I'm seriously thinking about getting a Custom Autosound system for my '81 but I just saw an '83 Elky in a local parking lot today that had an '86-'88 radio bezel and what looked like a stock Delco CD stereo out of a '98-'02 Camaro. It look really nice and it looked almost stock. I really liked it but there was no owner in sight so I couldn't ask them how they did it. Anybody tried this?

I did this in my '87 Conquesta, used a new Delco unit from a S-10 truck. Purchased from a local sound shop for around $280. Chose the AM/FM/CD radio. It is a perfect fit in the dash opening. The radio face is however about 3/8" inch shallower than the original radio was. I used a black adhesive backed foam rubber gasket glued to the outer radio bezel. It looks like a factory install!! :-P New speakers are a breeze to install and make the listening of C/D's wonderful :-D

Good luck,

starstream

I just put an 87' Monte bezel into my 83'. I think it is way better overall, the corners of the pad around my radio started cracking and the new bezel, instead of sitting in the hole, it surrounds it and all you have to do to swap is take out the am/fm support brace and use the bottom screw holes from that spot. Hope my ramblings help.

Can you guys post me a pic of ur set-up? i wanna see c couple more trucks with the modern stereo before I decide. Thanks

I have an AC Delco digital unit out of a 92 Trans Am with a built in 5 band equalizer, it was pretty easy to install using the correct brackets, wiring adapter and antenna adapter. It has the 86-87 style faceplate that I found for sale, like new, blue in color to match my dash. I bought everything off Ebay except the antenna adapter. I have probably less than $140 bucks into everything (less speakers).

What wiring and antenna dadpter do I need? You have a part #?

Anybody tried this?
Yep. What do you want to know? I pulled a complete Bose system out of a 95 Z28 I salvaged and made it work.

Here's the box I made for the smugglers compartment for the 5 speaker system...center one is the sub-woofer.
http://home.comcast.net/~pjlbrown/speakers.JPG

Anybody have a picture of the radio with the trim installed??

I'll take one tonight when I get home...

Here's mine...
http://home.comcast.net/~pjlbrown/IMG_0179.JPG

8) Looks like it was born there! :cool:

PaPa John

Thanks Peter. 8) I have a radio/CD from a 2003 Silverado that I have been thinking about using in my Elky but I wasn't sure how it would look. Think I'll have to revisit the idea.

I have a radio/CD from a 2003 Silverado that I have been thinking about using in my Elky You may have a depth problem with 1997+ units. If it's got a heat snyc on the rear of the unit...it won't fit due to the rear support bracket inside the dash...unless you modify it of course. ;)

Just remember that stock speakers tend to be high resistance (9ohm area). So if your putting a stock head unit in, keep an eye on overheating if you use aftermarket speakers.

I did the same radio swap in my 86 Caballero as "87SS" which looks great to me (since I prefer the stock look) and sounded great until I apparently overdrove the stock speakers. Was wondering what speakers "87SS" is using if the he stayed with the standard 3-1/2 inch dash mounts. I saw recommendations for Pioneer, Infinity, and Rockford Fosgate in related discussions.

For Christmas, my son bought himself an Insignia "Car CD/MP3 Player with Flash Drive Port" from Best Buy (has a removable faceplate to discourage theft). Since Son doesn't have calluses on his hands yet, Dad got to install the new deck :x This deck is a short silhoutte, as you see below. Son bought the install kit that came with choices of face plates and some brackets but unfortunately, the kit he bought is for '97+ Malibus. It required some rework for his '83 Bu wagon. And we had to use the bezel from an '86/'87 MCSS to accomodate the shaftless radio. I had to make brackets from scrap steel, as shown below. I wanted to keep the rear support bracket since that's also the center dash support bracket. The 3 faceplates presented the new radio at various depths with respect to the bezel and IIRC, only one would really fit properly for our installation. The plastic surround is supposed to be bolted to the radio and then hold the radio into the bezel via front panel screws but it didn't quite work right in our '83 (remember: the kit we were using was for the much-later '97+ 'Bu). So I wound up making side brackets for the front mounting, and then another bracket to support the rear of the radio by the original, '83-vintage rear radio support. It worked out nicely, in the end.

The speakers were another story; he initially bought some Pioneers from Best Buy but the fronts he got were 4" and I didn't want to chop up the pristine dash pad to fit them in place (and also, the magnets would not have cleared the stock AC ducting inside the dash). A bit of web searching discovered that Pioneer also has two 3-1/2" models, TS-877 and TS-A878. Since we were running short of time, we chose the model that he could pick up locally at Circuit City which was the -878. For the rears, he returned the ones he'd originally chosen and got a set of 4x10s since this was for a wagon, and the rear speakers go in the rear wheelwells. These were model TS-A4103.

The fronts slipped right into place on our '83 Bu but that may have been because the 'Bu's 4-door windshield slopes more vertically than that of a 2-door A/G-body; the 2-door windshield slope more horizontally so it probably is closer to the dash and so you may have more problems getting aftermarket speakers into place. One trick passed on by John Christenson, on Ray Buck's Elky reflector, is to make a "shoehorn" from a plastic milk carton. This is supposed to allow you to slip the new speaker's magnet into the dash opening easier, without cracking the dash's vinyl. I didn't have to do that with the 4-door 'Bu, however, probably because its windshield is so much more vertical and thus further from the dash where the speakers must slip into the dash opening.

Here's pix of the finished front and rear brackets, and the finished installation.

http://members.dandy.net/~k0xp/Oldsmobile/83Malibu/83Bu_PioneerRadio-CD_brackets-a.jpg
http://members.dandy.net/~k0xp/Oldsmobile/83Malibu/83Bu_PioneerRadio-CD-a.jpg
http://members.dandy.net/~k0xp/Oldsmobile/83Malibu/83Bu_PioneerRadio-CD-b.jpg

The five speakers in smugglers compartment all came from the donor Z28. The dash speakers are not currently hooked up, But I've been think about for my next project.