The 87 T-Wag still has the stock 20 watt per channel stereo in it. What do you guys recomend for an upgrade with out spending wads of cash.... cause I don't have it.

Two things to know, the stock location is to shallow for aftermarket head units without some type of custom face, it needs to be about 3/4" thick. And the stock speaker wiring uses a common ground between the front and rear channels (one left ground, one right ground), this wont work with modern units. You will need to run new wires to either the front or rear (I choose rear so I dont have to deal with running it through the door tube), or you could find the splice and split out the stock harness.

 

Other than that, any cheapy head unit will work. I would recomend better speakers though, the stocks wont handle much power and seem to burn out under stock amp, especialy the rears.

 

Gary

i ordered a pioneer head unit and some kenwood speaks from crutchfield last year.. came to about 170 shipped.. comes with fit kit, wiring harnesses, install instructions etc.. rewire your speaks while you're in there..pretty easy job..

 

good luck..

AT covered the basics, but let me add another thought...

If you want to run an amp either now, or in the future, you might consider a "modular" speaker wiring setup, all the way back to storage compartment in the cargo floor. This spot is perfect for terminating all your stereo wiring, big enough, for just about any amp, and also low profile - if fear of theft is an issue.

To go fully "modular", you'll need to run dedicated grounds as described by AT. You'll also need to run sections of speaker wire from the area of each speak to the stash box. The idea is to have the option (at the wiring harness near each speaker) to either plug in the speaker, or extend the harness back to the cargo box. With this wiring set up, and the right OEM connectors, you could either feed the speaks fron the dash, or the stash box area.

If you are interested in trying this, and need more info, email me.

good luck, John

thealleyboy@yahoo.com

Call around to local car stereo shops, I was able to purchase both a wiring connector for the OEM wiring (had to leave off one pair of speakers cause of the common ground problem and I haven't run new wires yet) and a dash adapter that worked great for fitting a modern (sort of ) head unit. It's a $10 sony from Goodwill, the Metra adapter and dash plate were each $15 so my investment is a little lopsided.

 

UPDATE: just stopped at a pawn shop, where for $20 I got a pair of Kenwood 2-way 6.5" speakers for the rear, gonna run some wires back as I'm using the stock front speaker wires...

 

'Nother update: ran new wires back to the new Kenwoods, it sounds great but now of course the stock front speakers are drowned out completely. I'd recommend replacing all 4 at once, cause you'll be going back for the 2 you don't do at first.

i just trimmed mine over a little bit over toward the blank space on mine and slid it right in, as for wiring it up it was a little pita but using the crappy haynes manual and the connector from the stock stereo, i got it all wired up and even with my aftermarket cd player there was no problem with the common ground speakers either, followed the wireing diagram exactly and had no prob at all. it does stick out about a 1/2 inch though but i think thats because i forgot to pull that screw thing off the back.

 

ps i did have to run another ground and constant power wire though