When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I finnaly found a vintage car radio from 'Realistic' that fits my bezel, and now I want to instal it in in my C3.
Got one major problem... I just don't know which wires I can get my power from.
The wiring inside the middle console is just a mess...
Photo's, wiring colors etc. would be very helpful.
amazon sells a nifty adapter for a couple of bucks that wires into your replacement radio so that you can just unplug and plug back in, it does have a wiring diagram in the adapter, also most aftermarket radios will have a wire ident list usually in the form of stickers on the replacement radio wire harness. biggest thing I like the adapter is that I used a new kenwood radio that had power ant lead, I wired the adapter in my living room into the radio, went out the garage and just swapped them, no wireing needed in car. it also preserves your original harness eliminating any need to cut any wires on the car.
looks like your on the cusp of the cutoff year, so I would double check your plug but this might/should/could be the one. the one I orderd from amazon is not listed currently but there may be others there as well/
Last edited by sambrand; Aug 24, 2018 at 03:17 AM.
amazon sells a nifty adapter for a couple of bucks that wires into your replacement radio so that you can just unplug and plug back in, it does have a wiring diagram in the adapter, also most aftermarket radios will have a wire ident list usually in the form of stickers on the replacement radio wire harness. biggest thing I like the adapter is that I used a new kenwood radio that had power ant lead, I wired the adapter in my living room into the radio, went out the garage and just swapped them, no wireing needed in car. it also preserves your original harness eliminating any need to cut any wires on the car.
I would link a part but I dnt know the year/
Seeing the state of the wiring... I don't think much of the wiring is still original.
The radio I want to install is 1976 'Realistic' radio (with casette player). My father bought it when he was in the states back then.
I got all the wires sorted out... only the power.
Do you know where I can tap off the 12 Volt?
The digital radio that was in the old bezel (I put a new one in) wasn't working when I bought the car.
It didn't get proper power.
(Just some side info)
The digital radio that was in the old bezel (I put a new one in) wasn't working when I bought the car.
It didn't get proper power.
(Just some side info)
those old radios are notorious for cracked solder connections that intermittently allow and cut off power, odds are that's the issue with the oem.
t
heres all the info since I don't know if its early or late 77 heres the full link
An old radio like that may also have several defunct capacitors in it. They could be OK, but also could be 'toast' due to age. You should bench test it first, rather than do all that work only to find out when done that it's a "dud". Also, the original Delco radios used common ground connections for the speakers; more modern radios have dedicated + and - feed wires that are NOT common between speakers. Make sure that Realistic unit supports common-grounded speaker systems, or you will need to run new speaker wire sets (and not connect the - sides of the speakers to chassis ground).
An old radio like that may also have several defunct capacitors in it. They could be OK, but also could be 'toast' due to age. You should bench test it first, rather than do all that work only to find out when done that it's a "dud". Also, the original Delco radios used common ground connections for the speakers; more modern radios have dedicated + and - feed wires that are NOT common between speakers. Make sure that Realistic unit supports common-grounded speaker systems, or you will need to run new speaker wire sets (and not connect the - sides of the speakers to chassis ground).
I've tested the radio before. Everything seemed okay internally. Everything worked fine. I just had to spray some contact cleaner in the pot meters.