I have a 72 442 that has a aftermarket oldsmobile am/fm radio in it and want to put back the original am/fm radio. I was wonder how hard and what are the steps to pull the radio and replace it?

Thanks,
John

 

Pull the ***** off and remove the mounting nuts on the 2 shafts. There may be a support strap in the back of the radio that needs to be removed also. Note and mark your speaker and power wire connections. You may be able to drop the radio straight down after removing a/c ducts or you can remove the glove compartment box and access it there. Remove the antenna connection and it's out.

To install reverse this procedure. Note, depending on which radio you reinstall you may have to mod some speaker connections if you have faders or not.

 

Check the wiring closely since lots of aftermarket installations are real hack jobs (butchered a couple in the ignorance of my youth). Hopefully original wires and connectors were left intact if re-installing your original stock unit. Also be aware stock speakers were 10ohm, not 4ohm like you see on most everything aftermarket/modern.

 

Thanks guys for the tips. I don't use the radio (I enjoy the exhaust song and I have a Bose Soundlink portable speaker and that I use with my smart phone) I am not sure if this radio works I just want the dash to look completely stock.

 

Yep, some call 'em dash stuffers. They don't have to work. You hopefully have the factory shaft mounts retained in the dash. Me? Not so much, the prior owner cut up the dash to fit a modern, 1 din head unit.

I camped on Epray watching for a period proper Oldsmobile AM radio under $50. They get crazy numbers for working "dash stuffers" but sometimes a reasonable unit will pop up where they say "not tested". I snagged one for $40 and with considerable fabrication, got her installed. It worked but the dash speaker was toast! I found a repop speaker and it's now really fun listening to 1967 AM quality noise. The thing gets LOUD before distortion. Who knew they cranked up like that? People get a kick out of the look and feel rolling the heavy metal ***** around peering at the yellowish back-light. Ah, that scratchy channel drift I remember well.

Well worth the effort. It looks right where friends often comment how lucky I was to find one not cut up. Ha!

 

I copied this image off the internet so I hope it is correct. If your dash looks like this you will have more trouble taking the air vent ducting out of the way than removing/installing a radio. remove the screws from the air duct and gently remove it. Remember it is 40 year old plastic. Once removed you will have access to the rear of the radio unit. Like mentioned above you will need to remove the shaft nuts and possibly a support bracket from the rear if the original installer did his job right. The radio will come out between the bottom of the dash and the heater housing. Most installers will not molest the front speaker wiring unless the front speaker is replaced with a pair of smaller speakers. If the factory dash speaker is still there the wire and plug should still be there. Typically the accessory and ground wires will be cut loose from the power plug and connected to the new radio harness. Every installer I worked with left the plug attached to the dimmer wire so yours may still be there. If not, they are available either at your local stereo shop or on ebay. Splice the plugs back together and re-install the factory radio. You will need to install the radio before you can plug the connectors in! If you have rear speakers you will need to have the rear speaker plug as well obviously. Re-install the air duct and you are done.

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