John in RI

iTrader: (167)

For all the members that poke at the 'Gordy', Goofy, Tacky, 'Over-blown, 'Over-the-top' 80's style ---------> GET BENT. If you can't appreciate the 80's for what it was, so be it; just move along because there's nothing in this thread intended for you.

After keeping this thing stored in a box for the better part of the last 20 years....... it's time to put it work. It's the 1986 (only) version of the Camaro Berlinetta UT4 Cassette Equalizer sound system. Had a real close friend suddenly pass-away recently and it's really made me re-think things. One of those things was trying to justify why so much of my stuff is packed away in boxes. ( As a back-up, 'just in case', or because its no longer obtainable,.....)

NO more !! LIFE IS TOO SHORT.







The mark-down/clearance price on the dealership list was $512,.... back in 2002. I know I'll never find another one like it, I knew I'd never sell it, and I was keeping it stashed away 'just in case'; Well; 'just in case' hit me like a freight train last week. I came to decided on installing this NOS Berlinetta head unit just in case,......... just-in-case I'm the next one of my old-school buddies to end up in a pine box.

Is there anything better to do than install a radio in your Thirdgen at 2:30 AM in a 15 degree garage in late February ?? NOT as far as I'm concerned ! A pic from the moment this head-unit was first plugged in and turned on ( slapped in the *** and started screaming as a sign of "life" )
You can hear it here:

1986 Camaro Berlinetta UT4 Cassette with Equalizer: Test 1

1986 Camaro Berlinetta UT4 Cassette with Equalizer, Test 2






Makes me happy every-time I climb behind the wheel and turn on the tunes before rolling away,.......sideways more often than not.


To all my fellow 80's lovin' Thirdgen enthusiasts: Live for TODAY, Baby !!!

WildCard600

Glorious. Always thought those radios were super cool looking in a early 80's sci-fi way.

Fullmonte77

iTrader: (3)

It's like not driving a car so it will be worth more down the road. Enjoy it! Like the saying goes. It's like not screwing you girlfriend so she will be tight for the next guy.

dagwood

iTrader: (5)

RAD!

gt4373

Very Nice

This Just Caught My Eye, Anyone Else Notice We Have A Lot Of 10 Year Members Now

topduarte

iTrader: (8)

Very cool

Drew

iTrader: (58)

There's nothing wrong with that.

indy82z

iTrader: (5)

Congrats John. I have lots of NOS parts in the box and have the car I plan to use them all on now, just need to get around to working on that one. I have two others that just need minor things now to be pretty perfect, so once I finish those (hoping this year), next year that car gets its turn!! I look forward into cracking into all those NOS parts too and see them all finally work.

Tootie Pang

iTrader: (2)

John, very sorry to hear about your friend. These things come out of nowhere. I could not agree more. Enjoy. In my mind, I could smell that amazing 80's "new electronics" scent opening that box.

kentuckyKITT

iTrader: (4)

I like it! Always thought that radio was unique. Oh and everyone is a 10 year member! We need 20 year badges now.

dagwood

iTrader: (5)

Whoa! Yeah, what happened there??

FormerL69

iTrader: (2)

That's awesome John. Way to go! I love the Berli radio on a stick.

Drew

iTrader: (58)

Forum started keeping track 20 years ago. Most of the members that post on this board have been around awhile.

JT

iTrader: (1)

Yes.

But there are some members that got the badge way short of their 10 year join date from an error over the weekend. It will take some time to fix due to the way the system handles those processes. For example, gt4373 above is a little short of the requirement with a join date of Nov 2011.

dagwood

iTrader: (5)

There are guys that replied early in this thread with a join date of 2019 and 2018 and have it. Looks like there isn't anyone that doesn't have it lol.

Wow. I'm knocking the door on being a 20 year member!

Tootie Pang

iTrader: (2)

What the heck did I post in 2009?! I didn't get my car until 2016!

Monteman71

I joined in 2014,
But the 10 year badge is cool!
Can I keep it?
Shawn
lol

LeonardS

Maybe they’ll do a “Almost 10 Year” badge until guys get to 10 years 😄

Monteman71

Yup

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Thanx----------- Thanks & Thanx ! My 80's school-yard buddies have been dropping like flies the last couple years and I think back on those guys almost every time I drive my Thirdgen. Those were the guys that were hangin' on in the passenger seat of my Berlinetta during some of the greatest adventures of my life. With Eric doing donuts around 3 girls we were tryin' to pick-up at Rocky Point; with Jay when we drove to NH Speedway to watch Dale race for the first time; with Phil 'roughing it' on the BEAT 4x4 hunting trails to find the keg-party, and with Mike when we chased down the slug that was (REALLY) harassing his girlfriend......... I lived thru my teens in the 80's and bought my 1st Thirdgen in 90'; wouldn't trade those times - with those guys as co-pilots - for anything.

I digress,........

