Then, you start thinking with your head. Standing between you and motor happiness and freedom are a couple of metal boxes, a handful of wires and a booklet that may as well be written in Arabic. All of a sudden, that well-deserved ride that you built up in your mind looks about as far away as, well, Arabia. Not to worry. In reality, installing a car stereo is, in many ways, only as difficult as you make it.

Be sure you have the following tools and materials before you get going: a knife or wire cutters, solder and solder gun, crimps, stripper, a screwdriver and screws. The first step in making the process as organized and simple as possible is putting all of the various components in the vicinity of their final destinations. The radio usually is placed in the factory opening in the dash, the speakers in the openings in the front doors, and the rear speakers in the factory openings on the rear deck. The equalizer goes in the factory opening in the dash, right below the radio, and the amplifier generally goes in the trunk. Finally, the car's battery, which powers the system, is usually under the hood, on the passenger's side of the car.

First, route the power cable from the battery through the passenger side of the vehicle, to the amplifier in the trunk. Then route the RCA cables on the driver's side of the car from the head unit to the amplifier. Make sure the amplifier is grounded to a clean metal surface and that the ground is no more than 18 inches from the amplifier.

Connect the stereo to a constant 12-volt source, an ignition lead, the amplifier turn-on and the antenna. Then make sure you have grounded the radio to the chassis and have connected the antenna to the proper antenna input on the radio.

To make it so that when you turn on the radio, you also are turning on the amplifier, connect the radio to the amplifier. Begin connecting the various components using 18-gauge or 16-gauge wire on the speakers. The wires run from each speaker to the amplifier. Run the speaker wire on the same side of the car as the signal wire. Then, connect the speakers in either a parallel or series configuration. To connect the speakers in a parallel configuration, connect each speaker's positives together and each speaker's negatives together. A series hook-up connects one speaker's negative to the other's positive.

Finally, after connecting the speaker's together, run the wires to the amplifier and connect the positive wires to the positive inputs of the amplifier, and likewise for the negative wires.

While there remains the possibility of any number of unforeseen obstacles popping up during the process, chances are the aforementioned steps will get you through in a quick and effective manner. If you do, in fact, run into any difficulties, consult your stereo instruction manual for added help. If you still have problems, borrow some money and go have your car audio retailer deal with it.

Then, hit the road and enjoy the fruits of your labor.