Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Gotta love that wiring . . .
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RRoller123
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Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby RRoller123 » Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:44 am

I am finally getting around to installing a vintage radio that I bought a while ago. Need some help on the wiring.

The existing wiring in the car has a round connector with 4 wires of the following wire colors: RED (fused) , GREEN, YELLOW, BLACK.

The Vintage Radio has 5 wires: RED, BLUE, BROWN, Black (~12AWG), BLACK (~18AWG)

I would assume the red goes to red (power)

Black (heavy) goes to Black, (Second black = ???)

and that the GREEN, YELLOW, BLUE, BROWN are speaker wires and that the speakers ground out their mounting locations?

Can anyone confirm this? Thanks!

Image

Image
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

dmwhiteoak
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Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 spider
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby dmwhiteoak » Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:44 pm

I would think that the smaller black wire is a common ground for the speakers.You would need more than one wire for the speakers to function. The speakers will not work with just grounding the speaker.
Dennis Modisette

1972 124 Spider
2003 Chevrolet Z71
2007 GMC Yucon

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RRoller123
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby RRoller123 » Thu Sep 27, 2012 2:08 pm

Thanks. Hadn't thought of that but it makes sense since the larger Black wire gauge matches the gauge of the obvious Red power wire. I will give it a shot and see what chirps out.
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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bradartigue
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby bradartigue » Thu Sep 27, 2012 3:31 pm

That isn't stock wiring. I can see where they taped it in, if you pull it towards you the original wiring should be evident and you can use it as a reference with a wiring diagram.

I know Csaba sells the original 6 plug connectors if you want to make it stock again.

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RRoller123
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby RRoller123 » Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:19 pm

You are right, I am channeling Homer Simpson! I will work it back and match the colors to my schematic. Doh! But any thoughts about the vintage radio wiring? The smaller BLACK being a common speaker ground?
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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bradartigue
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby bradartigue » Thu Sep 27, 2012 11:09 pm

RRoller123 wrote:You are right, I am channeling Homer Simpson! I will work it back and match the colors to my schematic. Doh! But any thoughts about the vintage radio wiring? The smaller BLACK being a common speaker ground?


What kind of radio is it? Many AM radios were one speaker radios.

Get some alligator clips and find the two that run the power, the other ones are speaker. Not sure how else to figure it out unless you have a wiring diagram. You could test for continuity between the red and one of the grounds, but many old radios also had the speaker - on the ground. Go figure.

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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby RRoller123 » Fri Sep 28, 2012 10:01 am

Yeah I got it figured and it seems that here is only one channel working, so I need to decide what to do now. Since I only listen to AM anyway it doesn't really matter!
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

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bradartigue
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Your car is a: 1970 Sport Spider
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby bradartigue » Fri Sep 28, 2012 11:05 am

RRoller123 wrote:Yeah I got it figured and it seems that here is only one channel working, so I need to decide what to do now. Since I only listen to AM anyway it doesn't really matter!


Old Spiders (until when I'm not sure) the radio console had a speaker in it and a mesh grille, in place of the wood grille that is there. The console will fit your Spider 2000, so get one, get a single 3x5 speaker and rock on, AM style. Either that or get a small amp and split the input line from what you have to get monophonic sound!

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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby RRoller123 » Fri Sep 28, 2012 1:41 pm

I wired both speakers in parallel and there seems to be more than enough power in the radio to run 'em both, so AM will work fine!
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

dmwhiteoak
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Joined: Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:12 pm
Your car is a: 1972 Fiat 124 spider
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby dmwhiteoak » Fri Sep 28, 2012 2:20 pm

Glad you got it working. Do they still broadcast on AM? :mrgreen:
Dennis Modisette

1972 124 Spider
2003 Chevrolet Z71
2007 GMC Yucon

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RRoller123
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby RRoller123 » Fri Sep 28, 2012 4:30 pm

It is all we listen to! I used to lead a rock band yet all I now listen to is talk. It is odd but somehow it works. :D
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

supplyguy

Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby supplyguy » Sat Sep 29, 2012 6:46 pm

Got a photo of the front? Want to replace my radio with an original looking one and wondering what yours looks like. Thanks.

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RRoller123
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby RRoller123 » Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:21 pm

I will take one tomorrow and post. I was told that it came out of a 79.
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle

fiat218
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby fiat218 » Sun Sep 30, 2012 7:46 am

Who in god name would listen to Am :roll:
Jim
East Grand Forks MN
1970 Fiat Spider BS1 ( FOR SALE
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2017 Abrath
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RRoller123
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Re: Vintage Radio Wiring Question

Postby RRoller123 » Sun Sep 30, 2012 8:11 am

Me for one! Otherwise the US would look like Stepford. This sums it up pretty well. http://www.youtube.com/user/aimaccuracy
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle


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