Mailed my Money Order Saturday AM and received my radio TODAY (Weds.)!! Wow that's quick! Looks great, can't wait for the weekend to install it. Thanks Kevin!

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88 Fiero GT 90K miles
91 Beretta 295K miles

Well, mine arrived bright and early this morning. It took about an hour to setup and install. No surprises, had to mess with the wiring inside the dash a little to make things fit.

The radio is obviously used, the plastic looks a bit faded. But not worn, and it looks like it was made for the Fiero. It has that solid look and feel that Delco engineers into their products. It works absolutely great!

I say, "Kevin Kruger for President!" A guy that keeps his promises.

Kev, do you want me to tell all my Fiero driving friends?

Unfortunately I don't have as much time to clean them all up as I would like. I am more focused on making sure there is no significant wear, noticeable scratches or broken knobs/buttons, etc. Don't get me wrong. You're not going to get one that's all dirty or greasy or has soda splattered all over it, but it might require a little cleaning. You can use a variety of cleaning and/or plastic polishing products to restore it to it's natural look. Either way, it should still look good from the normal viewing position (in the driver or passenger seat.)

As for telling your friends; I've got plenty of radios, so tell everyone you can. Point them to my website even. It's:
http://users.consolidated.net/kkruger/retroradio.htm

Thanks again.

Got my Monsoon yesterday and had it in in less than 30 minutes. A little armor all and some plastic polish has it looking practically brand new. It looks good and sounds great. The only modification needed as a slight trimming to the blue clip on the connector-even the rear bracket required no modification-perfect fit (no spacers).

I got dibs on the next Monsoon you get.
Thanks Again.

Keith

Ironhed - I'll let you know when I get another one. Thanks again.

kru, flew to get my Fiero spent about 2 minutes installing and I was jamming all the way home, thanks!
Mike

Yeah, it's amazing how easy this swap really is.

Kevin,
We got a warm spell, so I went out and installed the cd player today. I have it loose just sitting about 1/2 way in the opening and it plays great except that I have no rear speakers. I fooled with the fade and balance but no joy the rears (pillars) are dead. Any ideas? I went back over the instructions and except for getting the blue plug to lock (couldn't so I taped it) Its in according to plan. Also if I move it in and out the fronts go off and on. Something is clearly loose.....would it be the blue plug not tight enough. Btw had all the speakers with the old radio.

There must be a awful lot of differences in the radios, the cars, or both. I say that because it took me over 3.5 hours to finally install mine. Here's the problems that I ran into on my 88 GT (the radio was from a 99' Grand Am);

(1) Triangular bracket interfered with the outer plastic of the large connector on the back of the radio and had to be removed

(2) Blue connector had to be trimmed in order to insert into port.

(3) Holes on the radio flanges did not line up with the holes in the console. They were close, but no cigar! I had to slot the radio holes to get the screws to go into the holes. Also, the radio I recieved only had three holes and one open slot on the flanges. The open slot lined up with nothing, so my radio is being held in with only three screws.

(4) The left(drivers side) flange on the radio interfered with the lower left faceplate attachment boss. I had to grind the bottom of the left radio flange untill it was flat across.

(5) 1/8" spacers (I used one nut per screw instead of multiple washers) were needed to bring the radio flush with the HVAC unit and to have no gap showing between the radio and face plate.

(6) Volume control knob was operating very funny. It would either do nothing, or work intermittently. It would even get louder as you turned it in the direction to turn it down! Some electronic spray contact cleaner seems to have fixed it.

I guess it depends on what year and what model the radios come from as to how well it installs into the Fiero. All I can say is it was a biiitch to get mine installed. But it's in and everything seems to be working.

[This message has been edited by turbotoad (edited 03-08-2003).]

[This message has been edited by turbotoad (edited 03-08-2003).]

Hey Toad, you don't suppose there's some kind of wonky Michigan effect going on do you? It was 40 when I was out trying mine out and when I gave up on trying to get the rear speakers working the temp dropped 10 degrees and it starting snowing like hell. Now the car is covered again and my player is still sitting there half in and half out. Oh hell, maybe it'll warm up again by June

Turbotoad - Your experience definitely seems to be the exception. Maybe your car was rolling through the assembly line at 5pm on a Friday. I have personally installed several of these stereos in my own 86 Fiero GT in less than 15 minutes. I have received replies from multiple people who have also been able to do it in that same amount of time or less. I've only had one other person who commented that it took him a significant amount of time and his was because of the Performance Sound System modifications. Since I haven't heard either way from most people, I would assume they were satisfied with the install time. First I've heard of having to remove some of the bracket material or having to elongate the holes on the Pontiac radio. I've had to do it on the Chevy versions, but not the Pontiacs. I'll be sure to make note of it in the instructions. As for the number of screws that hold the radio in, you are correct. The most you will end up with is three. On some of these radios it's only two. Either way, it will be fine. Regarding the blue plug, that is documented in the instructions as a known issue. The possible removal of the rear triangular bracket is noted as well. Yes, differences in tolerances for the radio and/or the Fiero dash must be to blame. The 'touchy' volume control is a common problem. Contact cleaner seems to take care of it, but so does regular use. Some of these radios have been sitting around for a while before I get ahold of them, so it's only natural that the contacts get a little corroded. Moisture also tends to cause this too, so if your car sits outside or is prone to 'fogging up' excessively on the inside (ie - the car is not very air-tight or has a sunroof or window leak), that could be contributing to the problem as well. If it seems that the problem isn't going away, let me know. I'll have you send it back for a replacement unit.

