Chevy Radio in a 1985 Ford Econoline
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=74704
Printed Date: May 02, 2024 at 5:25 AM
Topic: Chevy Radio in a 1985 Ford Econoline
Posted By: j_darling2007
Subject: Chevy Radio in a 1985 Ford Econoline
Date Posted: March 18, 2006 at 7:26 PM
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
Replies:
Posted By: doibuy
Date Posted: March 18, 2006 at 7:29 PM
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
Posted By: j_darling2007
Date Posted: March 18, 2006 at 9:03 PM
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
Posted By: Fastlearner
Date Posted: March 19, 2006 at 12:45 AM
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.
Posted By: john ogrady
Date Posted: March 20, 2006 at 5:19 PM
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.
Posted By: jkirkku
Date Posted: March 21, 2006 at 12:55 AM
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.
Posted By: kgerry
Date Posted: March 22, 2006 at 8:39 AM
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
Posted By: jkirkku
Date Posted: March 24, 2006 at 2:23 PM
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.
Posted By: kgerry
Date Posted: March 25, 2006 at 8:55 AM
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
Posted By: jkirkku
Date Posted: March 25, 2006 at 11:26 PM
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.
Posted By: kgerry
Date Posted: March 27, 2006 at 9:07 AM
nope no difference at all... i just call driving all the way out to an auto wreckers to hack a harness out of a car ghetto... if you put any kind of a dollar value on your time (not to mention your petrol) you probably could have bought the proper harness.... i tend to look at everything from my point of view... and my time is worth a buck a minute... so anything that takes longer than 10 minutes means you could have bought a Metra cable and done it properly for less.....with less likelyhood of a mistake that might blow something up.... but as i already mentioned... it really comes down to your budget and skill level ------------- Kevin Gerry
Certified Electronics Technician
MECP First Class Installer
Owner/Installer
Classic Car Audio
since 1979
Posted By: j_darling2007
Date Posted: March 27, 2006 at 12:56 PM
Yeah, I will go ahead and buy the metra harnesses. If I am going to do it I will go ahead and do it right. Thanks for the help Jacob ------------- There are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't
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