Wiring A Stereo With No Wiring Harness

[djrickygaz]

Hello does anyone know how to go about wiring an aftermarket deck in a 1960-1966 Chevy truck with no existing radio wires? I have a 1964 c10 panel that is bone stock and though it has the cutout in the dash for a radio, It has never had one installed so there is no wiring at all to connect to.

[MacsGTO]

Run a constant power wire to your battery with an inline fuse (normally red). Run an ignition wire to either a switch fuseblock connection or splice into your ignition run wire (normally pink or yellow) and run a ground to appropriate spot (normally black). Then all that's left is running a positive and negative to each speaker from the radio. Pretty simple. I'm sure you could do a search for more specific info if you need it.

[djrickygaz]

Thank you so much you helped me a lot

[BR3W CITY]

I'm with Mac, as a matter of fact, wiring a stereo in WITHOUT the factory wiring is actually easier. When I did my engine, I ended up redoing all the chassis and cab wiring as well, and I swear I lost 12 pounds of garbage that never went back in.

[boomy3555]

I seem to remember a special inline EM deadener or something to that effect was required when no factory install was done. to keep the radio from buzzing/whining with the Ignition coil?

[tincan1966]

No reason to run a wire all the way to the battery for a constant 12V+. Simple tap into the cigar lighter power feed, normally an orange wire. It'll be fused in the fuse box already.

[tincan1966]

didn't mean that to sound as a correction to Macs post, simply meant as another alternative idea.

[unique760]

ok I have a question about this. I wired a kenwood into a 66 c10 and ran the red one from the plug that says "stereo" on the fuse box, connected the yellow wire to the ignition and the black one the the underside of the dash. the stereo works and i like to mess with the bass setting on the deck but everytime I turn it off and turn it back on the deck goes back to demo mode and all settings reset. what would be the cause of this?

[tincan1966]

Sounds like you have the constant and switched power feeds reversed.

[Bhaynes702]

I agree, car stereos require two power sources 1 12vdc constant ( power all the time for memory) and 1 for operating power which is power with the key in the running position only.

[unique760]

ok I switched the wires but it is still resetting . so where do I hook up the wire on the ignition? I have it on the terminal that says acc on the back of the ignition and it will save if I turn the ignition from acc to off then back but once I turn the engine over it resets again?

[Andy4639]

Yellow wire off radio is for memory. Red is for hot. In some of these older models there is a split second the ignition will loose contact when cranking it. Make sure the yellow wire to radio stays 12 volts no matter what.
This is a generic wiring of a radio.
Also you need to check with a test light your wiring and make sure what you are hooking to.