1979 Chevy Radio wires

[lbrewer]

We picked up a 1979 Chevy K10 for my son to start an expensive hobby. Long story short, he wants a radio installed asap, there was not one installed when we bought it. We thought it would be an easy install, we bought an radio, but there was nothing left of any radio installs. We will be doing this starting from the fuse box. We know we need to clean up the exposed wires. But we would like some assistance on what wire need to go where in the fuse box.

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[Ricko1966]

I have no idea how anyone would or why they would try to get the original radio wires out of the factory wiring loom. I would look again real hard in the dash where the factory radio goes. I'll bet all the wires you need are right there. Yep you can tap at the fuse box,and cut twist and tape everywhere,that's ghetto imho.s for what wires you need to attach your best guide is the manual that came with your head unit or a install guide from their website,etc. We can only give you very general guidelines,like if it's got a yellow wire it goes if it's a got a blue wire it probably goes here,etc wiring is not universal.

 

[lbrewer]

We have purchased the LONG BEACH SERIES AM/FM STEREO to install. I have found their wiring diagram. I will take a look at the factory loom, in my mind I pictured the wires coming from the front of the fuse box. But after you mentioned it, the loom is where I need to be looking. Thanks!

 

[Snoots]

You've got to be kidding me!!

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[lbrewer]

You've got to be kidding me!!

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We didn't notice the exposed circled wire until we snapped the picture, not even sure where the red capped wire runs. And the black wire with the plastic end, I have no clue. Not even close to being a wiring expert. We know we need a constant, ignition/AC, and ground.

 

[Ricko1966]

You should have everything you need right behind the hole from the radio in the dash there will be power, ground, speaker leads illumination wire and a constant hot.

 

[lbrewer]

You should have everything you need right behind the hole from the radio in the dash there will be power, ground, speaker leads illumination wire and a constant hot.

We thought the same thing, there is nothing there, not even a speaker wire.

 

[Ricko1966]

Laying on my back back of my head on the floor looking straight up at the bottom of the heater control,that blue wire is your radio harness,notice it is part of the dash harness,it has to be there.looks like blue ,brown,pink there's more there but that will help you locate it.

 

[WFO]

The cigarette lighter wire would be your constant hot.
Most old vehicles didn't come with a radio that needed a constant for memory.

 

[75gmck25]

This site has all the wiring diagrams for each year of truck. Just look at the colors in the diagram and then look at the connectors under the dash.

In a stock truck there may be only one two conductor plug for radio power/ground, and a two conductor wire/plug coming down from the center dash speaker to the radio. That was all the wiring they needed for an AM radio.

 

[Randy and Easton]

That bare wire orange and black is cigarette lighter on the earlier c10’s, maybe the same in your case.

Threw this in Easton’s dash today to make sure everything worked, never done an amp before. The yellow was switched hot, black was ground and grey was back lighting for original radio, and dash lights. Had to add a constant battery hot for memory, which was easy.

 

[Snoots]

If you don't have a voltmeter or test light, get one. Check those wires pointed out with ignition on/acc and with it OFF. That'll tell you if you have constant hot or acc hot.

Don't hack into your wires without a good study of the schematics. You'll hate yourself later.

 

[mshawn]

There is another way. This seems to be a problem in people knowing what wires on the truck to use for the connection. Some times in these square bodies things are so jacked up I have to run wires on my own to the fuse box and create my own circuits . Not hard to do either. Even my own speaker wires. All “B+” circuit need to be fused closer to the fuse block as possible. Use inline fuse holder with a cap. This will give you your power all the time and ignition or switched power. A test light will help you find these at the fuse block. I run a ground to the steering column mounting bracket bolts. Your radio wires will be labeled on your radio side. You can find the speaker wires going to the speakers or run new ones from the radio to the speakers.for his you have to pull the dash. Which isn’t that hard. Hit me back if you need more help.

 

[AuroraGirl]

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if you cant telkl by now this is a dash piece and it has the harness on it with the floor light and cig ligtter and its missing radio plug

 

[Ricko1966]

It's missing the entire dash harness, maybe not all,but all mine the radio harness is part of the main dash harness like the picture on#8 the only way to completely remove them would be unwrap the whole dash harness.