What later model radios will fit ?

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dgmeadows

Greasemonkey
Mar 29, 2017
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I am looking to upgrade the radio in my 1979 Olds Cutlass Calais, but don't want to buy a modern touch screen or a single DIN. I have acquired the radio bezel/trim from a 1986-7 with the 1.5 DIN size cutout, so I can go to that size. I would love to have both a cassette and CD player, but I don't think any that I've seen will fit.

I have found a few of the refurbished radios with cassette player from the Cutlasses and Regals of the 1985-1987 range. Are there any later model GM units, perhaps with CD players that anyone knows will fit and use the 1.5 DIN trim bezel? I know the Delco stuff isn't the highest quality as far as sound, but I'd rather keep it somewhat factory looking.

Thanks for any help.
 
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69hurstolds

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Jan 2, 2006
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Cadillacs from the late 80s have radios that have CD players in them that would work. Can't say for sure which models have those, but they should be easy to spot.

An 84 or 85 woodgrain bezel would be much closer to your 79 woodgrain and still is the same as the 86-88. Just the woodgrain is different style. 87 442 has Sheffield Gray inlay, but those are kinda hard to come by.
 
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fleming442

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Dec 26, 2013
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All the 1.5 GM DIN chassis are the same (unless Monsoon). The trick is going to be getting the brackets that will fit your car; that's going to be ebay/boneyard/forum member only. You can get the newer plugs from Metra
 
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dgmeadows

Greasemonkey
Mar 29, 2017
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93
Georgia
Cadillacs from the late 80s have radios that have CD players in them that would work. Can't say for sure which models have those, but they should be easy to spot.

An 84 or 85 woodgrain bezel would be much closer to your 79 woodgrain and still is the same as the 86-88. Just the woodgrain is different style. 87 442 has Sheffield Gray inlay, but those are kinda hard to come by.
The bezel I got is actually a Buick Regal bezel. It is mostly black, but has a thin woodgrain rectangle around the outside, and that woodgrain is a good match for my other dash panels, so I got very lucky there. I've spent a LOT of time surfing the web and Ebay looking at GM stereos. I've found a few "Symphony Sound" units from Cadillacs that have the same general layout as the later G-Bodies, but just cassette players so far, none with a CD.
 

fleming442

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I've found a few "Symphony Sound" units from Cadillacs
Oops, forgot about those and the "Concert Sound" from Buick. Be careful with those as they may require amplified speaker pods. I'd eliminate those as a selection. GM did make a CD/cassette/AM/FM.
 
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69hurstolds

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I used to have one of those with caddy knobs on it and had the CD player. No idea what happened to it. I was going to use it in the H/O, but then decided against it. It may have been an early 90s unit. But that's a good point about the amplified speaker pods. I never hooked it up to anything except to check the power up, so I don't know if it actually worked.
 

dgmeadows

Greasemonkey
Mar 29, 2017
182
559
93
Georgia
Oops, forgot about those and the "Concert Sound" from Buick. Be careful with those as they may require amplified speaker pods. I'd eliminate those as a selection. GM did make a CD/cassette/AM/FM.
I've found some CD & casette units that even have the "Oldsmobile" name on the faceplate, but those are late 90s to early 2000s. They appear to be a bit taller than 1.5 DIN, and actually a little narrower than the late GBody faceplate. The measurements I was told from a rebuilder was 4" tall by 7 1/8" wide.
 

ck80

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Just an fyi: you'll need to modify the regal bezel to fit most likely.

On a 1983-down regal the 1984-87 bezel isn't a direct fit as gm altered the steel skeleton the radio/hvac/cig lighter mounted, moved the slots and posts around that hold the clips and fasten the bezel.

Choices are cut the bezel and lose some of the fastener points at risk of a somewhat loose bezel not held in as tight, or, remove and swap the steel skeleton pod inside the dash. Both doable.

Aside from that, you need to more or less choose between cd and cassette, unless you step up to a different din size, or, you add a secondary piece.

My 02 yukon has a 1.5 din radio cd player, and, lower down in the console stack has a separate low height cassette player built in - something you could mount in place of a non-center console ashtray in a gbody for example.
 

dgmeadows

Greasemonkey
Mar 29, 2017
182
559
93
Georgia
Just an fyi: you'll need to modify the regal bezel to fit most likely.

On a 1983-down regal the 1984-87 bezel isn't a direct fit as gm altered the steel skeleton the radio/hvac/cig lighter mounted, moved the slots and posts around that hold the clips and fasten the bezel.

Choices are cut the bezel and lose some of the fastener points at risk of a somewhat loose bezel not held in as tight, or, remove and swap the steel skeleton pod inside the dash. Both doable.

Aside from that, you need to more or less choose between cd and cassette, unless you step up to a different din size, or, you add a secondary piece.

My 02 yukon has a 1.5 din radio cd player, and, lower down in the console stack has a separate low height cassette player built in - something you could mount in place of a non-center console ashtray in a gbody for example.
Thanks, I will double check the bezel tonight. Just holding it up over the current one, the cutouts seem to be in the right places. I know the retainer clips are a bit different. Some heavy duty velcro or double sided tape can probably help there. I am assuming that I will go with CD. I still have some tapes, but every time I play them they are stretching and deteriorating as is the belt drive in the player. CDs don't really deteriorate if stored properly, so CD would logically be the better investment. I will look at the circa 2000 CD only players to see if something will make a good fit. Brackets I can fabricate as long as the unit will fit.
 

dgmeadows

Greasemonkey
Mar 29, 2017
182
559
93
Georgia
So, I spoke with a helpful person at 1Factoryradio.com today. Unlike some other places I've tried to communicate with, they actually answered the phone, and after the standard disclaimer that "we cannot guarantee fit in your vehicle if the unit was not designed for it", they actually helped me figure out some options that should fit, measurement-wise. Generally, there was a stereo-CD unit used in a number of GM vehicles in the 1995-2002 range that is a 1.5 DIN that would fit, assuming I can engineer the brackets and do wiring (which I can). Downside is that they don't have them in stock, and their price when they get them is generally around $300, more if I want to upgrade to bluetooth or add an auxiliary plug.
On the positive side, I did find a NOS Pioneer 1.5 DIN tuner/CD player on Ebay, which I was able to pick up for 1/2 the price of the refurbed Delco. While it won't have the semi-stock look I was hoping for, it will probably be better and more reliable. With the Regal 1.5 bezel, it should still look OK.

Thanks for the help. I didn't intend for the radio to be one of the first projects, but my mechanic has me waiting to bring the car in for the engine/transmission, so I might as well do the things I can do myself while I have the time and resources to do it.
 
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