u dont have to be a grandmaster, but u really do need to be good at wiring. i had to get new plugs from an integra, i think the civic 96-00 plugs will fit also. most of the wiring diagrams on the internet were wrong, i had to figure out which plug goes where, took me almost 2 days to get it working right. then the rest of the headache of the install comes from molding it into the dash where u can't see the edges. overall, though, all the frustration caused by this install was definitely worth the final product, these gauges look a million times better than the civic ones imo. its doable, but i'd at least have some experience, i've mostly been wiring stereos for about 3 years, and built my own computer (which everybody thinks is SOO hard but its really pretty simple lol) so i dont claim to be a wiring guru, but i do know my stuff.