1971 Oldsmobile Ninety Eight

Hey, does anyone know if there is a color code for the stereo? Planning to leave the original in place and put an aftermarket stereo under the dash. Figured it would be pretty straight forward, but it would be nice to know which wires go where before I start. If not I can always just figure it out lol. Thanks!

 

For the power,
orange is constant 12v
yellow is ign/acc 12v
black is 12v neg or ground
grey is dash light dimmer lead
pink is for power antenna if you have one

For the speakers, run your own new speaker wires. It is not worth the trouble to cut the factory connectors off, strip the wires, and crimp new connectors on, then attach them to new speakers. The factory insulation will be dry and possibly cracking. It will be fused to the copper wires and hard to strip back and the copper will be discolored and fragile. Your new speakers should come with new wires with the correct size connectors on them. Use the new wires, run them next to and even wrap them around the old wires so they won't fall down if you have to, and attach them to the new stereo. Tuck the factory wires down in the dash and leave them alone. Same for the rear speaker wires, run new wires and leave the factory wires alone. They are not worth the effort. New 6X9 speakers should come with long enough new wires to reach the rear of the vehicle and already have the correct size connectors. Tuck them under the carpet in such a way that they will not leave teltale bumps or get caught under sill plate screws. Don't let them get pinched under the rear seat frame either.

 

If I'm leaving the factory stereo in place, I also leave the factory wiring alone. I would just run new wires for the new stereo.

 

Awesome thanks you have been a big help. Any idea what size the front speakers are? Do I have to remove whole dash to get to them? Or does the little speaker grill pop out or something?

 

LOL! I installed stereos professionally for 15 years and I can still remember why I always ran new wires but it was mostly assembly line stuff so I dont remember the individual vehicles too clearly anymore. It has been a few years and the senior moments are beginning to creep up on me. Post a nice clear photo of the dash and I can give you detailed instructions. If you go to a stereo store or car audio department of a box store they will most likely have a set of GM plugs that will fit your dash wiring so all you need to do is unplug the power plug from the factory radio, plug in the pigtail, and connect your aftermarket stereo power wiring to that. No muss, no fuss. Running your own just introduces live wiring into the under-dash environment. Without experience, that can be dangerous.

 

They are round, 3.5-inch in diameter. I replaced the front speakers on my '78 Toronado, which has the same upper dash as your car. The speaker grilles can be pried up with a screwdriver. Be careful not to damage anything. If you have Tempmatic or Comfortron air-conditioning, there could be a little tube connected to the right side speaker grille as well as that's where the air temperature sensor is.

These are the speakers I bought. 8 ohm.

t.

 

The Kenwood KFC-835C 3 1/2" dual cone speakers were the best sounding I ever heard in that size. I worked with some of the best and those beat them all for sound in that size. It always burned me to tell customers that because I never worked for a Kenwood dealer. They were exclusive and had a different model number back then but I think they are even available at Walmart now. Almost every aftermarket stereo is designed to operate with 4 ohm speakers so go with that.

 

NO! Don't do this.

The OE speaker grilles have two studs on the bottom that go through the dash and they're fastened with stamped steel trim nuts from the bottom. I replaced the speakers in my 71 98 and found that the 2 way 3.5" speakers I got were too "deep" to fit under the OE speaker grills. I ended up getting some generic, round, black speaker grilles that covered the new speakers perfectly.

The front passenger's side speaker can be removed by taking out the glove box. The front driver's side can only come out if you remove the panel around the instrument cluster that has the radio and AC cluster in it.

 

Thanks for the correction. I was going by my experience with both my (former) '73 Custom Cruiser and my aforementioned '78 Toronado. In both of those cases, the dash speaker grilles just pry up at the top, and the speakers are attached to them. They're held in place by "press-fit" threaded studs that are pushed through little clips in the dash top. It's the same way the dash trim pieces are held in. You carefully pry them out. It can be a little nerve-wracking if the fit is tight because you feel like you're going to break something.

 

Thanks a Lot for all the info guys! It's really great to have a knowledgeable community of people here willing to help. I've posted similar questions on a Camaro forum a couple weeks ago and still haven't gotten a single response lol.

On a side note, kind of off topic and I should maybe ask in a different thread... But anyone have any idea where I could find replacement for all the rubber/foam moulding that goes in the door jams and stuff? Mine is pretty dry.

Also trying to find a trunk deck..

 

Metro molded rubber products, Softseal, among other weatherstrip co's.

 

Here's Soff Seal's website. They have great products and decent prices.

https://www.soffseal.com/

Be aware that you'll probably have to realign the window glass once you install new weather stripping between the roof and windows. The FSM describes how to align the glass but I paid a window shop to do it for me. It was pretty daunting given that all 4 windows have to align to the body and to each other.

 

You guys are great thanks!