I've been searching for some help on this but can't find any exact matches. I have a mk2.5 2009 Zetec petrol and I have a fuse piggy back thing to get power to my dash cam. The problem is I'm really struggling to find ground and I don't really want to pull off panels haphazardly and potentially do damage to them, any tips?

1 hour ago, gloves said:

I've been searching for some help on this but can't find any exact matches. I have a mk2.5 2009 Zetec petrol and I have a fuse piggy back thing to get power to my dash cam. The problem is I'm really struggling to find ground and I don't really want to pull off panels haphazardly and potentially do damage to them, any tips?

hi,

if you take out the glovebox which are the Torx screws inside the glovebox door; 3 top and three bottom theirs an earth bolt inside there above the glove box, 

the glove box just slides out when you remove the six torx screws and you can route the cables tidy in the back or side of the box. 

alternatively the plastic passenger door sill, lift that and theres an earth on the inside of the door sill metal frame work. 

the first one i mentioned there is as saw in my guide here:  

 

my full list of guides are here if interested:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/68214-full-list-lennys-guides/

 

 

18 hours ago, BigLen said:

hi,

if you take out the glovebox which are the Torx screws inside the glovebox door; 3 top and three bottom theirs an earth bolt inside there above the glove box, 

the glove box just slides out when you remove the six torx screws and you can route the cables tidy in the back or side of the box. 

alternatively the plastic passenger door sill, lift that and theres an earth on the inside of the door sill metal frame work. 

the first one i mentioned there is as saw in my guide here:  

 

my full list of guides are here if interested:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/68214-full-list-lennys-guides/

 

 

any tips on removing the A pillar cover?

A spot of gratitude wouldn't be out of place here first?... Or is that too big an ask🤔

On 10/2/2020 at 6:33 PM, BigLen said:

hi,

if you take out the glovebox which are the Torx screws inside the glovebox door; 3 top and three bottom theirs an earth bolt inside there above the glove box, 

the glove box just slides out when you remove the six torx screws and you can route the cables tidy in the back or side of the box. 

alternatively the plastic passenger door sill, lift that and theres an earth on the inside of the door sill metal frame work. 

the first one i mentioned there is as saw in my guide here:  

 

my full list of guides are here if interested:

https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/68214-full-list-lennys-guides/

 

 

I was hoping there would a more accessible ground but I decided since there isn't to do the same as your guide. I got the A pillar off in the end, If anyone is wondering just pull the top part towards you and then pull upwards to remove from the bottom.

I've gotten the USB socket installed and working, just waiting for a long enough USB cable to get to the dash cam.

Thanks for writing the guide! It helped quite a bit. I did though (and I've commented this on the guide) use a hole saw bit for a drill, seemed a lot easier and cleaner than a dremel. Thank you for writing guides! The ford community has been awesome.

6 hours ago, nicam49 said:

A spot of gratitude wouldn't be out of place here first?... Or is that too big an ask🤔

My intentions were always to thank BigLen for his guide.

1 hour ago, gloves said:

I was hoping there would a more accessible ground but I decided since there isn't to do the same as your guide. I got the A pillar off in the end, If anyone is wondering just pull the top part towards you and then pull upwards to remove from the bottom.

I've gotten the USB socket installed and working, just waiting for a long enough USB cable to get to the dash cam.

Thanks for writing the guide! It helped quite a bit. I did though (and I've commented this on the guide) use a hole saw bit for a drill, seemed a lot easier and cleaner than a dremel. Thank you for writing guides! The ford community has been awesome.

Thanks,

I routed the cables inside the A pillar by pulling down the door seal which exposes a good sized gap to access inside the A pillar without removing.

Had I gotten the correct size of holesaw bit required for use at the time; I wouldn't have used the Dremel either 😅 I improvised to get the job done.

16 minutes ago, BigLen said:

Thanks,

I routed the cables inside the A pillar by pulling down the door seal which exposes a good sized gap to access inside the A pillar without removing.

Had I gotten the correct size of holesaw bit required for use at the time; I wouldn't have used the Dremel either 😅 I improvised to get the job done.

I'm very surprised you managed to get the cables inside the A pillar and down the hole, I didn't see a way of doing that. I was really worried about taking the A pillar off but its really not a big deal. the clips seemed sturdy to me and not fragile like some people suggest. I did however lose the middle clip when I was figuring out how it goes back in.. It rolled into the hole and presumably to another dimension. Luckily they are a few quid on eBay for 10 and with it being the middle one (although they are all the same) it didn't feel at all loose once fitted back with 2 clips but I got some to replace it anyway.

oh haha I thought you might have chosen to is all. oh and so people know who might find this thread 28mm and 32mm holes are fine. the 28mm hole i drilled was a bit tight but just use a little force.

Thanks again dude!