radio install help
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 49
Likes: 1
From: Overland Park Kansas
radio install help
Ok....finally getting around to installing an aftermarket radio....thought the swap would be easy but :O bubba has been here before on the wiring with the original no less (prob why it didnt work.)
With no factory wiring harness to tap into, would someone provide a little help on the essentials to reconnect. I ran 2 wires up into the fuse box per the factory diagram from the new head unit and grounded it to the frame with a new clean connection but I have no sound. Head unit powers up, but nothing beyond that.
Just want to get wiring right before I tear into the interior redoing door panels and the rear and such. Already fabbed up the insert plate/modified the dash so thats good (bubba busted the original so I have a two piece console already leaving me little worries about a restoration down the road since it would need to be replaced anyway.)
I will post specs on whats going in next. Thanks!
With no factory wiring harness to tap into, would someone provide a little help on the essentials to reconnect. I ran 2 wires up into the fuse box per the factory diagram from the new head unit and grounded it to the frame with a new clean connection but I have no sound. Head unit powers up, but nothing beyond that.
Just want to get wiring right before I tear into the interior redoing door panels and the rear and such. Already fabbed up the insert plate/modified the dash so thats good (bubba busted the original so I have a two piece console already leaving me little worries about a restoration down the road since it would need to be replaced anyway.)
I will post specs on whats going in next. Thanks!
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 49
Likes: 1
From: Overland Park Kansas
Thx Bill! Dug into it a bit more today and had found a yellow capped but no gray. Guessing the last guy was trying to bypass the harness that isn't there..... That's why I was trying to see if there were essential connections on an after market I needed to make. Factory wiring diagram shows what should be there obviously but I'm not a wiring guru. Looks like he just cut the harness out for some reason.
Racer
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 448
Likes: 3
From: Olathe KS
You will also need a constant power, so the radio saves your settings and stations, etc. Also wire your speakers to it or they won't work! I just finished doing this in mine as well. Since my clock doesn't work, I used that wire (orange) for my constant.
Also I didn't hook up the dimmer light and my radio just lights up the whole time.
Also I didn't hook up the dimmer light and my radio just lights up the whole time.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 49
Likes: 1
From: Overland Park Kansas
Isn't that what the wire to the fuse is for? I have red to the ignition fuse and yellow to the accessory fuse. I have power to the head unit - for some reason just not getting sound. Speaker wire is all brand new....assumed all I needed to do was connect the speaker wires direct to the wiring on the head unit harness?
Thought maybe I was needing to have something else hooked up but the wiring schematics do not show connections needed to anything else.....not sure which wire would even connect to the dimmer.....grrr - wish I was more electrically inclined!!! I can fix all kinds of stuff - but electrical just stumps me every time!
Thought maybe I was needing to have something else hooked up but the wiring schematics do not show connections needed to anything else.....not sure which wire would even connect to the dimmer.....grrr - wish I was more electrically inclined!!! I can fix all kinds of stuff - but electrical just stumps me every time!
Last edited by jdreece; Jun 30, 2014 at 01:24 PM.
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Racer
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 448
Likes: 3
From: Olathe KS
Isn't that what the wire to the fuse is for? I have red to the ignition fuse and yellow to the accessory fuse. I have power to the head unit - for some reason just not getting sound. Speaker wire is all brand new....assumed all I needed to do was connect the speaker wires direct to the wiring on the head unit harness?
Thought maybe I was needing to have something else hooked up but the wiring schematics do not show connections needed to anything else.....not sure which wire would even connect to the dimmer.....grrr - wish I was more electrically inclined!!! I can fix all kinds of stuff - but electrical just stumps me every time!
Thought maybe I was needing to have something else hooked up but the wiring schematics do not show connections needed to anything else.....not sure which wire would even connect to the dimmer.....grrr - wish I was more electrically inclined!!! I can fix all kinds of stuff - but electrical just stumps me every time!
Are all your speakers powered through the amp?
Is your remote wire hooked to the amp?
If the head unit is not powering speakers, you should have RCA cables going from the head unit to the amp. Then wires from the amp to the speakers. Also amp needs remote from head unit, power from battery, and it's own ground.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 49
Likes: 1
From: Overland Park Kansas
Are all your speakers powered through the amp?
Is your remote wire hooked to the amp?
If the head unit is not powering speakers, you should have RCA cables going from the head unit to the amp. Then wires from the amp to the speakers. Also amp needs remote from head unit, power from battery, and it's own ground.
Is your remote wire hooked to the amp?
If the head unit is not powering speakers, you should have RCA cables going from the head unit to the amp. Then wires from the amp to the speakers. Also amp needs remote from head unit, power from battery, and it's own ground.
I thought I would go back to the beginning and troubleshoot one piece at a time......keep in mind the noise is NOT typical alternator whine as the car was not even running.I have a nose filter I have purchased to try as well, but again wanted to start 1 piece at a time to try and identify the problem. Not sure where the noise is being generated from if the vehicle is off, but somehow I have MAJOR interference....sooooo - to me simplest solution was bypass the amp for now and do a standard head unit install, but the speakers are a no go for some reason - maybe a fried wire?
