Chevy Radio in a 1985 Ford Econoline

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j_darling2007

Copper - Posts: 210

Joined: January 21, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: March 18, 2006 at 7:26 PM / IP Logged

I just bought an '85 Ford Econoline with an AM only radio for my lawn service business. I have a couple of factory radios (Chevy, Dodge, and Jeep) out of my dad's, brother, and my vehicles. Is there any way to fit the new radio in the van. They are all 1.5 din. Can I just buy a wiring harness adapter and use a dmm or schematics to find teh right wires and integrate the new radio into the ford system.

Thanks for the help.

There are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't

doibuy

Copper - Posts: 177

Joined: March 15, 2006

Posted: March 18, 2006 at 7:29 PM / IP Logged

You can buy a reverse harness to plug into the Factory radio you plan to use, and then buy a standard harness to plug into the Ford Van, then all you have to do is match up the colors. Mounting the radio on the other hand is where you will have most of your trouble

j_darling2007

Copper - Posts: 210

Joined: January 21, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: March 18, 2006 at 9:03 PM / IP Logged

Oh, i'll get it mounted......where's the duct tape????.....Just kidding

I'll probably mount it in there with some plumbers tape (the metal with holes in it). it doesn't have to look pretty (you should see the van). I just wasnt something besides AM radio.

Do you know where I can track down a reverse harness??

There are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't

Fastlearner

Silver - Posts: 346

Joined: March 23, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: March 19, 2006 at 12:45 AM / IP Logged

Yeah you can find a reverse at pretty much any big box store and most custom shops. Then buy the harness for your vehicle and your all set prob not going to be more than $40.

john ogrady

Copper - Posts: 82

Joined: February 25, 2006

Location: Canada

Posted: March 20, 2006 at 5:19 PM / IP Logged

In a lot of cases if you look closely at the OEM radio the install brackets can be taken off and used to help in install of the next radio.

jkirkku

Member - Posts: 27

Joined: November 26, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: March 21, 2006 at 12:55 AM / IP Logged

IDK about a reverse harness..... but you seem to be going cheap here. Go to a junkyard and find a car that has the same radio as you have.... reach into the hole(Most salvage yards pull stock stereos around here) and cut the radio harness as far back as possible. Shouldnt cost more than five dollars. Then if you want it to be removable buy the ford plug from walmart (under$10). Get the wiring diagrams and then wire the stock chevy into the ford plug... then plug that into your stock harness. IF you really dont care about every removing it, just cut the stock harness and wire in your $5 junkyard harness. This should easily do what you're asking.

kgerry

Platinum - Posts: 3,455

This member consistently provides reliable information

Joined: February 07, 2004

Location: Saskatchewan, Canada

Posted: March 22, 2006 at 8:39 AM / IP Logged

keep in mind the junkyard harness will not be EIA... so you'll have to KNOW what wire goes where....

whereas if you buy a RADIO side harness from metra (71 series) for that radio and a CAR side harness from Metra (70 series) for the vehicle, you just wire them together wire for wire ( they are both EIA) and you are done.... couldnt be simpler....

Kevin Gerry

Certified Electronics Technician

MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer

Classic Car Audio

since 1979

jkirkku

Member - Posts: 27

Joined: November 26, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: March 24, 2006 at 2:23 PM / IP Logged

I'm retarded so I dont know what EIA means, but you can find the wiring diagrams and then match them off of any harness. I did this to a blazer that had the wires cut out in a theft. I already had a harness for my old grand am that i totalled so i pulled the radio harness and the car harness and wired that into the stock blazer harness. Now the blazer has a grand am car side and radio side.

Not trying to argue with you at all, just saying it can be done this way very cheap vs buying two metra kits.

kgerry

Platinum - Posts: 3,455

Joined: February 07, 2004

Location: Saskatchewan, Canada

Posted: March 25, 2006 at 8:55 AM / IP Logged

you are absolutely right... there's ghetto and there's ... well.....not....

go with whichever matches your budget and skill level....

BTW, for future reference... EIA is a universal color code system that manufacturers adhere to.... that way two totally different harnesses from two totally different vehicles can be wired up correctly without needing to know anything about the radios or vehicles.... yellow goes to yellow, red to red, etc, etc... this way there is no question about speaker phase or misconnecting something....

Kevin Gerry

Certified Electronics Technician

MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer

Classic Car Audio

since 1979

jkirkku

Member - Posts: 27

Joined: November 26, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: March 25, 2006 at 11:26 PM / IP Logged

Thanks for the info! And again not to argue , but for information purposes again....

You called my way ghetto... If you were to get both wiring diagrams(usually free online) and then wire them together correctly...then what would be ghetto about it? It would take more work and effort but thats the trade off for price. I mean sure the parts aren't new but you can't see them anyways. Again not trying to argue just wondering if there truly is a diference.

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