I was wondering if anyone can shed a little light on this radio mystery of mine. I am restoring an 83 Z28 H.O. that was built in early June of 1983. I have the build sheet so I know most of everything on it. The radio is proving to be tougher to figure out, because I cannot see the middle digit of the RPO code, and I can barely see the other two. Here is what I know...

1. The RPO codes are in alphabetical order, this rules out this radio being a "Y" radio.
2. The RPO code definitely starts with a "U"
3. The RPO code SEEMS to end with a "1"
4. The RPO Description is "AMFM ST ETR R" (what does the last R stand for?)
5. The car has the ERS badge.
6. There is also an RPO for "RADIO SUPPRES"
7. There is also an RPO for "ST RADIO PROV"
8. There is also U79 for "EXT RANGE SPR"

So, I know
1) This is not a "U63" AM radio. There are multiple things that discount that.
2) This is not a "U69" AM/FM radio as that is not an ERS radio.
2) This is not a "YE1","YE2" or "YE4" radio. It comes in the "U" codes.

I see these listed on GM's main RPO sheet.

1) I see a "UP1" radio. from 76 to 83 described as "RADIO,AM/FM STEREO TAPE,C.S". I have not heard of any Camaros having this one. (What does C.S. mean?)
2) I see a "UN1" radio from 76 to 83 described as RADIO,AM/FM STEREO CASSETTE,C.B. (CB Radio?)

So yeah, there is no easy answer that I can come up with. Maybe someone knows more about this than I do.

 

Well, It's certainly not a "UP1" or "UN1". That became obvious when I saw them and the date ranges they were used in.

It could possibly be a "UM6" and fit where it is in the sequence, but it would be tough to mistake a 6 for a 1, even blurry as it is.

 

Here is the build sheet in high resolution, if anyone thinks that they can tell what it says.

 

"UL1" ? The L would fit in there just right so that it would look blank like that. I see it as a Firebird radio option in 1983. Does anyone have an image that shows a UL1 radio? Or know anything about that particular model?

 

No Way To Make That Out,It's Completely Worn Off.

 

It's rough, I know. But...

1) It obviously starts with a "U".
2) It ends with a "1". I am sure of that now, comparing the other ones on the sheet to it.
3) If it was anything but a "L" in the center, we would see some of the print in that rather clear space there, as you can in the codes above and below it for example. So I think this mystery is solved. I have complete confidence in it.

Of Course, "UL1" radios seem to be very hard to find, or at least finding them by that designation. I have been able to find one picture. I wish I knew the Part Number, because they may be easier to find that way.

 

There Were 3 ETR Radio's Available In 83

ETR AM/FM Stereo Radio With Digital Clock
ETR AM/FM Stereo Radio With Stereo Cassette Tape And Digital Clock
ETR AM/FM Stereo Radio With Seek And Scan,Stereo Cassette Tape,And Digital Clock

 

Are you suggesting that a UL1 matches a YE1? (ETR AM/FM Stereo Radio With Digital Clock) exactly?

I've been researching this deeply and I know the models that are supposed to be in there. I have to be careful because I am doing an original restoration. I want to be very careful about what I put back in there. It's such a late 83 that I would not be surprised to find strange parts in it. A simple example is that it has an electric cooling fan from the factory. I have seen people argue on here that no 83's ever came with them, but a little research shows that all of the H.O.'s did.

I am seeing the UL1 in Olds and Pontiac for 83-84 at this point. What makes them different I wonder, or are they really basically the same? This is a fun, albeit difficult mystery to crack.

 

Does Look Like An L.

 

Check it out. I found the smoking gun. Here is the RPO on an 84 Firebird Build sheet and the description matches too. I have found that the descriptions are different from plant to plant on some codes so I had to find a car made around the same time at the Van Nuys plant.

Now the only question is how do I find one? I mailed a Delco Radio refurbisher that has been doing it for over 30 years. I'm hoping he knows more about it.

 

I have a nice one out of an 82 Camaro. $80 shipped if interested.

 

It's a steaming bucket of monkey poop. It eats tapes.

I highly advise against it. (as the owner of a 83 Z28 HO for 30 years)

I actually THREW ONE OF THOSE OUT THE WINDOW of my car once, in about 89 or 90, I think it was about the 3rd one I had had in the car by that time, no more than a coupla days after I bought it, when it ate an irreplaceable tape. If memory serves it was on hwy 63 near Truman AR, you can probably find it in some bog or river bottom if you want to comb the vicinity.

 

You seem to be pretty familiar with it, even though you don't have a very high opinion of it. What makes it unique? I see that it's backlit in amber. Did they use these in most of the H.O's in 83? It's ridiculous trying to find anything about this one model of radio. Maybe that's because they weren't very popular or maybe because they weren't that many. It certainly isn't anything special, yet I feel like I should put the original radio back in the car if I want it to be original. Can you share anything else about it? How much power does it put out, or does it distort easily? Does the FM radio sound clean? I appreciate your input.

