Hey everyone, replacing the receiver (keeping the Bose speeks) on my 94 coupe. Already have all the fittings and wire harness from Crutchfield.
I know where the harness connects (behind passanger seat - under trap door) so im HOPING the hardest part will be routing the new bundled wires.
Im wondering if there are any secrects or surprises I should be aware of, or should the install be clear cut?

 

Cannot advise on your year Vette however the faq audio info on CF was helpful when I changed the system on the '90.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/audi...audio-faq.html

 

Yep, the hardest part is extending the wiring harness to the new deck. The crutchfield piece is nice, also make sure to adjust all the gains down on it. Take out the passenger seat and carpet to make it easier to run the wires. That's really about it.

 

Thanks , Im going to attempt the install this weekend

 

LMB-if Your stock radio head is a CD/Cassette I might be interested in it if You are selling it?,RVH

 

Dumb reply I made--since its Bose it is CD/Cassette.,rvh

 

Not a dumb question... I have 94 Bose HU with Cassette and no CD. They made them. Its for sale if anyone wants it... LOL

 

Hey LMB,

I did this very exact project on my '92 coupe about month or so ago. My CDM module (mine is inside the passenger dash) went out, so I installed a Kenwood KDC-348U head unit, using the Metra 70-1857 harness and I'm still using my original Bose speaker/amp units. It was a lot of work, but it was all very straightforward (plug and play). It's just a lot of work finding all of the various screws that hold all of the various panels in place and getting them removed, and keeping track of everything, and of course getting everything put back correctly. Just take your time.

The Metra harness completely bypasses your CDM module, so you shouldn't have anything plugged into the CDM when you're done. On the CDM side of the harness, you'll move the connectors that were plugged into the CDM to the harness. I don't know if you've seen this post yet, but the picture that is in it made the connections much clearer for me: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-t...questions.html. On the head unit side of the harness, you'll see three black ground wires coming off of the Metra harness - just connect them all together and then connect the ground wire from your new head unit's harness to make a four-wire splice (I used an orange wire nut to bond all of them), and that will take care of your grounds. Then I believe there was a red, a yellow and blue wire that also needed to be attached to the new head unit's harness. Like I said, the wiring was fairly straightforward. Just follow the instructions that come with the harness, and also refer to your HU's manual. Since your CDM is in the well behind the seat, you'll just need to route the harness up into your dash. The entire sill cover on the passenger side lifts out after removing four screws and one piece of plastic trim in the door jamb. Running it underneath the sill cover is probably about as good a place as any. You'll also likely need to remove the lower passenger side dash trim panel in order to route the harness across to your center console. Like I said, just take your time.

I found the plastic mounting kit for the new HU that came from Crutchfield to be just barely useable. The plastic pocket that came with it was an ill fitting piece of crap, so I just made up a filler plate for the empty space in my console. Really flimsy stuff, but it worked. Also, really take your time when pulling your original Bose head unit out of the console. The mounting "ears" that it has are metal, and it's a really tight fit when it's coming out. You might want to have someone with strong hands gently spread the sides of the console while you pull the HU out so as not to crack the console. Getting at the screws that hold the original HU in place is a real joy too.

Once I had my original HU out, I followed the instructions from the mounting kit and cut out the very back panel of the housing that the original head unit was in, using a Dremel tool. You'll make a mess doing this with all of the little plastic bits flying around. Two words: shop vac. Removing that panel is necessary though in order to have room for all of the wiring. Once I had that panel cut out, I found that there was a silver metal bar running along the top slot at the very back of the opening, thus preventing me from mounting my new HU in the top slot due to the RCA cables. No biggie though. My new HU sits in the very bottom slot.

Make sure you give yourself most of the day to do this (it took me almost nine hours, including a few breaks along the way), and like I said take your time. I had never attempted ANY kind of car audio work before in my life and it came out just fine.

Good luck and enjoy your new stereo!

Ron

 

Wow thank you so much Screamin, invaluable information!

 

I did the EXACT same thing on my 94. I didn't run into any secrets. It is a large bundle of wires to run but they fit under the sill panel. A year later, I wasn't entirely happy with the sound of the Bose amps/speakers and I replaced the Bose speakers with aftermarket set and powering them right off the head unit - which does require a rewire. And now, I'm even considering a VERY small sub/amp, something that would fit in the cargo bin.

You might run into the problem I had - more of an annoyance - and that is when I turned the radio off (or shut the car) the head unit would power down and I would get a very loud POP through the speakers. I believe, it was something to do with the headunit powering down before the Bose amps. Ditching the Bose/amps speakers cured that.

But the conversion harness from Crutchfield to power the bose amps off an aftermarket head unit works just great and a bit time consuming but easy to install.