The fresh install didn't last long. I took Mean Green out for a ride to see Jay off and while driving the car there was WAY to much 'bleed-through' with the GM AUX. The one I tried to use was from a 2013 Sonic and was only a 3 channel AUX jack. ( just about every AUX from every make/model I get from the bone-yard is a 3-channel ) I had to remove the original AUX from the button and install a 5 channel AUX so there was a physical break in the connection from the receiver to the AUX channel. Had to cut the AUX and the circuit board from the plug pins,.... solder wires from the AUX to the Pins,... splice/solder the plug to a 5 wire harness,.... Solder the 5-wire harness into the Radio Receiver. Could have made it a bit simpler, but I needed to be able to unplug @ the button so everything could be dismantled in the future.



While the console was opened back up I also turned the BOSE adapter (Signal Converter) line levels to their lowest possible setting. They were already lower than I though they were so the power it's making isn't due to the BOSE adapter. As a final step I spliced/soldered a noise filter on the power line to the BOSE Relay (all the AMPS). I was not happy with the sound on my last drive and while I never needed a noise filter in the past,... it was like $15 and took 5 minutes to install, so why not.

I'll get the new head-unit re-installed ASAP but can't ( won't ) be able to road test for awhile. I was really 'risking it' by driving my Berlinetta last week because the cracks in my Nittos are sooooooo bad. Thankfully a brand-new set of new Micky Thompson Street Comps got delivered yesterday so Mean Green will back back on the street soon enough !!



P.S. IF IT'S TOO LOUD,....... YOU'RE TOO OLD !!!

Drew

iTrader: (58)

LOL I didn't even notice... Lack of sleep will do that I guess.

I was only able to follow and understand about half that, but I'm impressed that you've taken the time to make the old, new, and different, all work together.

irvan

iTrader: (1)

pretty spectacular radio, nice to see it used.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

I know these radios were a lover-it-or-hate-it kind of thing,... but they put out a great sound from the factory. No-where near Awesome, but easily equal to anything else GM was producing back then. ( They all used the same DM165 AMP chips. )

There was FM sound coming thru the 3-wire AUX when the AUX was inserted into the jack. There should be only a very faint hint of FM sound when the AUX is inserted. The 5-wire AUX eliminated almost all of that bleed-thru because it physically breaks the circuit. It was more of a noticeable problem with the Berlinetta head unit than other GM Delcos because the way the AUX gets tied into the Receiver; On a typical Delco your phone would need to be placed at full volume to equal the head unit sound level at any given volume setting but in the Berlinetta head unit the phone volume has to be set at about 2/3'ds to = the head unit output; any higher volume on the phone & the phone will "amplify" the AUX output to a greater volume than the head unit. This - and the slightly amplified output caused by the signal converter - really didn't 'mix' well with the 3-wire AUX.

A bit more background: ( This is the history section after all ! ) The Digital Camaro had 2 Stereo Options: Cassette/EQ and no Cassette/no EQ. The first version of the head unit was used in the 84-85 cars and was redesigned in 86 along with many other Berlinetta specific parts. From 84 thru 85 this is the Radio cassette radio that was used: ( NOS )



The 86 re-design was basically a completely new remote Head and an updated Receiver to match. The only thing that was the same was the shape of the remote Head , everything inside is different. An 84 Head will only plug into an 84 Receiver and the same goes for the 86. Dash Harness plug ports were exactly the same so the 2-part system could be installed in any 84-86,... you just had to use both parts from the same vintage. There were only 4500 Berlinetta produced in the 86 year so the 86 radio is a fairly uncommon find. 84-85 style ( almost 50,000 cars ) had back-lighting shown thru printing on the case,... but the 86 back-lighting is shown thru each button making it much more visibly appealing - and "easier" to use - at night. 86 Berlinetta radios were uncommon, but not all Berlinettas got a factory cassette deck making the EQ version even more "rare" than the 4500 cars that were built suggests. This is what the non-cassette / non-EQ Radio looked like in 86. (NOS)



I honestly almost hacked into the NOS 86 radio before installing it. I almost modified it to be another custom built unit; WITH Equalizer but WITHOUT cassette. While I still have a large collection of cassettes (I still use) I knew my music is going to primarily come from my phone from now on. I've built these custom units before and if the cassette deck was non-functional in the NOS radio when I first plugged it in, I seriously considered removing the mechanism and converting it. ( Like Drew said,........ "make the old new" by ditching the cassette tapes completely for the digital music.) But, the cassette deck worked perfectly so I quickly abandoned that idea. Here's a look at the (used) 84-85 & the 86 Berlinetta custom built head units.




While the extra storage 'pocket' would have been nice to have / use,.......... but It was not "cool" enough to justify cracking into a brand new 30 YO head unit and besides that: it's an 84 Berlinetta and it just HAD to keep the Cassette Deck on my center console!!!