 

Nothing.

Probably... the HO cars didn't get anything special in the radio dept.

It was exactly the same radio that was in every other GM car with a similar sound system at that time. Nothing special. There were MILLIONS of them made. The next year (one of my little bro's bought a 84 Z28) they came out with a "better" one, with a coupla more features anyway; his had a little "equalizer". Same crappy radio really, just more *****.

Sure... as long as you aren't concerned about listening to it. Especially tapes... they won't last long.

Probably... what do you have in mind?

Not enough. Yes. (and of course, being a factory radio, the amplifiers were designed to drive ONLY 8 ohm speakers, but there's no such thing available in the aftermarket, so unless you enjoy 30-odd-yr-old speakers that sounded like they're made of wet toilet paper when brand new and haven't got any better since then, ... yeah)

Reasonably so; fairly sensitive, as well. It actually had a pretty decent FM radio. That was a matter of intense concern to me at the time, as I was a broadcast engineer. A couple of us took care of about 45 signals within a 200 mile or so radius of our metro area, mostly outside the city. A radio with a sensitive tuner was a MUST. Of course that was before HD radio; more than likely that extra subcarrier would not be well tolerated by it, not being designed with it in mind. I seem to recall that even stations with Cue Paging on their 67kHz SC, or Muzak or whatever (but especially Cue) were very noisy and dull-sounding. I'd expect the synchronous "birdies" from HD would be even worse. I had LONG SINCE given up on that gorilla plop and put an aftermarket one in the car by the time HD came around so I don't know for sure, other than theoretically speaking, as a radio engineer.

The AM section however, SUCKED. It was one of the worst AM tuners I have ever experienced. (not that most people would care about that; but w/e, at the time it mattered greatly to me) Wasn't very sensitive, sounded like crap, picked up every hint of any disturbance within the car's own electrical system. It was almost as bad as the tape section. Except that, at least, trying to listen to AM stations didn't destroy the STATION permanently, like trying to listen to tapes did.

 

I thought I still had one of those, in the same pile of castoff worthless garbage from that car along with all the tore-up T-5s and 10-bolt parts, that I could go look at and get part #s and whatnot off of. I guess not. Musta thrown away the last one I had. NBD though, they're pretty commonplace, in lots of body styles for a few years in there. Seems like the 84 Caprice my wife had right about the same time, for example, had the exact same thing in it.

 

Thanks for looking, I appreciate it.

 

I don't know if Camaros had the same radios as Pontiacs but with a different faceplate, but I have the top end UU6 unit with EQ from 1984 in my T/A (came from a Fiero, but it's the same thing). I've put an AUX input in it and that thing works great and is loud to my standards, the sound is not even at its max that the parts that arent too tightened rattle like crazy. The sound is crisp, but it should be a lot better with new speakers (I'm using original Delco speakers from a 1989 at the front and crappy old AIWA speakers at the back...so yeah the sound is average at best).

 

I find that some people champion these old radios and some people tear them apart. I never had any real problems with them in the 80's. Of course I think I remember one eating one of my tapes too though, so there is that. There is something cool about keeping things factory.

 

As far as I can find, there was no orderable UL1 RPO code. The orderable RPOs for radios were YE1, YE2 and YE3.

Build sheets list many RPOs that are not orderable, but are listed because they include parts associated with orderable RPOs. For example, the Radio Provisions code isn't orderable, but the car was built with its parts because a radio was ordered. Not sure if UL1 falls into that category or not.

Given that the description of the radio is AMFM ST ETR R and doesn't mention CASS, my guess is the radio you're looking for is the base YE1 radio.

I have one in storage. It was the original radio from my 1983 HO Z28. I already had a factory CASS/EQ radio, so I ordered my 83 HO with the base radio so the car would have radio provisions. Then I removed the YE1 radio immediately and installed my EQ radio, so it's still "like new," having only been used a couple of times when I had to send my EQ radio out to be repaired. Chances are, it's exactly the radio you're looking for. When I have time I'll try to find it and take a pic of it.

How does the build sheet compare to the car you're restoring? Are there any oddities or discrepancies? Anything unique about the car itself? Sounds like a nice find.

 

I figured this one out. There was a UL1 radio. It's a strange one that has a red display and no "set" button. That's what the "R" stands for in the description. It does have a cassette and scan/seek. I was told that the original had those functions before it was pulled out which just made things more confusing until I figured it out. I am going to put one back in it, whether I buy it on here or am able to find the original. Everything matches the build sheet. One thing I did notice is that the axle code is from an axle listed for 84, so they were probably using 84 parts already. It's non-locking "KM" which is too bad, but may lend some credibility to them running low on locking rear ends around the time that the H.O. Came out.

 

Hi do u still have the 82 camero radio will it fit a 83 will u take 65$ if so let me know artv26@yahoo

 

Hi I'm Art are u intrested in selling the radio if so let me know artv26@yahoo asap