radio

[k9judge]

Hello
I'd like to put a nice (sane) after market radio in my 76 (original is gone) Who makes a nice one (model-brand?) How hard is the installation?
Thanks, K9JUDGE

 

[mxdout165]

You can get a nice Kenwood or Pioneer that will fit the factory slot. I believe Eckler's and Mid-America carry Kenwood stereo's that say Corvette on them for a reasonable price. Replacing the stereo is not too difficult, it is just time consuming, being the tight fit in the Vette and all. You can also check out Crutchfield and they can give you a list of stereo models that will fit in a Vette as well as Corvette specific speakers for replacing the stock speakers, which I would highly recommend if you plan on an aftermarket stereo. Crutchfield is also good for installation guides if you've never done a stereo swap before.

I replaced the stereo in my '81 with an aftermarket Premier Stereo. It required a little cutting of the dash, but it was well worth it for me, but I was going for premium sound.

My advice is to look at the links above, decide on what you want to spend, brands, etc. and go from there.

hth.

-T Jay

 

[Ala75Vette]

I put a Custom Autosound USA-5 (100W) am/fm/cassette with 6-CD changer in my '75, with a Custom Boom Box back in the cargo area. I mounted the CD changer in the glovebox (where the jack goes) behind the passenger side seat. I also replaced the front speakers with 30W 4"x6" panasonics, but it was a major pain in the butt (especially the one on the driver side)....if I had it to do over again I'd just put the front speakers in the kick panels. The advantage of going with a Custom Autosound system is that you don't have to make any mods to your instrument cluster bezel to make the radio 'fit' -- corvettes from the C3 era have narrower/shallower radio compartments. Ecklers has my radio plus some others that fit without mods for you to choose from (request a catalog if you don't already have one from www.ecklers.com). I can't honestly say it was the 'easiest' project I've undertaken for my vette, but the teenager in me wouldn't let me have a killer car without a killer sound system!

 

[Jade]

Radio

I have a 76 Vette too and I just had a JVC CD/MP3 player put in. Because there is not a lot of room to be throwing in amps, CD changers, huge speakers and subs, I went with a player that has 200 watts total power. (4 x 50). Also, because this deck plays MP3's, I just have 2 CD's burned, each with about 250 tunes organized into folders. Rather than have a CD changer and a huge wallet full of CD's, I now just need my 2 CDs and I am set for over 24 hours of great music!!

The model you want is JVC KDSX980. It is a great price for the features included. Alpine makes a nice MP3/CD player too but add on about $200 more!

Hope it works out for you, I'd be interested to hear what you decide to go with!

 

[Bob Chadwick]

I changed out the radio in my 77 with a Sony MP3/CD player. The radio change was easy. Just a little trimming of the gauge console.

As Ala75Vete points out the speaker change out can be difficult. I went with a pair of Boston Acoustics and ultimately paid someone to screw the new upper and lower driver's side pad together, I was so frustrated with it. Unless you had some other behind the dash work to do, I would go with kick panel speakers.

I'm still trying to find boxes for my rear speakers that will allow room for the T-Tops. I have found a set at Custom Autosound and another at Ecklers that are supposed to fit, but are over $100 each. I'm going to try and cut down the boxes I already have and see if I can make them fit before spending this kind of money.

Bob