installing aftermarket stereo

I recently bought a 93 grand am it has a factory stereo and i'm wanting to put an aftermarket in. Is there a wireing harness adapter i can buy so i don't have to cut any wires?

walmart may have one...if not then go to a place that specializes in car stereos and theyll have one...youll still have to splice the wiring harness to the wires that came with the aftermarket cd player....basically they just connect to the connectors that connect in the back of the stock radio...then you splice the right wires in the right place and then plug it in the the aftermarket stereo...hope that helps

Two other sources, actually three.

Radio Shack

Crutchfield

J.C. Whitney

They may have the harness to adapt radio to factory harness.

AutoZone is a weak possible, too, www.autozone.com

Best bet is Circuit City, you shouldn't have to splice anything.

You will need to splice (well not splice but connect i guess you can say) wires together....the wires that come with the aftermarket headunit....to the kit that fits the stock connectors...when you buy a aftermarket head unit, it usually comes with the wires connected in the back...but the ends of the wires are just bare...nothing on them...so you need to get a kit to splice to this, and this kit will connect the new steroe to the old wiring harness....you really dont have to cut/splice anything...you just have to connect the right wires together.....all is given in instructions when you buy the kit for your car

Depending on the type of head unit you bought you may also need to buy a mounting kit to fit the radio into the dash in place of the old factory unit.
Check your factory radio before you buy the wire adapter, some of the older GM cars had 3 seperate plugs that went into the factory unit I can not remember what year they changed to a single plug.

Does anyone have the layout for the wire harness on the stock head unit?

Actually, CUS, the wires should be labeled where the harness plugs in, right on the back body of the factory unit itself. From there, it just diagramming it out on a sheet of paper for reference as you start the new harness from new unit.

hoags, are you sure you cant remember when they stopped making the 3 plugs?...hope it was before 1995. im putting in a new stereo in on either fri, sat, or sun. just wanted to know.

Thanks for the help knifeblade

there are wiring harnesses at walmart I just put one in three weeks ago but, to remove the old deck you have to remove the trim under the steering wheel (2 screws) then there are 4 screws in the top glove box/ cup holder. and one on the side of the air vent on the pass. side. after that there are just the 2 screws that hold the tape deck in. you will need a adaptor for the intenia if you want radio because the fatory one will not fit into cd players because it is too short. you will also need an install kit to mount the head unit in. they are also at walmart and will be right beside the wire harnesses.
I hope this help you out.

There is some slack in the antenna wire, i had about 4 inches extra in my 95, just be careful wiggling it around. As for an adaptor, I got mine at bestbuy, they were the only ones who had it in stock and i wanted it NOW. and dont' forget the screw on the left side of the trim around the radio that is hidden by the trim under the steering wheel. If the new unit that you bought is din and a half, you don't need to get the installation kit, just take the mount off the factory radio and it will line up, or at least mine did...