Racer
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 448
Likes: 3
From: Olathe KS
Originally had all this hooked up just like you state! problem.....unbearable static/cracking/noise when powered on. I installed inline noise filters on each set of RCA cables at the hook up to the amp... no difference - still major unbearable noise. Someone else suggested that the diode in the alternator is blown thus eliminating the built in noise filter...but its a brand new alternator - at least I know the speakers work I thought I would go back to the beginning and troubleshoot one piece at a time......keep in mind the noise is NOT typical alternator whine as the car was not even running.
I have a nose filter I have purchased to try as well, but again wanted to start 1 piece at a time to try and identify the problem. Not sure where the noise is being generated from if the vehicle is off, but somehow I have MAJOR interference....sooooo - to me simplest solution was bypass the amp for now and do a standard head unit install, but the speakers are a no go for some reason - maybe a fried wire?
I thought I would go back to the beginning and troubleshoot one piece at a time......keep in mind the noise is NOT typical alternator whine as the car was not even running.I have a nose filter I have purchased to try as well, but again wanted to start 1 piece at a time to try and identify the problem. Not sure where the noise is being generated from if the vehicle is off, but somehow I have MAJOR interference....sooooo - to me simplest solution was bypass the amp for now and do a standard head unit install, but the speakers are a no go for some reason - maybe a fried wire?
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2003
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From: Fernandina Beach FL
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Originally had all this hooked up just like you state! problem.....unbearable static/cracking/noise when powered on. I installed inline noise filters on each set of RCA cables at the hook up to the amp... no difference - still major unbearable noise. Someone else suggested that the diode in the alternator is blown thus eliminating the built in noise filter...but its a brand new alternator - at least I know the speakers work I thought I would go back to the beginning and troubleshoot one piece at a time......keep in mind the noise is NOT typical alternator whine as the car was not even running.
I have a nose filter I have purchased to try as well, but again wanted to start 1 piece at a time to try and identify the problem. Not sure where the noise is being generated from if the vehicle is off, but somehow I have MAJOR interference....sooooo - to me simplest solution was bypass the amp for now and do a standard head unit install, but the speakers are a no go for some reason - maybe a fried wire?
I thought I would go back to the beginning and troubleshoot one piece at a time......keep in mind the noise is NOT typical alternator whine as the car was not even running.I have a nose filter I have purchased to try as well, but again wanted to start 1 piece at a time to try and identify the problem. Not sure where the noise is being generated from if the vehicle is off, but somehow I have MAJOR interference....sooooo - to me simplest solution was bypass the amp for now and do a standard head unit install, but the speakers are a no go for some reason - maybe a fried wire?
You need to just hook up one speaker at a time...or if you have a home speaker sitting around- you can use that up as well.
Another trick is to use a 1.5 volt battery- touch the positive lead of the speaker to the positive of the battery- and the negative lead to the negative of the battery. The speaker will move FORWARD if correctly wired- backwards if the polarity is reversed..no "pop" and movement when you connect means a problem.
Whenever troubleshooting a radio /amp set up-Disconnect everything and reconnect one at a time so you can narrow it down...otherwise you might have TWO problems and you'll never figure it out.
Richard
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 40,380
Likes: 789
From: Redondo Beach, California
I'm now starting to install a restored interior for my 70. The car came with the Delco AM/FM stereo radio..a very expensive option for 1970. I need to have the radio restored due to it's age...and then there's the problem of wiring it back into the passengers side of the firewall harness. This harness has been really chopped up by someone adding an aftermarket sound system into the car. I have some good harness diagrams, etc but the problem is that original electrical connectors and harnesses to the stock speakers are gone. I'm also missing one of the original speakers...the original speakers had impedences that were non standard and for the radio amp to work it needs original impedances...or so I've been told.
..................
The '70 Corvette AM/FM stereo is a two piece. I think this design was only for 69 and 70 Vettes. It's essentually a mono AM/FM Delco radio with bypass wiring, that shunts RF processing off to an adjacent box. Here stereo processing takes place, and the stereo speakers are driven.
To restore a 70 AM/FM Stereo radio requires both boxes to be restored. By 1973...1974, GM miniturized the electroniocs back into the original box envelop of the previous mono AM/FM receiver.
..................
The '70 Corvette AM/FM stereo is a two piece. I think this design was only for 69 and 70 Vettes. It's essentually a mono AM/FM Delco radio with bypass wiring, that shunts RF processing off to an adjacent box. Here stereo processing takes place, and the stereo speakers are driven.
To restore a 70 AM/FM Stereo radio requires both boxes to be restored. By 1973...1974, GM miniturized the electroniocs back into the original box envelop of the previous mono AM/FM receiver.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 332
Likes: 1
believe it or not you have to have all the speakers wired the same. Meaning grounds have to be the same and positives have to be the same. If they arent you will get no sound. Do one speaker at a time till you get it correct. If once you get it all hooked up you still get a buzzing sound this is probably from the alternator. Install a line cleaner on the positive constant and the switched. Make good and sure the ground you are using is on clean unpainted metal. Also make sure the ground wire you are using is larger then the power lines.
Racer
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 448
Likes: 3
From: Olathe KS
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...journey-3.html
Check your radio connections as this guy hooked it up. Mine is the same, but he took pictures!
Check your radio connections as this guy hooked it up. Mine is the same, but he took pictures!