looking for internal organ destroying bass JL Audio website recommends a 48x28x23 sealed box for that sub, which I think would fit in the factory sub location, though it might be a bit tight actually getting it in. As for fixing it, there's a load of bolts that hold the mouthing plate for the factory sub, and the brackets that would hold the back of the glove box in a LHD one. I use those to secure the shelf with my amp and sub on it.

Yay, glad you finally got something that works! What are you going for by way of a sub?

So if you were to just stick a wire between the + and - of the amp's output, and smash the volume up, that would likely kill the transistors inside it due to the current that would pull through them. (Discarding any circuit protection it might have to stop that happening) That's what I thought you were saying might have happened, with a loose wire touching both sides of an output. If the power came out and hit one of the speaker outputs... I'm not entirely sure what would happen. Potentially relatively large DC through the speaker coils, which wouldn't do them any favours. Doubt the amp will have liked it either.

Ah, I thought you meant shorted one of the outputs to the speakers - that would kill the innards of the amp. If it was power, you'd know if you did it. Crackles, sparks the lot. Ever touch the battery retainer bolt with a spanner, whilst trying to undo the positive terminal? Don't do that. It's scary. (Yes, I know you should take the negative off first to avoid that, but was trying to only remove power from the amp...) IIRC, the factory sub is silly low impedance, so don't turn it up too loud when testing.

I have one of these: http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/amplifiers/four-channel-amplifiers/pioneer-gm-d8604-4-channel-1200w-class-d-car-amplifier Seems pretty solid. Does hiss a bit, but once the engine's running & add a bit of road noise it's not a problem. Bit more than you want to spend, though... Worth checking that the one you have *has* gone first. Any chance you have an old hi-fi / surround sound speaker lying around you could hook up? I do have a couple, and am just across the border in Cambs. Unfortunately have no free weekends until some time in May...

Exactly that. But I would add the step where you check that your phone actually fits in that cubby with the cable plugged in... I didn't

They can... Had some speakers back at uni that were (inappropriately) used as monitors for the DJ all night; coils got hot, set fire to the cones, then melted. But, true, it could also be the amp. Maybe more likely if it was running a low voltage. Yep, that would do it

If they were still the factory ones, no great loss Got an excuse to upgrade now. IMO the back ones aren't worth it - all the sound they make is just absorbed by the seats, anyway. ...Why did no one mention to check that earlier? Talk about the bleeding obvious... Good job getting to the end of it all

Does it change if the engine is running or not? _Maybe_ alternator?

Hmm... Do you have either another head unit you can try, or a different car to try that unit in? At this point, it doesn't seem like it's the link between the two that's a problem.

Do you get any "actual" sound at all? i.e. is what should be playing there under the buzzing? Could be that the loom has been badly modified, and there's not actually a connection to the amp's inputs...

Finally found it!

Ah, this is annoying me - I know I've seen a guide for doing it, but can't find it now. IIRC, it's just a case of separating the headlight (warm it up, prise the sealent around the lens apart) then there's a little PCB in the corner of the back part with those LEDs on. Then it would just be a case of unsoldering the old LEDs, and soldering some new ones in. Though without the guide, I have no idea what type they are

Bit late reply, but since I'm in tyre mode... I have 275s on 10J ET12 wheels - had to roll the arch lips, but they're only at sort of 45 degrees, and I think there's enough space I could get 285, possibly just squeeze 295 in there. (There's more space to be gained by rolling a bit harder, too) IIRC, there's also a fair bit of space behind the wheel so even wider might be possible with a higher offset... EDIT: Having said that, my tyres do stick about 4mm past the wheel arch (stock height and camber), so probably need higher than ET12 offset to get anything wider and legal...