[justincampbell]

What factory radios will interchange with my 1973 Firebird?
I currently have an AM and had started looking around to see if I could snag an AM/FM cheap.

I know the early 2nd gen are different. If I remember correctly, this style is '70 to '76?
Will a radio out of a Grand Prix, LeMans, GTO, or other Pontiac fit? Or am I limited only to a radio from another Firebird?

Thanks

[bhill86]

70-77 and Firebird only I believe.

Cheap is not usually synonymous with these radios unfortunately

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by bhill86

70-77 and Firebird only I believe.

Cheap is not usually synonymous with these radios unfortunately

That's what I was afraid of. But, as always, I thought I should ask people who know more than I do before I gave up. LOL

I'm wondering if one of those cheapy Chinese ones would fit without cutting the dash.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/39490488341...Bk9SR-KA3oD1Yg

[tdavidl]

you willing to consider one that may not work for "cheap" then pay to fix it up?

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by tdavidl

you willing to consider one that may not work for "cheap" then pay to fix it up?

It would have to be pretty cheap as I suspect getting them fixed probably starts at a couple hundred bucks.

[VCho455]

You could have your AM upgraded by Gary Tayman. Then you could have AM/FM Bluetooth and USB player if you want. I had my AM done 50k miles ago and it's been great.

Not the cheapest route compared to Chinese radios but it will be a bolt in that looks right and you can pick your options.

https://www.taymanelectrical.com/

[justincampbell]

Originally Posted by VCho455

You could have your AM upgraded by Gary Tayman. Then you could have AM/FM Bluetooth and USB player if you want. I had my AM done 50k miles ago and it's been great.

Not the cheapest route compared to Chinese radios but it will be a bolt in that looks right and you can pick your options.

https://www.taymanelectrical.com/

How much did that cost?

[unruhjonny]

if you're patient you could get a reasonable price AM radio;
As mentioned the interchange is 1970-1977.

The AM radios all had a script "Delco, but I believe that the earlier ones had the "Delco" in between the 14 & 16 on the radio dial - roughly in line with the tops of the numbers, while later ones had the "Delco" moved to below the 16.

For the AM/FM radios, the early ones are easiest to identify be the script "Delco", while the later ones had a small "Delco" logo in a box.
I believe that the OE dial faces had the "Delco" above the dial face opening, while the later (?service replacement) had the Delco moved on the bottom of dial face opening.

[VCho455]

Originally Posted by justincampbell

How much did that cost?

If I remember correctly it was $325 back in 2016. I passed on the Bluetooth option.

Today's prices from his website.
https://garytayman.com/prices.htm

Tayman is not the only one who does the "Aurora" conversions. He came highly recommended so I went with him. From my research (2016) the Aurora components were the best way to convert an old radio.

[unruhjonny]

bluetooth is nice, but I think that the redi-rad should be all anyone would need - and it's not invasive - as long as your radio works, that updates it.

[VCho455]

Redi-Rad would only add additional inputs to my 10 watt mono AM radio. I wanted to upgrade to stereo sound with wattage in addition to FM and USB.

[Trevor78]

I had a quick look at Redi-Rad, still didn't really understand what it did or how different. Mind you, my daily driver has the factory cassette radio so updates aren't my strong point.
Does it improve the signal and quality of AM/FM in any way or strictly for streaming from a phone in car? It mentioned YouTube music, whatever that is, I guess it has an option to play through other means. Would make the constant ads quite enjoyable.

[unruhjonny]

I assumed that if interchange was being wanted, that upgrading the sound ect wasn't in the cards or being concerned with.

The Redi-rad essentially allows you to play any wired device through your existing radio;
You plug it in between the antenna and radio;
When you're not using the redi-rad, the radio functions normally;
It's essentially a wired in version of a radio transmitter.

Even though the headphone jack has been removed from most recent phones, you can get around that pretty easy so that you once again have a wired plug to use.

I occasionally use a wired audio input in my daily driver for playing music saved on my iphone, so this little device was a must have for me... headphone jack video

I believe that unlike a wireless transmitter, this would offer better sound quality since it is wired - so your control would be the condition of your radio.

BUT I mentioned this because second gen Firebird AM radios can be had at a small fraction of the cost of a period AM/FM radio, and if you listen to most of your music via a device or player of some source, then this device is really all you need - no need for a $500+ aftermarket radio.

[tdavidl]

taking a shot here...recently shipped an early untested, very original, red dot-delco script am-fm radio via UPS. been over two weeks & UPS can't seem to find it even w/a tracking# so we need to make a claim. any thoughts on possible value for a core radio described above?

thx

[unruhjonny]

oof.

I hope it was insured.

If you held out, you may be able to find one for $500;
But odds are fair that I may be out of touch with the values(??);
They are offered here in the classifieds from time to time.

Here are the current ePay listings I found for an AM/FM stereo radio:
(these are "Buy It Now" (BIN) listings, that are currently unsold - so odds are these are a fair share above going market value - especially when you consider that you can buy a reproduction one that looks the part for a little over $500 iirc).

1) 1976-1977 Stereo; serviced; $1,250 BIN LINK


2) 1970-1975 MONO; serviced; $1,000 BIN LINK


3) 1976-1977 MONO; serviced; $1,100 BIN LINK


4) 1970-1975 MONO; not serviced; $650 BIN LINK


I hope this helps!

[tdavidl]

thx unruh. not sure we insured it, my admin handled the shipping. i doubt i'd have insured it anyway as i didn't see much "value" in it as a core. it resembled your 4th ebay ad at $650.

i'll post updates as they occur....

[tdavidl]

still MIA...UPS still investigating, email today said they'll forward to their lost & found....yea right...item was never scanned even though they provided shipping#, so weird...

[unruhjonny]

I shipped a package via UPS to another member recently, and it took WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY longer than it should have to get there;
Then the box arrives and looks like it was routed through Afghanistan, then the Ukraine;
The box was destroyed(!).
the shipment almost still came off without a hitch except for a tiny part of it was broken - a small part that I would not have expected to break...

I was sent this GIF:



It was suggested that UPS is learning some tricks from USPS...

This really sucks, because I had come to expect a certain level of care(?) from UPS versus the others.

[bhill86]

That’s awful. I wish you luck. Hopefully it gets resolved somehow. I used to work for UPS at one of the 5 largest hubs in the country as a loader for a few years after high school. We loaded the semi trailers with packages to be shipped around the country to other hubs for distribution and delivery. People would probably cringe at the sight of what happens to some packages there but many times the package is just fine and truth be told the rate of damage I believe is/was fairly low. Nonetheless I remember those days when I package something to be shipped.

[unruhjonny]

yeah, as an individual you have to find that balance of weight of additional packing material to ensure it doesn't get damaged in transit;
I don't think anyone (realistically) expects boxes to not get knocked around a little; but when you're paying $50-200 to ship a box, you kind of expect some care to be given.

If pillows weren't so heavy, I'd pack items in between pillows...