Radio Head Wiring Help
06-24-2020, 12:07 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Radio Head Wiring Help
Hi everyone,
Thanks to everyone that helped me prior. I do appreciate it.
MY 1981 5-speed w/competition package.
Getting to the point where the interior is starting to look as it should. Door panels, armrests, instrument cluster / pod...all kinds of things are refirb'ed and installed...!!! Seems the locks work as expected.
Now it is time to refirb the center console and associated area including wiring and controls. The HVAC appears to be operating well so it is time to correct the radio wiring. PO definitely modified the harness when the original head was replaced with an Alpine cassette model. Nice unit but the replacement left the wires in rough condition (cut and shortened condition). I am attempting to repair as best possible by replacing the missing connectors and wire length. This task is a bit uphill as I do not know exactly what I'm looking for and consequently am unable to properly describe what I need.
Pictures of the wiring harness under the center console would be a big help. Does anyone have pictures of the wiring on the underside of the center console for the "Radio w/ four speakers" described in the WSM page 97-115. I am hoping to see the three connectors mentioned in the notes (in the lower right of this page). The connectors are T4 in red, yellow and green. I do not know the orientation (straight or square) or the exact location (my harness is missing a good portion of everything). All I can attest to is in the manual; the red and yellow connectors are in the console area and the green connector is near the fader (maybe under the driver's seat).
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks to everyone that helped me prior. I do appreciate it.
MY 1981 5-speed w/competition package.
Getting to the point where the interior is starting to look as it should. Door panels, armrests, instrument cluster / pod...all kinds of things are refirb'ed and installed...!!! Seems the locks work as expected.
Now it is time to refirb the center console and associated area including wiring and controls. The HVAC appears to be operating well so it is time to correct the radio wiring. PO definitely modified the harness when the original head was replaced with an Alpine cassette model. Nice unit but the replacement left the wires in rough condition (cut and shortened condition). I am attempting to repair as best possible by replacing the missing connectors and wire length. This task is a bit uphill as I do not know exactly what I'm looking for and consequently am unable to properly describe what I need.
Pictures of the wiring harness under the center console would be a big help. Does anyone have pictures of the wiring on the underside of the center console for the "Radio w/ four speakers" described in the WSM page 97-115. I am hoping to see the three connectors mentioned in the notes (in the lower right of this page). The connectors are T4 in red, yellow and green. I do not know the orientation (straight or square) or the exact location (my harness is missing a good portion of everything). All I can attest to is in the manual; the red and yellow connectors are in the console area and the green connector is near the fader (maybe under the driver's seat).
Any help is appreciated.
06-25-2020, 12:58 AM
#2
Chronic Tool Dropper
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
Ed, I don't have an early car as you do. When I went to update the head uit and wiring in my '89, I red a lot o horror stories about wiring hacks around sound system mods. My car was (and remains...) unmolested as a result. I put in all new wiring for the head unit, ith the exception of the X signal to the head unit. Everything else is new. I found mating connectors for the speaker wiring by the amp, so I could run new wiring from a 4x40W head unit to speakers without hacking cutting splicing anything. My only hack is making the tap for the X that pligs into the factory head unit plug, plus I added anothr plug-in for that connector to support the antenna amp. I pulled wiring for a possible future amp next to the passenger seat, including the low-level coax pieves with RCA connectors from the head unit, and a future power feed for that amp without disturbing any original wiring.
In my dark and troubled history with 'interesting' cars, a major scourge is hacked wiring for state of the current art audio gear stuck in along the way. I decided decades ago that I would never be that inconsiderate PO, .so new wiring and no hacking is the requirement here at the dr bob world headquarters garage.
Do yourself and the future caretakers a huge favor, and just put in new wires for the install you want to do. At the next change in technology, do it again. Do everything you can to keep the original wiring intact as you carefully archive/store the original gear you remove. I expect my car to be worth a fortune at some poin, and it needs all the help it can get to meet that goal.
In my dark and troubled history with 'interesting' cars, a major scourge is hacked wiring for state of the current art audio gear stuck in along the way. I decided decades ago that I would never be that inconsiderate PO, .so new wiring and no hacking is the requirement here at the dr bob world headquarters garage.
Do yourself and the future caretakers a huge favor, and just put in new wires for the install you want to do. At the next change in technology, do it again. Do everything you can to keep the original wiring intact as you carefully archive/store the original gear you remove. I expect my car to be worth a fortune at some poin, and it needs all the help it can get to meet that goal.
