Fitting sound system without too much damage?

Hey people. I'm new on here. Hopefully be hanging around quite a bit!!

I have a bit of strange query....

I have a contract hire Grande Punto and want to fit my own sound system (6x9s + subs) that I had in my previous car. Now, I've fitted many sound systems before, but to cars that I owned - so I didn't care as much about making a hole here and there.
As this is a contract hire, I need to give it back after 3 years, and there can't be any visible holes / damage done otherwise I get charged for it.

Is there an easy way to do this without making any extra holes (of if I do have to make holes, ensure they are well hidden)? I'm thinking for such things as getting the positive cable from the battery to boot, getting cables from head unit to the boot, and the negative connection to the bodywork inside the boot.

Also, how easy is it to get all the cables under the carpet and laying it back down without any major problems? It is easier to go down the sides of the car, or down the middle?

If it was a car that I had bought, I'd have done it by now, but as I technically don't own the car I'm going to have to be a little more pre-cautious as I don't want a hefty bill for small damage at the end of my contract - and there's no way I can carry on listening to the factory fitted sound system when I have 2 x 15" Vibe SPACE subs sitting in my bedroom doing nothing!!
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!!

Ditch the 6x9's a sub will mess them up. Only hole you should have to make is ony for the earth. All the wires should just run down the sides of the car. RCA's down drivers side and power,remote etc down the passengers side. Dependant on what gauge the wire is you might be able to get the power cable through the grommit on the firewall if not you can drill through it and i dont reckon a lease company would notice that tbh as it would be hidden behind the carpet.

the gromit that goes thru the fire wall is strecthcy enuf. i managed to push three wires thru it without any damge a 4 gauge a 8 gauge and a 16 gauge

Words of wisdom. Get rid and buy yourself a sub and amp.


I brought my power through the bulk head, then all others can be fitted with a screw driver and removing a few panels. I'll get some pic's if you want.

if you wanna fit the 6x9's then buy a spare parcel shelf from fiat for about £30 and cut that up

and the sub can be grounded to loads of places in the boot. Sure you'll find somewhere...shouldn't need to make any holes tbh. I've got my wires down the side of the front console and then under the rear floor matts and up the side of the back seats...can't really see them and no damage at all. To get the power cable from the battery there's a gromit on the right hand side of the bonnet under the plastic thing at the bottom of the window. Just puncture that with a screwdriver and push the cable through to the passenger footwell...they'd never spot that!!

Or just buy a stealth parcel shelf, then someone might buy it off you

i fitted my sub and amp in mine, i fed the power cable through the bulk head and i earthed it through the bolt that holds the seat down, then spent a long while running the wires down the car (hate seeing any wires in my car) if you take your time you wont damage anything. Lewis

I have 0 gauge to get through it.

even better if you buy a used one cos have u seen how much new one's cost

Mine is stealthy anyway cos its black speakers on a black shelf

Thanks for the help people.

I only got the car 2 weeks ago - I haven't even looked under the bonnet yet. I'll check out that gromet at the weekend. I WAS going to fit 0 AWG cable, but I've decided it's far too thick and un-necessary. 2 AWG from the battery will be fine for the power that I need.

With regards to 6x9s, I won't be powering these from the head unit. I have another amp powering 4 x 6x9's. Will get a stealth shelf probably - I bought one for my 306 which had 4 holes pre-cut. Do you know of a site that sells a stealth shelf with pre-cut holes? I can't seem to find it anymore. So, in fitting a stealth shelf, that way, I just fit the original parcel shelf back when the contract runs out. No damage done.

I must remember to take my time doing the install, as in the past I've always sort of rushed to get it done in a day, but I'm gonna do this in stages per day I think.


Just out of interest, where does the otherside of the gromet come out? Is it easy to find from the inside of the car? That's the one part of installing ICE that I hate - feeding the cable through the dashboard area.... I always end up with massive gashes down my arm, and blood all over my arms.

6x9's get ruined by the sub moving the air about thats why we said ditch them. Grommit should just be somewhere near the passenger footwell. Cant help as i havent installed my stuff yet....

I understand that, but I have the 6x9's filtered with an equaliser - they don't produce much bass at all. Just mid-high.
Bass is from 4000W amp powering 2 x Vibe 15" SPACE.

Trust me, it sounds good

It doesnt matter what you are using the 6x9's for the air movement from the subs will make the cone explode on the 6x9's.

What would you suggest using for mid range then? It would need to be something that is powerful enough to not be drowned out by the bass.

Upgrade the front speakers to a set of componants and amp them.