When I bought my 69 pace car a few months ago, the console mounted 8-track player was in the trunk. I didn't think much about it at the time and just thought it was some non-original piece of junk. After I started looking through some Camaro reference books, I spotted the same exact 8-track player in another pace car pictured in the book. I then got mine out and looked it over better. It is complete with the arm rest pad and full wiring harness. In fact, the console door and mounting bracket are still attached. Looks like someone just decided to remove the whole thing and put a new lid on the console since the one attached to the 8-track player has holes in it. Still being skeptical about whether or not my car actually came with this 8-track player, I figured that it probably didn't and someone had probably just tried to put it in years ago. Last week, I gutted the interior of my car to replace the carpet and much to my surprise I found the other end of the 8-track wiring harness under the console. This is the six wire clear connector. I followed the harness up under the dash and it goes into some kind of finned looking thing mounted just above the ashtray. I think this finned thing is called a heat sink, correct? I also discovered that my console has a hole drilled inside the storage compartment for the wiring harness to pass through. My confusion is that my car obviously doesn't have rear speakers since it is a convertible. It also doesn't have kick panel speaker either. The radio is an AM push button and there is a single speaker in the center of the dash. Is it possible that my pace car could have come from the factory with an 8-track player with only a center speaker? This doesn't sound feasible to me. However, the wiring harness and heat sink are original and don't look to have been added. I am wondering if the kick panels may have been replaced at some point and the side speakers removed. The other thing is that the AM radio is not working. The light comes on when the knob is turned on but there is no static or anything coming through the speaker. If my car did come with this 8-track player, does it have to be hooked up for the radio to work? I have looked in my 69 Camaro Assembly manual and the U57 tape player section doesn't seem to give much detail on the wiring. Is there a better place to get a detailed wiring schematic for the 8-track player? There is another black plug coming from the 8-track player that has a black and green wire. I have no idea what this plugs into. It is not very long and end under the console around the shifter area. Any ideas where this goes?

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Larry W.
1969 Z11 Pace Car
My Pace Car (http://www.geocities.com/firstgenerationcamaro/PaceCar/1969CamaroPaceCar.html)

Yes,it sounds like this belongs to your car.Your car may have had the kick panels changed,and the rear speakers would have been in the well.This system uses FIVE speakers with a am or am-fm MONO radio.The 8-trk only was stereo,unless a stereo radio was ordered as well.Do a search on the wiring for this,I believe I have given the details out in a earlier post.......Yes the radio runs thru the 8-trk.When a tape is inserted,the radio will shut off.Both pieces use the same speakers and harness,but not at once.


Steve

I was not aware that convertibles had rear speakers hidden under the well cover. I will have to look and see if my car has them. I've been doing some work in the trunk and don't recall seeing any but I could have missed them.

The rear speaker covers will be fairly obvious mounted against the rear seat bulkhead inside the well.

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Rick Dorion
69 RS Conv,355,Autogear M22,4.10's and I don't worry about stone chips ( yet ).

sounds correct for the car to me. Check out the website I have listed. You can check the model # and find out if it is correct for the Tape player. According to the site there are only two models for the application. I bet is original to your car, if not its a neat option anyway. If your car is a four speed it also makes a perfect arm rest.
WWW.Chevelles.com/radiotech/database.html (http://WWW.Chevelles.com/radiotech/database.html)

The rear speakers would have been mounted in cardboard type boxed that screw to the trunk floor just behind the rear seat. Look for 4 screw holes on each side. The well liner then sits on the speakers and the speaker grills attach over the well liner. When you look behind the seat what you see is speaker grills on the well liner. And it does make a great armrest.

[This message has been edited by clill (edited 10-06-2002).]

I thought the convertible only had one speaker in the rear and four speakers at the most?

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'69 RS SS 396 375hp L78 Convertible, M22, 3.31 posi, deluxe interior, gauges, rosewood wheel, AM-FM, fold down seat, tilt wheel, Torque Thrust Wheels, console mounted 8 track player, chambered exhaust, locking gas cap
COMING SOON Corvette tripower, small body HEI, and maybe "842" aluminum heads

I had a orig. 69 L78 convert with the 8 track and am. It had both rear speakers and the front kick panel speakers.

Did it have the dash speaker too?

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'69 RS SS 396 375hp L78 Convertible, M22, 3.31 posi, deluxe interior, gauges, rosewood wheel, AM-FM, fold down seat, tilt wheel, Torque Thrust Wheels, console mounted 8 track player, chambered exhaust, locking gas cap
COMING SOON Corvette tripower, small body HEI, and maybe "842" aluminum heads

According to the Delco manual yes....Remember the Radio is a seperate part and system from the 8-trk.A std AM-FM NON multiplex (mono) only used one speaker.The dash speaker.Now if you had a rear fader option,you used two.One front center,and one rear left.Again this is a moot point if you had the multiplex AM-FM (4 speakers).This was VERY HI-TECH in 68/69 and very complex to wire correctly,but it does work.BTW,there is a seperate 8-trk part number(and unit)for a multiplex radio.They are not interchangeable.There is a jumper lead,10 PIN(?),from the radio to the 8-trk.So depending on your 8-trk player it is only correct one way or the other.I have know way, or want to decipher, how to mix and match a stereo radio to mono 8-trk....Help any?


Steve