Just joined this 2 days ago so I am fairly new and not very computer savvy, so bear with me. Got a black 92 z28 vert and want to upgrade from the factory stereo cassette player to a cd player. Sounds easy, huh? I will not install an after market cd player in this car again. Theives have broken into this car 3 times. Detachable face you say? Tried that. As you guys know, with this kind of car, theives see the face removed and assume you have a system (which I do not, only factory speakers). Theives broke in and ransacked the interior and the trunk. I am currently saving $ for my third top. The plan: I do not want a factory 92 cd player because I am concerned about the quality given that it is 18 years old. I would like to find a late 90's/early 2000's GM factory cd player. I understand that the mounts are different, however I hope that I can modify it to fit. A factory cd player, regardless of age, is far less likely to be stolen than an after market. The question is: can I make this happen and have it look professional? I am curious what wiring harnesses I would need and how to go about this install. Any suggestions are welcomed and I truly appreciate the help. Thank you.

 

Yes, it can be done - you'll need an adapter harness, to convert your 21 pin radio plug to the newer 32 pin style. I have read that some of the newest GM head units are keyed to the ECM for anti-theft though, hopefully someone knows more about that. I also just had my head unit stolen a couple of weeks ago, so I invested in a good 2-way pager alarm.

 

Alarm for sure, my headunit was over a $1000 with all the goodies. I at the same time bought an Autopage RS1000 with proximity sensor. That will keep the robbers away!

 

Of coarse it can be done. But you could also install and aftermarket and bolt the hell out of it with a different head on each bolt or as i plan on doing soon is no radio at all. I listen to my sd chip in the stereo now but i will remove that soon and install a 4 channel amp a run it to an mp3 player that way the tunes go with me. Just need to hide the amp good.

 

I bet you could have paid for a really nice alarm with a proximity sensor with the money you put into the replacement tops...not to add insult to injury, but I have been where you are believe me...

either way you can do what your talking about. some companys make factory look alikes that are acctually as good or better than aftermarket ones. you could also find a factory deck that has a face that is a single din, take the face off and gut it, glue the buttons in place from behind, then fab a way to put it over your aftermarket radio to make it appear like you are factory, but only snap it on when you leave the car. I have done this several times for my customers, not in a 3rd gen, but anything can be done.

sorry about your losses. to the thieves its just a quick buck, but to car enthusiasts like us, it is a personal offense. especially if you did the work yourself.

 

Thats craziness ! I ve never heard of making a fake face. If you have pics you should post em.

 

I've seen the fake face before, it is common with the honda crowd, as much as I hate them, I have to give them credit for creativity. I thought it was a cool idea also, till I saw the work involved in doing it right, then I told myself, no thanks, I'll pass.

 

Eye for an Eye

 

Just an idea, but have you considered mounting it in the console under the padded part?

 

I've been seriously thinking about this lately myself. I really don't care if the head unit gets stolen, my concern is damage done to the car in the theft. Broken windows, screwed up dash, wires, ect.
I have an alarm with sound sensor of somesort because my blackberry keeps setting it off when I get an email.
I was thinking of mounting the head unit somewhere else and leaving a cluster of wires hanging out of the hole in the dash.