So, I did my homework and read previous posts on rewiring. I have a '74 and Bubba did such a wonderful job with my car that I just need to start with a clean slate. I have the interior pulled apart, and although it pains me that I won't be able to probably drive the car until April now, it's the right thing to do. Can you recommend wiring that you've used with good result please! All the suppliers have it, so I'm guessing some have had better luck with one over the other. Also, I read that everyone suggested Doc Rebuild for the chart to help put everything back together.

Also, if I wanted to upgrade the speakers down the road, is there anything I should consider when rewiring? Thanks for all your help!

 

With the interior out, now is an excellent time to install new wires for a future stereo upgrade. You might even consider running some power wires for an amp. 'Lectric Limited' is a good source for wire harness. That Dr. Rebuild guide is so very helpful, IMHO a must. T

 

I replaced all my harness with the zip-corvette harnesses and just like the factory harness, very nice stuff!!!

 

Hi Vd,
There are just a couple of manufacturers of wiring harnesses.

'Lectric Limited' (T6t8's suggestion too) is one that is highly thought of and is sold by many of the larger vendors. If you buy from a vendor ask what brand harness they're selling to be certain what you'll be receiving.

It's important to have the Assembly Instruction Manual in front of you when installing the harnesses in order to help you with their routing.

The dash harness is the most difficult to install of the four main harnesses…..
Make sure you're taking your 'patience' pills while you're doing it.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan

 

I've done electrical wiring in my house, but I'm not quite sure what would be involved with adding an amp for a future stereo upgrade. Will I need to upgrade my battery to handle more power output? What do I need to consider?

 

Depends on how much power- a small sub amp or 4 channel amp battery/alternator shouldn't require upgrading.

Wire the amp off the battery to help eliminate the AC whine.
10GU is fine- 8GU is a good upgrade for a couple hundred watts and a real short run. Might not be a bad idea to run an extra 14GU power and ground wire to the radio- as the OEM power wires tend to be noisy.

And while the interior is apart - you can run some new wires from the back to the dash or kick panel (or both) for the upgraded speakers.
Since it's a short run in the Vettes- a small amp- 16GU is fine- moving up to 14 is not a bad idea. 12GU would be overkill.

And you can route a couple pairs of QUALITY RCA cables from the back to radio while you are at it. Best to run a few inches away from any other wires- as in don't zip tie to factory wires!!!

Richard

 

Thanks for all the detail Richard!! That's exactly what I was looking for. Any speakers that you'd recommend?

Were the stock Kenwood speakers cheap even by 70's standards? Corvettes have had nice speakers for decades with Bose, so wondering how the quality compared back then. I'm 29, so wasn't around to know much about Kenwood.

 

The Delco radio had 10 ohm output impedance; you will need speakers with 8 ohm impedance as a minimum to get a decent match with the stock head unit. Or you could replace the dash speakers with 4 ohm units and ADD 4 ohm speakers in the kickpanel arrears, wiring them in SERIES, to give you a total impedance of 8 ohms. Since 4 ohm auto speakers are pretty much the standard these days, that works well and so does that dual-speaker approach.

If you replace the radio with a modern unit, buy speakers that match the requirements for the new radio amp.

P.S. You DO want to keep mid/high frequency speakers in the upper dash. That is the ideal location for high frequencies to bounce off the windshield and be directed to the listener. But, you will have difficulty finding speakers with holes that match up to the stock speaker mounting hardware (which you also DO want to keep). Sooooo.... purchase 4"x6" speakers with a plastic frame on them. Mark on the frame where the mounting holes should be; then use a pencil-tip soldering iron to melt holes into the frame where they are needed. This sounds like blasphemy...but it works well and is easy to do. AND you get to use the original hardware to hold them in place.

 

Be sure to take pics of the original harnesses before you remove them. GM didn't leave any room for mis-routing the harnesses, as you will have problems reinstalling the dash panels if the new harnesses are not tucked tightly into place.

 

Welcome to the 74 Club.

I pulled my interior out when I got my car too to install a nice new stereo.
I now have 9 speakers, an 8" sub and 1200 watts of power in my vette.

The answer to your question would be based on how much you like your tunes. I like to here mine when I drive down the road with the t-roof's off.

You can not see anything when standing beside my car. I have the 8" Infinity sub in the Tire Jack box, I have the amps mounted on the back wall and I replaced all the speakers with Kicker's. You cannot see any of them in my car.

If you want more information about the stereo, contact me and I can walk you thru what I did. I'm not a mechanic, I just like my music (actually I'm a computer programmer).

As for the dash wiring....DO YOURSELF A FAVOR. Replace all the Grey Dash bulb sockets NOW with newer style ones. Those 74 ones are a PITA to install back in. It took me 10 tries to get the dash back in without the sockets or bulbs popping out. Absolute NIGHTMARE.

Ken

 

So you are saying you have Kenwood speakers in your car? They were not "stock" as Kenwood didn't enter the car stereo market till 1980.

Dang- you make me feel old- as when you were born I had just started working for Kenwood!!!

And in the industry- The comment was- "has no highs and no lows- must be Bose." Amar (Bose) did a hellova marketing job!!!

I've been out of the car stereo business for the past 17 years- a LOT has changed. The manufactures of the good stuff back in the day has changed hands and not the same product...

A friend of mine works for Kicker told me even they- have had to outsource most of their product manufacturing.

Couple of tips for the Corvette-

Do yourself a favor and get a dash bezel that accepts a DIN opening- Opens up your choices big time and a better radio will cost less.



For the front speaker- they are better served by running some "bass blockers"- will keep the speakers from doing something they can't- as they are too small to produce any real bass.

300HZ ones will work great-

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-N1Cw2d...z-cut-off.html



For the kick panels- put the plastic originals in your garage and make a couple panels out of some 1/4 MDF -You can front load the speaker and get away with a bigger 6.5"

Richard

 

Thanks for the insight! I was looking at getting one of the vintage looking radios that has Bluetooth and/or auxiliary in it. Are those decent or do I need to set my eyes on something else? Haven't looked into the radio very much. I want something that looks period correct (ideally).

 

Before you buy- "Google" the model /name of radio you are interested in and add "problem"

The radios seem to have a lot of issues w/ noise/ shutting down etc.

Another thought would be the 'hidden' or 'secret' audio- were you could keep the factory radio-and have a controller with hidden 'brains' somewhere else. Unfortunately, I haven't read to many good reviews on that either.

Richard

 

Brenden,
Go with Richards Idea and get a face plate if you can find/afford one. I purchased an after market one that doesn't look as nice as a real face plate. I had to grind out my existing one and add the new face plate over the original. It looks ok but if you are looking for perfection get a full face plate.

I also used the 300 hz base blockers in my uppers too.

But I never use MDF in an area where water can collect. The lower part of the bird cage is such a place, hence I used foam speaker covers and just cut piece of metal as a face plate to fit in there. You can't see the speakers from the outside. I don't get much base from these but since I have a sub in the back, I don't need much.

 

Hey Ken-

I'm not a fan of mounting a speaker to metal.

You can shoot the MDF with undercoating- it will keep it from soaking up moisture and help deaden resonances.


Good point re the baffles-
The big thing about mounting speakers in cars- is what's know as an acoustical short circuit. The sound waves from the front of the speaker are 180º out of phase with the back of the speaker- not baffled they will cancel out a lot of bass.

Richard