A project I've been working on for over a month is to install a radio in my '84 S-10.
I picked an original AM-FM radio out of an '86 S-10 Blazer at a yard sale in Alabama a month or so back. I got home and thought it would be an easy installation. First problem . . . I've got this big hole in the dash where the radio used to sit . . . but the original wiring harness is hacked. I could only locate 1 of the 4 plugs I needed, and 2 out of the three wires to that one were cut.
The next weekend I drove to Pull-A-Part . . . I had a big list of things to find . . . the only thing on my list I could find were the plugs for my radio. The brackets were also missing from my yard sale radio, but I couldn't find the right ones for my S-10, but I did get the plugs I needed.
The next weekend, I tried to hook it all up. I found the power supply wires and put the correct plug back on them, repaired the wiring to the control for the ignition switch and lights, and made up new wires to go to the original speakers. The original speakers were trashed. So I stopped working on it and ordered a set from eBay.
Got the new speakers installed the next weekend and hooked everything up. I could get about 3 stations, and they were full of static. I unplugged the antenna and nothing changed. I plugged it back in and nothing changed. So, I put the cover back over it and for the next week I drove to work listening to John Boy and Billy and static . . . more static than anything.
So, this past weekend on one of runs to the parts store, I picked up a new “Universal GM” antenna. After spending nearly an hour getting what turned out to be an old “universal” antenna out of the fender I was ready to install the new one.
The new antenna has two loose parts that sit on pin and go under the fender. The problem is, they are too big to through the hole in the fender. If I open the door and look in the fender over the top of the door hinge, I can see where the antenna goes, and if stick my hand in a small opening in the inner fender well, I can get my hand within about foot of the antenna hole. If I drop the wire in the hole and work it around, I can grab it and pull through into the engine compartment, but since I can’t get the two loose parts through the hole, that doesn’t help. For a few minutes, it looked like the only way to do it was to take the fender off.
Then, a little light bulb turned on in my head. I said to myself, “Self, why don’t you tape the loose parts on the antenna base with some of that electrical tape over there . . . then tape the antenna base to the tip of the old antenna and bend the antenna so you can feed it through the hole in the inner fender and up to the bottom of the hole in the fender and screw the new antenna onto it so you can hold it in place while you pull the old antenna loose from the tape?” Hummmm??? I said back to myself, “Self, I think you’re on to something.” Good Idea . . . worked like a charm. Now I can pick up all kinds of channels on my yard sale radio.
I’ve bought another set of speakers for the rear off eBay, but that’s a project for another weekend. Someday I need to find the correct brackets and actually bolt the radio in the dash, but I made some supports with cardboard from the speaker box and it looks like it’s mounted correctly. I guess that’s a project for yet another weekend. Until then, at least I have an option when I get tired of hearing myself sing.
