Technical Anyone ever install a newer stereo in an old car?

I'm in the process of trying to install an AM/FM radio from a '97 Saturn in the glove box of my '65 Bonneville. (I don't need a CD or cassette player because all I want to listen to is FM radio.) I have installed a few radios and tape players back in the day but none recently. I found the wiring diagram online and there's a battery constant wire, an accessory wire, an illumination wire and a dimmer wire besides the ground wire and speaker wires. Do I really need the first 4 wires? If not which ones can I do without? Can I hook them all to the same source like the fuse box or is there something specific that each wire needs to go to? I'm attaching the wiring diagram below. I'm only going to hook up two speakers to it. I cut off the end of the wiring harness and have at least 3" of each wire to work with which is plenty. Thanks in advance....

 

You can do without the dimmer wire IMO. I'm thinking it dims the illuminated face.

The 12+ constant is for the station memory and clock, the 12+ accessory is powered only when the ignition is on, and without the ground nothing works. If you hook up the switched 12+ wire to a constant source, then you will need to manually turn off the radio vs having the ignition switch do that function.

Be sure to connect the two speaker wires as shown. DO NOT GROUND THE SPEAKERS TO THE BODY.

 

I'd hook up the dimmer wire; that dims the face lighting at night (or anytime you have the lights on). Otherwise the face will be pretty bright and a distraction at night....

 

What is the illumination wire for? Can I put the illumination wire and dimmer wire with the accessory wire and attach all three to the same fuse on the fuse box which only works when the key is on? Or should I attach them to something else? Also, when I had both the constant and accessory wires hooked up yesterday the radio got really hot. That's not supposed to happen, is it? Thanks....

 

get an aftermarket radio, you can find them cheap if you look....

(I got one for $20 at walmart last fall)

 

In your case you may not need the dimmer wire asyour radio will be mounted in your glove box. This is probably of no consequence though if the radio gets really hot when connected, as it would not seem to be worth bothering with. Get a good one, start from there.

 

try Radio Shack

 

I would attach the dimmer wire to the dash light wiring and the illumination wire to the switched power source. if you had the dimmer powered all the time it may make it hard to see the station

 

I'm just going to skip the dimmer wire. What is the illumination wire for? What is the switched power source-the ignition switch?

 

switched power usually comes from the ACC terminal on the ignition switch. Brown on 1960s GM cars.

 

my 53 ford, didn't come with a radio, this opening was blanked out. I mounted the radio behind it, I modified the b panel so it could be removed, held in with a magnet push to open, latch

 

Why is it that people are afraid to experiment ? Table top spaghetti is always fun.

 

I love experimenting. Seems that every experiment I've done in the past several years, involving car radios, results in me throwing it away. Oh...wait...there was one 8 track that played tapes, but the radio was pretty flaky. I sold that one on ebay for a few bucks.

 

WHOA! LOL.Bruce.

 

That's a nice set up. However, from the numerous old cars I've owned, I've determined that the traditional way to install a later model radio was to cut the hole in the dash with an axe. That's how it was done back in the day...apparently.

 

I think I've got it working correctly now with just the accessory switched wire and the illumination wire (plus the ground wire and speaker wires). If I attach the battery constant wire the little screen on the radio goes blank so I just left it off. Now the clock works and the radio plays. When I turn the key off the clock doesn't revert to 1:00 and it stays on the station that I set it on. The only weird thing is the light in the little screen goes off but I can still see the clock on the screen. Is the clock supposed to be visible when the radio is off?

 

Here's a couple of pics with the key (and light) on and off. Is this correct?

 

Yes, the LCD draws very little while it is on.

 

Personally, I love the look of the original radio's I. All the old radio's can be converted to modern FM. Give Ward's a call..

http://www.wardsclassiccarradiorepair.com/

My 2¢ worth... Every time I retrofit, it doesn't look right. Nothing is cooler than the real thing that works like a modern radio. Please don't take this wrong, some people never heard of Ward's.... Just trying to simplify things and guide a way to keep the dash original looking.

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I will never install a stereo in a car again.
With the Bluetooth amp and available electronics out there, there is simply no need. And of course the prices have come down drastically on electronics the last few years.

 

The radio will be mounted in the glove compartment and the speakers will be hidden so the dash will still be original looking....

 

Good plan...

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I definitely have done that a couple of times... It only becomes inconvenient when you travel and drive out of the radio stations antenna range.

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chopped51 X2.

 

I installed a modern stereo in a gutted 8 track player in my sunliner

 

I remember radio shack......


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That's pretty cool but I'll bet it was a lot of work removing everything from inside the 8 track, installing the little hinges, etc. How long did it take you to do all that?

 

I can not remember and done it at work when it was slow,at that time I had the radio mounted under the seat so i was not in a big hurry.

 

I saw that and I thought there's no way they sell them for $20 but when I went there to look at speakers this morning I saw one for $19.84 so I bought it and had it hooked up in less than an hour. Thanks for the tip....

 

That's cool. So are you planning any trips out this way over the summer? I still have part of that Ford 9" rear end that you wanted. The '60 Edsel is out in California now and the new owner (who already has 3 restored '58 Edsel wagons) is very happy with it....