I see a lot of you guys are using the newer cd players in your fbodies. The question I have is are the plugs the same between the two radios and will the newer unit plug right in or are you guys having to wire them in to the factory harness? Also I am watching a couple of cd players on ebay right now and wondered if only I should be looking for certain years as a particular swap, like nothing newer than a 99 or a 02 for example. I am looking at pontiac units because they are red to match my GTA dash, but I also am watching a factory monsoon unit and wasn't sure if that would fit without a problem or if the monsoon is bigger or deeper than the plain radio.
Thanks.

 

The harness is the same on the '88+ cars. You have the older style connectors on your '87 and will have to purchase an adapter.

The standard and monsoon headunits are exactly the same. They are both slightly deeper and may require slight modification. On my '88 GTA I had to notch the two small heater ducts in the radio pod.

 

Careful buying theftlock ones though. I bought one for 5 bucks out of a sunfire and i couldn't get anything but the clock to work. I'm going aftermarket for the aux input anyways.

 

You just have to know the trick to unlock them

 

You can get it unlocked at any GM dealership, and most of the newer GM stereos have an accessory bus that can be adapted to do aux-in, do a search for "delco 9-pin".

 

Is the adapter just a plug that goes between the 2 or does it have to be cut and spliced in.

 

The adaptor plugs into your existing radio connectors so you dont have to cut the factory wiring.The other end should have the 21 pin connection for the newer style radio.If not you will just have to splice it onto a factory 21 pin connector.