I have an 88 Camaro that the stereo was stolen out of before I bought the vehicle. I am thinking about putting a new stereo in it. I looked at the wires already in the dash, but it appears that the factory wiring harness was cutout when the stereo was stolen. Should i try to replace the wiring harness with something from the factory, or should I Just try to install the new stereo using barrel connectors and directly connect the stereo wires to the pre-existing wires?
I would say just hard wire it in. One reason being the difficulty in locating a factory harness the other being it minimizes the amount of work you have to do. Just make sure to check the owners manual for the correct schematicsof the stereo wires as auto manufacturers in the 80's were notorious for not having a standard color coded wire setup
You should run new`wires to yo new stereo.AND the car is 20 years old and why take the chance of blowing up the new radio-am-fm-cd --- a simple short is bad news new wires are to be two-color so you can get the plus and minus in line for your new speakers -- the car is not so big that wire are hard to run under the carpet or dash and you will have a care free sound system and no shorted wiring and front and rear speakers JUST forget the old factory wires as they are not the correct gauge to handle the new sound systems ----- anyway you will feel better knowing that you did the job right.
Many stereo installation centers have patch kits for just such instances where the previous stereo was stolen and the harness is damaged. See if you can find one of those first. Or try a wrecking yard for a factory hookup. If you cannot find one, then just wire it straight to the harness. Remember, even if you replace the factory wiring, you will still have to get the adapter to hook the new stereo into the factory harness. If you are not worried about removing the stereo later when you plan to upgrade or sell the car, just wire it to the harness and don't worry about the factory connectors. Just make sure you wire it correctly.
This Site Might Help You. RE: Installing a car stereo without a wiring harness.? I have an 88 Camaro that the stereo was stolen out of before I bought the vehicle. I am thinking about putting a new stereo in it. I looked at the wires already in the dash, but it appears that the factory wiring harness was cutout when the stereo was stolen. Should i try to replace the wiring
Don't waste your money on the harness unless you plan on changing your stereo frequently. Here is your wire chart: WIRE ----- CAR ----- RADIO(standard) +12v constant ---- Orange ---- Yellow +12v switched ---- Yellow ---- Red Ground ---- Black ---- Black Park Lts(not needed)---- Brown ---- Orange/wht Dimmer(not needed) ----Gray ---- Orange Pwr antenna (if equp) ---- Pink ---- Blue Front Left+ ---- Chocolate ---- White Front Left- ---- Gray ---- White/Black Front Right+ ---- Lt Green ---- Gray Front Right- ---- Dk Green ---- Gray/Black Rear Left+ ----Brown ----Green Rear Left- ---- Yellow ---- Green/Black Rear Right+ ---- Dk Blue ---- Violet Rear Right- ---- Lt Blue ---- Violet/Black Be careful. There are 2 yellows, 2 grays, and 2 browns. Test them first. Usually, the speaker wires are run +and- attached together, but not always. Good Luck!
