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I have a '75 factory stereo radio I am planning to put in my '73 project. The '73 had an aftermarket junk radio in it, so that's gone, I did find in a box of parts for the '73, the amp for a stereo radio, so I'm assuming the car came with one. The thing is though, the amps are somewhat different. The amp that came with the '73 is larger than the one that came with the '75 radio. I bench tested the radio with both amps, and they both work fine with the radio for the short amount of time I had them hooked up. Of course I'd prefer to use the '73 amp because it will bolt right into place. Are the amps pretty much the same? I don't want to ruin something if there is a definite difference. Here is a pic of the 2 different amps, with the '73 amp on the top, and the smaller '75 amp on the bottom. Anybody know if using a '73 amp on a '75 radio is a problem?
If the wiring to the power transistors is the same, I don’t see any problem. The amp that is bigger may help with heat dissipation. That being said, my 73 original radio and amp started to give me trouble after the radio was on for thirty minutes, usually during the summer. I eventually took off the passenger map pad and discovered the amp was hot as hell. So I bought three small 12 volt dc desktop pc fans hooked up to a temperature sensor. that moves air around the amp. I had to get the temp sensor on EBay from China, but it works great ( you have set the temp in Centigrade). I bought two sensors, since they only cost $ 6, and last summer installed one temp sensor to turn on a cooling fan that brings air into a cabinet that houses my stereo amp.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, the wiring appears to be the same. I would prefer to use the '73 amp, as it will bolt right in. I thought the same- that being bigger would be better for heat dissipation.
Factory Stereo Amp
