C3 Tech/Performance V8 Technical Info, Internal Engine, External Engine, Basic Tech and Maintenance for the C3 Corvette
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by:

Radio power

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Aug 24, 2018 | 01:41 AM
  #1  
Novusuhu's Avatar
Novusuhu
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Photogenic
Photoriffic
Liked
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,073
Likes: 65
From: Belgium
Default Radio power

Hey everyone

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.
Reply
Old Aug 24, 2018 | 02:37 AM
  #2  
sambrand's Avatar
sambrand
Racer
 
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 297
Likes: 43
Default

we need the year/

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/
Reply
Old Aug 24, 2018 | 03:09 AM
  #3  
Novusuhu's Avatar
Novusuhu
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Photogenic
Photoriffic
Liked
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,073
Likes: 65
From: Belgium
Default

Originally Posted by sambrand
we need the year/
1977
Reply
Old Aug 24, 2018 | 03:14 AM
  #4  
sambrand's Avatar
sambrand
Racer
 
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 297
Likes: 43
Default

Originally Posted by Novusuhu
1977
Amazon Amazon

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.
Reply
Old Aug 24, 2018 | 03:20 AM
  #5  
Novusuhu's Avatar
Novusuhu
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Photogenic
Photoriffic
Liked
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,073
Likes: 65
From: Belgium
Default

Originally Posted by sambrand
we need the year/

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?

Reply
Old Aug 24, 2018 | 03:24 AM
  #6  
Novusuhu's Avatar
Novusuhu
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Photogenic
Photoriffic
Liked
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,073
Likes: 65
From: Belgium
Default

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)



Reply
Old Aug 24, 2018 | 03:27 AM
  #7  
sambrand's Avatar
sambrand
Racer
 
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 297
Likes: 43
Default

Originally Posted by Novusuhu
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

https://www.google.com/search?q=1977...w=1805&bih=831



yellow and orange best I can tell are hot,

Last edited by sambrand; Aug 24, 2018 at 03:32 AM.
Reply
Old Aug 24, 2018 | 07:10 AM
  #8  
bmotojoe's Avatar
bmotojoe
Safety Car
15 Year Member
Photogenic
Photoriffic
Top Answer: 1
 
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,367
Likes: 1,730
From: Seattle Area Washington
Default

Original 77 radio power circuit wiring should be a #20 Yellow (Switched) #20 Black (Ground) #20 Gray (Instrument Lamp Circuit).
Original 77 radio connector: https://www.lectriclimited.com/connector-radio-104589

Last edited by bmotojoe; Aug 24, 2018 at 07:23 AM.
Reply
Corvette Stories

The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts

story-0

Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-1

Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

 Joe Kucinski
story-2

150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

 Joe Kucinski
story-3

8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

 Verdad Gallardo
story-4

Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

 Joe Kucinski
story-5

Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

 Verdad Gallardo
story-6

Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

 Brett Foote
story-7

Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-8

10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

 Joe Kucinski
story-9

5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

 Michael S. Palmer
Old Aug 25, 2018 | 01:27 AM
  #9  
7T1vette's Avatar
7T1vette
Team Owner
15 Year Member
Community Builder
Community Influencer
Top Answer: 5
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,116
From: Crossville TN
Default

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).
Reply
Old Aug 26, 2018 | 09:00 AM
  #10  
Novusuhu's Avatar
Novusuhu
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Photogenic
Photoriffic
Liked
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,073
Likes: 65
From: Belgium
Default

Originally Posted by 7T1vette
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.

Reply
Old Aug 26, 2018 | 11:21 AM
  #11  
Dynra Rockets's Avatar
Dynra Rockets
Burning Brakes
10 Year Member
Liked
Loved
Community Favorite
 
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,152
Likes: 252
Default

Realistic was Radio Shack's house brand
Reply
Old Aug 26, 2018 | 11:59 AM
  #12  
7T1vette's Avatar
7T1vette
Team Owner
15 Year Member
Community Builder
Community Influencer
Top Answer: 5
 
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,116
From: Crossville TN
Default



Yes, it was....back when they knew what they were doing.
Reply

Get notified of new replies

To Radio power





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:52 PM.

story-0
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

Slideshow: How to Protect A Convertible Top: 10 DOs & DON'Ts

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-03 00:00:00


VIEW MORE
story-1
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

Slideshow: The 10 most explosive Corvettes ever built based on power-to-weight ratio.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-20 07:23:03


VIEW MORE
story-2
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

Slideshow: From C1 to C8 we compare every Corvette generation by the numbers.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-12 16:54:12


VIEW MORE
story-3
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

Slideshow: Some Corvette pace cars became collectible legends, while others perfectly captured the look and attitude of their era.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-11 09:50:51


VIEW MORE
story-4
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

Slideshow: Ranking the top 10 Corvette engines by torque output.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:58:09


VIEW MORE
story-5
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

Slideshow: A Corvette pace car nearly matching IndyCar speeds sounds exaggerated, until you look at the numbers.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-04 20:03:36


VIEW MORE
story-6
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

Among a rather large group of them.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-04 13:56:44


VIEW MORE
story-7
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

Slideshow: the top 10 things Corvette owners want in the C9 Corvette

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-30 12:41:15


VIEW MORE
story-8
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

Slideshow: 10 Important Corvette 'firsts' that every fan should know.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-29 17:02:16


VIEW MORE
story-9
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

Slideshow: Should you buy a 2020-2026 Corvette or wait for 2027?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-22 10:08:58


VIEW MORE