Foreword: I'm sure this topic has come up a few times, but I did search and found no answers.

I'm looking for a head unit that will fit right in my 89 TA (have a nice 1 DIN unit in now, but it just looks horrible). What are all the units that will fit? I'm not looking for a junkyard radio, and I already know about this one from Summit (PNR-DEH-P47DH):

Does anybody else make them?

 

Pioneer is just about the only manufacturer that I know of besides anything stock from AC/Delco.

 

i recently saw a 1 1/2 din that was NOT a pioneer, i'm looking for a new deck myself and i would really like one if i could find one with everything i want.

 

You can also go with the Pioneer DEHP77DHR, it''s got a few more features including a remote.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAu...roductID=10428

I wanted to get a 1.5 myself, but I couldn't make the sacrifices that come with them.

 

look on Ebay for Alpine Cda D852 855 or 857. I have an 857 brand new I bought about 4 years ago and still haven't done the interior on mine yet.

 

Could you expand on that?
Thanks.

 

I was thinking the same seems like a regular radio that fits like it is suppose to to me.

 

For starters they are very few and far between and typically they don't have as many features as other decks and they cost way more than other decks for those features.

For myself, the #1 requirement was MP3/AAC/WMA playback, so that automatically took both of those Pioneers out of the running, other things that might be important to some are how many pre-amp outputs there are, whether it has bluetooth, a fancy display, nice remote, HD radio, satellite radio etc.

 

I'm with him, i was close to buying it because i wanted a gm sized one to give it a clean look i thought, after seeing pics of them installed and the price and features, i was turned off, there very expensive and they realy arent that great, i ordered the camaro faceplate kit from crutchfield and im very pleased with the results, it looks great and there plastic matches the grain.

 

not bad but the fancy display isn't really that important to me anyway. I had the Pioneer with the screen savers and remote and stuff but I love my Alpine compared to it. I like to be able to hear everything that is supposed to be there. I will post a pic of mine tomorrow you can find them on Ebay used for around $150-$175 once in awhile.

 

For my 89 RS, I bought a used Delco Theft-Lock CD-Radio from my local car audio store. Sometimes the customer doesn't want to keep the old radio, and the store will either toss them or sell them cheap. It fit nicely in the radio pod with little to no modification. Only downside is that there is no pre-amp out, which makes a line level converter necessary in order to install an amplifier. That's fine by me for now since my big system is in my daily driver 92 V6.

 

I have an older 1 1/2 DIN. I've been very happy with it, but I don't need a lot of the features mentioned above either (MP3/AAC/WMA, Bluetooth, etc).

The Pioneer DEH-P77DH (much like the one pictured way above) is XM satellite ready, has a nice remote, built in sub crossover with a selection of frqz's, 3 pairs of 4-volt preamp outputs (front rear & sub), among a bunch of other features. I also like the flush clean install look and the larger buttons and display for my older fingers and eyes.

They don't have the ability to play some of the other cd formats, but for $300 (or less) for the higher model and even less for others, it may be a viable choice for some. If you want something more elaborate, then they may not be on the shopping list. Everyone's needs are unique.

 

i have the pioneer dehp77. it's allright, i was happy with it until i saw AlHasse's car in person. I realy want to do what he did and get a newer Factory deck with SCV and all the nifty features. then I will throw the pioneer in my daily and ditch the piece of trash JVC that is in there now.

my oonly problem is that i would have to get one from a Pontiac so that it would have Red/Orange display. the blue/green chevy uses in it's other divisions would not look good with my digital dash.

 

I haven't got the SCV to work on this yet. I suppose it needs more than the 2000 pulse per mile that my computer requires. Either that or the SCV circuit in the radio just doesn't work. All that aside, I'm happy with the way it looks in the opening.

 

A little off topic but i'm about to begin the install of a double din fixed face dvd-navigation in my 89 trans am. If some of you may be interested in something like that i'll be sure to keep any info and get some pics of the mods i will have to make to have it look nice. I'm in the same situation were i want certain features but i cant stand shoddy looking instalations just let me know.

