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it usually takes atleast 3hrs for a normal install but on some deck install like on a 2000 chevy pickup 20mins those things are so easy.

ridr4lif wrote:For everything. If i can get my soldering gun close enough to the wires in a dash, i solder those wires. I always use solder on the speaker connections too.
Plus, soldering doesnt take much longer if you have a decent gun...it should only take a few seconds to get the wire hot enough to melt the solder. And its stronger.

Yeah we had this discusion a few months ago. I am one of the few that solders everything. I am not saying its always better. Its just what I perfer.

As for how long, 3 to 4 hours. I am another of the "due it slow and right" (the first time) kinda guys. But my work installs alot of that into me. If I just slam a part in, or don't have a good conection when I do wire repair, it could literaly crash a jet.

I had my car in the install bay for about 8 weeks. But most of it was hushmatting the interior, and removing the headboard (? brainfart), and hushmatting the interior roof as well. Some of the sunroof parts were rattling. My head installer did all the wiring, I did about 60% of the hushmat, and their head fabricator made it look good. It was a team effort.

I take my time also. Problems happen when you rush...

Most head units take me about 1/2 Hr to wire up the two harness's. I solder them and shrink wrap them usually. Then I use that wire loom like a sping to keep it all together.

As for speakers it all depends on the car really. SOme door panels are a real bitch and when you pull them off you have to replace almost all the little plastic pieces... Otherwise the door card flaps around...

Now how about pricing?

Local places as of like 1997ish:
$40 to replace front speakers
$50 Install Radio
$40 Install amp to your wiring
$100 Install amp w/wiring
$100-$250 install car alarm

Wow... I bet most of the prices are close to the same, maybe up each $5-10

my prices are around that maybe a lil more depending on car or depending on hours of work

Takes 3-4ish for a not-so-perfect amp install.. but then i've only done that twice. I'd charge my friends like $40 to do it though... The worst thing about my install is that im kinda sloppy with the wiring but atleast i hide my wires... i have a friend who has his wires (power, rca) exposed. lolol in his truck

I work quite fast, once I figure out precisely what's going to happen. It's been a while since I've put anything but a deck in....but roughly I'd say I could do that in just at or under two hours. It also depends on the equipment...if it's expensive stuff, I'll be a lot more careful. Little details don't bug me that much if they are covered up by a panel or something. However, some little things can bug me...it depends on what it is.

Basically I'd say I'm not very consistent. Every car brings different challenges. I am all in the zone when I am putting stuff in, and I work like football teams play in the last quarter when the score stays only a few points apart, all the way till the winning team takes the kneel on the last down to run the clock out...once I start a job I have to finish it.

for me... everythings expensive stuff.. i try to treat my stuff with as much care as i can honestly. im on a very low budget

if im installing i take care to do everything as neatly and professionaly as possible because i dont want something to happen like...............lets say i have a customer and they decide to go somewhere else to get some work done, i dont want that shop to show them a rats nest of wires and ask who the hell did it

I dont work at a shop or anything but I try to solder as much as a can. The other day I installed a pioneer deck into my cousins 1995? volvo semi, that was fun. He couldnt find a wiring harnass for it (the truck) so we cut the harness off the stock radio and wired the pioneers harness to it. Sure its kinda rigged but it wouldnt be nothing to solder the plug back to the radio if he wanted to do so.

I wanted to wait and try to find a harness but he refused, it was either cut the radio's plug off or cut into the actual trucks harness, so I did what I had to.

Oh, and ALL the wires are black, so it ended up taking a little over an hour to find which wire was which and to get the radio installed.