Hi,

I have an 83 Camaro with a radio/tape deck. I have a radio/cd player from a 4th gen Camaro that I'd like to swap in. in looking at the two it looks like I can just take the mounting bracket off the tape deck and put it on the cd player and it will mount right in, but the plugs on the back are different. I found an adapter on eBay to convert the old wiring harness to the newer radio, but i know little about car audio.

I read in another post that stock 3rd gen radios are 10 Ohms and swapping to newer radios (4 Ohms) you may have to update speakers as well. will i need to do that in this situation?

are there any other issues I'll need to address in making this swap?

any assistance you all can provide would be much appreciated.

 

You can just use the proper harness adapter AND the proper antenna adapter to connect to the 4th gen CD player & it will work just fine. When it comes to OHMs the "problem" is when the speakers OMS are lower than rated. The basic 80/90's Delco Head unit was made for: front 2-10 OHM and rear 2-4 OHM;

If you keep the front 2-10 OHM and change the rear too 2-8 OHM (or 2-10 OHM),... No problem. It will not sound as good as it can - but no harm to the radio.

If you change the front 2-4 OHM and keep the 2-4 OHM in the rear,.... PROBLEM. The additional stress on the AMP chips will burn out the AMP chip(s) in the radio. They overheat and burn out.

In the Thirdgen the system "highs" get blasted in your face off the windshield and the "lows" get pushed at you from behind. (Tweeters in front and Woofers in back.)

If / When you introduce an external GM or aftermarket accessory AMP into the mix,.... things change.

 

thanks for the feedback. I believe that the harness adapter included an antenna adapter as well. it sounds like I'm good to keep the stock speakers with the 4th gen radio. I'll give it a go this weekend.