 

sure, sounds great. Perhaps going Double DIN is the way for me, be sure to post some pics. I'd rather have to mod something to fit snugly than have something that looks tacked on/in.

also, just got through with a search that didn't really help my hopes much. here's the results:

http://www.autotoys.com/x/catalog/PYLE_PLCDCS220_15_DIN_RADIO_MP3_COMPATIBLE_p_5857.html
this looks the most promising, $140, plays MP3 CD's/CD R's and cassettes as well.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://paginas.terra.com.br/informatica/pastorwebsite/cdad852.jpg&imgrefurl=http://paginas.terra
.com.br/informatica/pastorwebsite/Hotsom_Dakota.htm&h=150&w=380&sz=18&hl=en&start=39&tbnid=
u7ns98CMwypX6M:&tbnh=49&tbnw=123&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%25221.5%2BDIN%2522%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN
I though this looked the best, but I couldn't find it anywhere else, it's price, any info whatsoever, and where it's located doesn't help much.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...3Doff%26sa%3DN
I'm steering clear of this one and the website it's on. compare it to the first one for something interesting

lastly, if anybody else is gonna search 1.5 DIN radios, be aware that this may yield some, *ahem* "unrelated pictures" (apparently 1.5 DIN means something VERY different in Russian, or some foreign language w/weird symbols)

 

hey al, when you put the newer gm radio in, did it have provisions to control a power antenna? id like to do it to my 83 with the stock power antenna

 

You'll probably need to find the correct wire harness for the newer radio and make an adapter or just splice it into your own. As for mine, the radio itself looks to have power antenna capability, it's on pin 8. There is a 20 or 21 pin connector on the radio which is divided into 4 sections, three are used...

Headunit wiring harness
Pin#............Color.................Function
1...............Grey..................Front Left Speaker -
2...............Tan...................Front Left Speaker +
3...............Dark Green............Front Right Speaker -
4...............Light Green...........Front Right Speaker +
5...............Black.................Ground
6...............Brown.................Illumination
7...............Grey..................Dimmer
8...............Pink..................Power Antenna
9...............Yellow................12V Ignition
10..............Orange................12V Constant
11..............NA....................NA
12..............NA....................NA
13..............NA....................NA
14..............Dark Blue.............Steering Wheel Controls
17..............Light Blue............Right Rear Speaker -
18..............Dark Blue.............Right Rear Speaker +
19..............Yellow................Left Rear Speaker -
20..............Brown.................Left Rear Speaker +

Pins 11-16 are left open by the harness. For me, the SCV (speed controlled volume) receives its signal from VSS in pin 16, but I haven't got it to work yet. Either it's broke in the radio, or the 2000 pulse per mile for the TBI computer isn't enough for the radio.

 

YES the new radio will have a remote out wire. in fact, i think it is even the same color on the new GMA cars as on the old. on my 88 it is pink. all you need is that wire from the late model unit to go to the wire on your existing harness (pink?). the pins will not match up, as GM changed it's radio plug in 1987, but you can make an adapter or just solder in the 87+ style in your car.

 

I have a Alpine D857 with the 4v preouts. There are only 2 Preouts the rear Preouts can be set for Non-Fading for Subwoofer control. The other thing i like is that it has selectable rear backlighting with an Amber that perfectly matches the amber gauges when the lights go on. There is a green that is supposed to match a Chevy style gauges lighting i guess, but i don't drive chevy's. It has a Apline Ai-Net connector as well which i have read you can trick into using the newer Alpine Accesories , IE Satellite Radio, Ipod and what not. I got it brand new on clearance so the price wasn't even bad.

 

Couldja post a pic? I'd like to see that

 

looks like this and has a remote
this one is actually an 855 (not mine I also have the 857)
the one in the pic is listed on Ebay now and will end around 7 tonight it is at $189.99
there is also a d852 little lower end bin for $175
and an 857 for $162.50 that will be done Thurs evening sometime.
these are discontiniued so used or nos is the only way to get them. I paid $398 for my 857 about 4 or 5 years ago, mine is still brand new just because I haven't worried about the stereo stuff at all yet. it changes the backlighting from green to amber to red to match dash lighting. and it has a graphic spectrum eq display instead of some chessy dolphins or space ships like the crap today. unfortunately if you use mp3 format to burn audio disc you will have to utilize the Ai-net feature with a mp3 compatible cd changer because none of the d85 series will play mp3's or just start burning regular cd format or buy cd

 

In my 86 iroc i have a sony tv. it has everything u want but not a dvd player. blue tooth and mp3,wma,ipod link,downloadable image wareand custom **** and button colors. and i am very happy with it. it has front and rear and center 4v preamp out puts, 4v subwoofer out put with built in 7 band eq. motorized face and theft lock security that can run thru ur after market alarm if ne wants to c a pic of it pm me and ill take a pic!

 

I too want to install a double din unit.
Please send your info and pics to me.
Did it turn out okay?

 

I'm going to be doing this exact same thing. I'm maybe a year or so away to being able to start. Have you started yet? What Nav unit did you go with?

I've been thinking of going with one of the Eclipse units.

Looking at the hole and the size of the unit. Looks like some shaving of the bezel and the metal bracket on the HVAC control might need to be done, to make it all fit.

Then fiberglass onto the factory bezel to form around the HU. Like I said I'm still maybe a year out before even starting on anything Car Audio. If you've started I would love to see any progress pics, and any tips you may have.

Thanks
Chris.