My friend and I are going to install an amp and sub into his in dash stero. I know nothing about this, he just asked for my help becuase I have all the tools. Could someone please explain the typical install steps, or a website i could read about it, and see some diagrams.
All I can say is that I tried the same thing. Is it a factory (Mach) 460? If so, it may not work properly unless you have the proper wiring harness to connect the factory amps. Ford has a weird design in the stereo. If you have aftermarket, I'd take the factory amps out and wire the car's speakers to the amps along with the subs. That was what we had to do to my car to make it work. Works even better. Go to www.crutchfield.com and get some info from them. I called them and they explained to me what and how to do my stereo the right way. Hope this helps a little.
Installing a basic system, 1 amp 1 or 2 subs is pretty easy if you have all the right wiring. Make sure you have a wiring kit, if you get one from streetwires or rockford fosgate you will have everything you neeed in terms of wiring. Assuming the cd player in the car is decent, it will have a preamp out (red and white). You need to run a stereo cable (the red and white ones) from this to the amp, under the side panels of the car, or the carpet. On the stereo cable there is also a remote turn on switch which you need to wire into your cd player, so that when the cd player turns on, the amp turns on, that way the amp is not on when the car is off. Its hard to say what color the remote turn on will be, but if you have the manual from the aftermarket cd player, it will be on there, if not its hard to say, although my last three cars have all been blue and white, including my stang.
Run the power wire from the battery to the trunk, and conncect it to the amp, and then all you have to worry about is wiring the subwoofer(s). For this you can check out diagrams here http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/S-m5EUCDuuA8I/learningcenter/car/subwoofers_wiring.html
You will have to pick the diagram which applies to your number of subs and the ohms of the subs. Here is another good diagram if you need a better idea. Good luck.