Radio and speakers for '77

[eamims]

Hey guys, I've got a '77 Bonanza (!!!) c10 which I love, but it's got a broken AM radio and that crappy center speaker.

I'm gonna replace it with a Pioneer CD deck and some different speakers (nothing too expensive...no subs, amps, etc)

There are 6 wires coming from the AM radio.

1 wire = antenna

2 wires = to the old speaker (throwing those away)

3 wires = yellow, black, and greenish-brown......what is what here? Anybody know which is ignition, battery, and ground? I can't find wiring harness for this year, so I'm just going to hard wire the Power, Ignition wire, and ground but I'm not sure which is which.

Also....are the kick panel speakers from LMC any good or should I go for some different setup?

thanks guys!

[Slonaker]

I don't know what the wires are. You can probably find out by buying a repair manual or looking in one at the local library. You can also find out which one is hot with a test light or voltmeter.

I would just start from scratch. Use the hot wire you find with the test light from the old harness, or go directly to the fuse box for it. That one should be switched, going on and off with the ignition. You will also need to find a constant 12 volt source for your radio's memory. Run new speaker wires from the new stereo to your new speakers.

Someone a while back said that the kick panels from LMC were okay. I think they said they came with mediocre Pioneer speakers. If you are not afraid of cutting metal and plastic, a couple of people here have successfully mounted 5.25 or 6.5 inch round speakers directly into the factory kickpanels.

For the back, later Silverados came with factory 4X10 brackets in the cab corners. I assume they would fit your cab, but I don't know for sure. You can also find aftermarket cab corner mounts, but I was unable to get any locally. Others have said they were able to locate them locally, or used MDF to make their own. I found a pair in a junkyard.

Slonaker

[blink32]

The yellow is ignition switched power, the black is a ground, the brown completes some other circuit which I don't remember at this time, but it was only with the stock AM radios from my wiring diagram. The ground and ignition are good to use.

[cochino12]

go with qlogic kick panels. I have had 3 sets in three truck and they are the best around (unless you want to fab your own).

[eamims]

Thanks guys. I just used a test light to figure out the yellow was ignition switched power. So I can discard the brown wire I guess. What would I need to do to run a permanent power (for radio memory) wire, where do I need to connect it on the truck? (I'm kinda new at truck electronics, but I know this stuff isn't rocket science).

Cochino12: I was looking at those Q Logic's, they do look sweet. I think I'm gonna get QL-K1006B01.

Thanks again!

[eamims]

Well I guess I figured out the way to do it. I found some spots on the fuse box and one (2nd from top, center) was hot and I should be able to split off of it, and then just add an inline fuse. I'm guessing the original radio ignition wire is already protected at the fuse box.

Lemme know if there's something I might be missing, or some better way to do it.