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[DIY] How to install C70 amp into S/V70 or 850

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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Fiodor
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[DIY] How to install C70 amp into S/V70 or 850

Post by Fiodor »

Hello everybody !

After having some trouble finding an amp from a V70 I settled on a C70 4*100W amp (paid 50 euros with wiring harness and postage).

After discovering not many people had attempted this and most of them didn't document the process I decided to do it myself using common sense !

So first of all you need to get an amp from a C70 with the complete wiring harness.

Like this:
Screenshot_20200412-181922.png
The 2 red wires + 1 black are for the power supply and ground.
The others are the ones you have to wire to your speakers.
And there's the DIN cable to plug the amp into the headunit.

Next you need to identify the plug at the back of your radio that powers the speakers, it's the smallest of the two and the wires' colour should match those of your C70 harness.

That's the one:
IMG_20200416_174012.jpg
You need to cut it approximately 8 cm from the plug.
You should keep the part with the plug if you want to remove the amp someday.

After that you're going to install the amp under the passenger seat like this:
IMG_20200416_195044.jpg
The ports should be facing towards the side of the car.
You can ground the amp on one of the bolts attaching the seat to the body.

Next you need to remove the carpet at the feet of the passenger so that you can hide the cables between the center console and the carpet.
You can slide the wires under the seat rail and make them go into the dash just under the glovebox.

It should look like this:
IMG_20200416_185251.jpg
Then you connect the wires from the C70 harness with the ones that used to go into your headunit like this:
MC_1592618930333391152.jpg
Once you're done with that you can plug the DIN cable into the headunit, put the carpet back and enjoy how discrete this installation is.
IMG_20200417_153707.jpg
Finally you need to wire the two power cables to the battery's positive terminal.
You'll need to remove the trim under the steering wheel and find the passthrough to the engine bay.
It is located over the clutch pedal, to the left.
Remove the rubber gromet and shove both wires in.
IMG_20200417_153735.jpg
Next you have to remove the main fuse box and remove the rubber gromet on the other end of the passthrough.
IMG_20200417_155326.jpg

Push the wires all the way in and then pull them from the engine bay.
You can try to sneak them to the right of the airbox and make them follow the thing around the cables going to the + terminal.
IMG_20200417_155334.jpg
IMG_20200417_155344.jpg
Then simply connect them to the positive terminal!
IMG_20200417_155349.jpg
And tadaaa ! You can now appreciate the 400W of the C70's Alpine amp in your S/V 70 850 !

Feel free to ask me any questions and make suggestions !
Last edited by Fiodor on 17 Apr 2020, 11:41, edited 4 times in total.
1997 V70 T5 2.0 AWD with welded angle gear at 240k km
1990 740 Break (dead)

Richard99
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Post by Richard99 »

Nice! I wasn't able to get the full wiring harness from the C70 since the wires run both sides of the car so it was more hassle than it was worth for me. I just opted to buy another wiring harness and splice the wires in. But your solution is good!
Eric

1998 Volvo V70 - rear-ended and totaled
2000 Volvo V70XC
2007 Volvo V50 T5 AWD M66

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Fiodor
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Post by Fiodor »

Now I'm just waiting for my SC-901 to arrive and my full set of volvo speakers and then I'll finally be able to cover the rumbling I have at 70mph :roll:
1997 V70 T5 2.0 AWD with welded angle gear at 240k km
1990 740 Break (dead)

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Post by matthew1 »

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Fiodor
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Post by Fiodor »

Be aware that I only have 4 speakers at the moment, I'll update the post as soon as I get my full set and the SC-901 should any problems arise.
The amp only powers the door speakers right now so I'll be needing to splice the wires and connect the hatch and dash speakers in parallel I think.

And I'll add more pictures tomorrow to show how invisible the installation is.
1997 V70 T5 2.0 AWD with welded angle gear at 240k km
1990 740 Break (dead)

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Fiodor
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Post by Fiodor »

Updated with more pics showing that the wires are invisible in the car + how to go from the inside to the engine bay and wire the power cables to the battery.
1997 V70 T5 2.0 AWD with welded angle gear at 240k km
1990 740 Break (dead)

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Fiodor
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Post by Fiodor »

Richard99 wrote: 16 Apr 2020, 15:12 Nice! I wasn't able to get the full wiring harness from the C70 since the wires run both sides of the car so it was more hassle than it was worth for me. I just opted to buy another wiring harness and splice the wires in. But your solution is good!
Do you think I should add a fuse on the power wires ?
There are already 2 20 amp fuses on the amplifier itself so I don't know if it's really necessary.
1997 V70 T5 2.0 AWD with welded angle gear at 240k km
1990 740 Break (dead)

Richard99
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Post by Richard99 »

I didn't do it since there are the fuses on the amp, as you said.
Eric

1998 Volvo V70 - rear-ended and totaled
2000 Volvo V70XC
2007 Volvo V50 T5 AWD M66

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BEJinFbk
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Post by BEJinFbk »

YES !


Absolutely, positively YES!

Add a Fuse at the battery!!!


If the wires short to ground between the amp
and the battery, they will Catch On Fire 🔥 ...

There are fewer P80s in the world everyday.
It would be a shame to burn yours up. :mrgreen:
'98 V70 R - Well Equipped for Life Up North... ;)

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Fiodor
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Post by Fiodor »

And how would you do it ?
Just take 2 20 amp fuses and solder each leg to the wires ?
1997 V70 T5 2.0 AWD with welded angle gear at 240k km
1990 740 Break (dead)

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