When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I just finished with making everything look factory, but sound modern.
Got a refurbished cassette play with an aux in cable added. Ran the aux in cable to the inside of the center console. Along with a bass ****. This way I can throw an mp3 player in the box and nothing looks out of the ordinary.
Was limited on my choice of front speakers because of the depth issues on the drivers side. But I'm happy with the Pioneers for what they are.
Put a couple of downward firing 10's in the back and hid them with a carpeted cover so no one can see them.
A couple of quality 6x9's in the sail panels to top it off.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the sound.
The new stuff
The old stuff. Was all original Delco.
Period correct cassette player
Aux in and bass **** in the center console. Had to redact my insurance card from the picture.
Last edited by 89firebird; 12-25-2017 at 06:15 PM.
That Grand AM head-unit sure fits' in there pretty nice and almost looks stock. I'm betting it sounds pretty good too now that you've got some speakers capable of producing a little extra BASS too ! Nice upgrade !
That Grand AM head-unit sure fits' in there pretty nice and almost looks stock. I'm betting it sounds pretty good too now that you've got some speakers capable of producing a little extra BASS too ! Nice upgrade !
Will all of the 90's Pontiac units (Grand Am / Grand Prix / Bonneville, etc) plug and play? I know the antenna jack changed in 88 or 89, but are there any other differences?
NO,.... they are not all the same and there are some minor differences depending on the head unit. Some 90's GM head-units require the 5th plug in order for the radio back lighting to function.
Check out this pic:
Head-unit on the left is froma 91 Bonneville. You can see the 7-PIN 5th plug in front of it. That radio WILL have proper back lighting using the normal delco plugs. ( 5th plug shown is for SWC )
Head-unit on the right is from a 92 Bonneville. The face looks almost exactly the same ( this one is NOT Delco LOC ) but there is no back lighting with the standard Delco radio plugs. If you look at the 5th ( 7 PIN ) radio plug in front of it you will see that it's got 3 wires,... Black is Ground, Grey (4th/ middle PIN ) is radio back lighting and ( I THINK ) Green is SWC.
I've found that the 5th plug was used on various GM radios,... found it needed on some Pontiac, some Buick, & some Olds head-units. I have not found this on any Chevy head-units yet.
Another minor thing I noticed,..... when first tried to plug a Thirdgen radio plug into a 4th Gen Pontiac ( TA, Grand Prix, Bonnie ) 7-band EQ CD player I noticed that 1 of the plugs didn't fit. this was simply due to the locking tab on one of the Thinrdgen plugs..... remove the locking tab and the plug fits right in as it should. ( IIRC it was the rear speaker plug. )
This is actually what I would like to do once my restoration is complete. Any chance of more details such as mounting locations, pictures and methods for amp, sail panel, dash and the 10s?
I also have the original 88gta headunit so will also need the speaker to rca adapter for the amp.
The sound is really good considering the factory speaker locations. The amp allows for tuning each output, which really helps. The weak spot is probably those Pioneer fronts. They are low profile, so they install without cutting up the car.
I purchased the head unit with the aux in already installed. Lights up amber to match the rest of the dash. It's pretty slick the way it works. You can listen to AM/FM or cassette by default. But when you plug in an MP3 player into the aux in, it overrides the head unit and plays your MP3 library. No switches required.
As far as pictures of the install, I didn't take any. The fronts and sail panels are in the factory location. I have a small box in the back with the amp mounted next to it. Then a carpeted cover so it's hidden. Low light picture, but you can get the idea:
12-25-2017, 06:09 PM