David - The blue plug controls the rear speakers. It goes in the top left section of the plug block (when looking at the radio from the rear) with the prong facing up. Make sure it is pushed in the opening good and solid and then wrap tape around the whole plug assembly. (You might want to put a folded up piece of tape between the two plugs before you wrap them in order to keep the appropriate spacing between them.) Do this outside the car, so you have plenty of space to work. Then all you have to do is hook up the two plugs on the car side of the adapter and you should be good to go. Let me know if this doesn't seem to work. I'll have you send everything back for a replacement unit and harness.

It's good to hear about issues like this because it allows me to modify my instructions and provide other people with tips on how to do their own installation, should theirs prove to be the exception to the norm as well.

Thanks guys.

Regarding the blue plug: I trimmed the triangular "catch" piece a little, as suggested in the instructions. I didn't want to cut too much, since removing it entirely would prevent it from locking in place. Instead I used the cutoff disk in my Dremel tool to notch the top side (the side opposite the triangular catch). By doing so I was able to easily slip the plug into the radio, and it locked in place securely.

These cars must all vary quite a bit. I didn't seem to have the bracket or the harness plug (its an '88) mentioned in the instructions. The radio just slipped in without any interference. I did have to drill a couple mounting holes (again using the Dremel) because no more than one lined up at any time. All I used was one screw on each side.

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88 Fiero GT 90K miles
91 Beretta 295K miles

I've got plenty of them left, so back to the top it goes...

Don't tell me there isn't anyone else out there who wants one of these packages...

I'd get one, if I had a Fiero, that is
I'm working on that part though...

I want one, and plan to get one, but keep getting sidetracked by something else. Don't worry, you're coming closer to the top of the list everyday!

Nic

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Nic

87 GT, 5-speed, awaiting steering rack, and completion of exhaust work

Let me know when you get a Monsoon...that what I really want.

Thanks!

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James Essar
88 Coupe 3.2L V6 With NX Nitrous
92 Mitsu. Eclipse GS (for sale)
94 GMC Jimmy

I've got a couple people waiting on the Monsoon version. I don't get very many of them though. Supposedly I have a couple on the way. I'll keep you posted.

Just emailed the link to my daughter. She might be interested in one to replace the one stolen out of her Saturn.
Thanks.

Dave

I actually have a Saturn CD player in stock. (Not stolen from her car, I can assure you...)

What year and model is her car?

quote Originally posted by kru: I actually have a Saturn CD player in stock. (Not stolen from her car, I can assure you...) What year and model is her car?

It's a 96 SC1. She's near Dallas, Tx

I had to trim the nub off of the blue plug for mine to fit {no big deal} and it fits tight! it ain't going nowhere...
When I put everything together, I noticed my light on the heater wasn't working.
My heater assy. screwholes are cracked on the r/side so it sags a little.When I installed The Monsoon radio the plug on the bottom of the heater {light plug} came undone.
Might be good to check it before you button it all up.
Fast service on the cables Kevin!
Thank you.
Man, that Monsoon looks great!

Kevin, just a note to let you know that I finally got everything straightened out. I have fronts and rears, the unit looks original, and I'm happy. I finally figured out that material has to be removed from the top surface of the lock tang on the blue plug. Also I did not have the large black plug pushed in all the way. So it all works now. Another satisfied customer

bump to top. Just submitted my order on your site.
tm

David - There should have been instructions included with your package that indicate the triangular tab needs to be trimmed on the blue plug. If I forgot to include them, I apologize.

TM - Thanks for your order. You are officially my first customer from the website. You really ought to get a prize or something, huh?

Everyone else - The website is:

http://users.consolidated.net/kkruger/retroradio.htm

As soon as I have the time and financing, I'll get a real domain name. How about

DamnThatRadioLooksNiceInYourFiero.com??

[This message has been edited by kru (edited 03-16-2003).]

Keep the domain name short and easy to remimber, like fieroradio.com

That's the plan. Actually, I probably won't put Fiero in the title at all because I have branched out to sell other radios as well now...

any monsoons left? I will be ordering in april.

Kevin,
Check your PM

Turbotoad - I don't have a PM from you. Not recently anyway... Can you drop me an email? madproducts@hotmail.com

Zoom, Zoom. Back to the top...

What's the difference between the Monsoon and the regular?

Wattage output?

I've never been able to find any specs on either of them. They look identical except for the monsoon logo. I've heard speculation that they are the same, but I've also heard people claim they are more powerful. Both sound equally as good, in my opinion.

I don't have any Monsoon units at the moment though, so it may be a moot point right now.

Kevin,

Sent you a PM.

How about radioupgrade.com? easy to remember and generic. Besides, you were about to roll off the bottom.

Hey I am interested in getting a monsoon system. one question though. can any of the units control a cd changer, if it ha the plug in the back? I look forward to ordering in mid april LMK if you have a monsoon in stock. thanks.

Both the Monsoon and regular UP3 versions have the extra plug in the back for an auxiliary unit.

I am currently out of the Monsoon version, but I may have more by mid-April. It's just hard to tell. I usually update my original post if I get some. I try to keep a waiting list too, but I have been so swamped lately that it's easy to forget. You might check this post regularly.

oh I forgot to ask, does the up3 come with rca pre outs or is there an adapter I need to get? just need to know.

None of the factory stereos that fit the Fiero come with pre-outs. There is some sort of wiring kit you can get. I can't remember the specifics, but someone mentioned it a few pages back in this post. I think they even gave a website address.