Hi, hoping someone can shed some light on a funny situation. Recently I had a stereo system installed in my 67 bird. I bought a CustomSound system which I am happy with. Unfortunately, I noticed I didn't have any directional lights on the way home nor brake lights. I took it to my mechanic who found that they had taken a ground for the stereo from the d lights. My problem is this now that whenever I hit my brakes all the instrumentation on the dash lights up included the aftermarket gauges. I have traced the brake switch wires and they don't seemed to be messed with. the fuse box shows the instrumentation as having its own fuse and circuit so did someone cut into one of the instrument wires and the circuit is getting fed somehow from the brake circuit also? Finally my heater circuit blows the fuse immediately so it also seems to be grounded out also.

I should have installed the stereo myself what a disaster! Any thoughts of how to proceed? Thanks Kevin

1. Bring in a separate power line from the battery to your radio. This isolates your radio from electrical interference and guarantees good electrical source.
2. Bring in a good ground source into the car to ground the radio to
3. disconnect any tie-ins the installer did for your radio.

The radio is grounding itself thru the tie-in lines into your instrument panel thus creating all sorts of havoc.

The top center screw in the instrument panel grounds the panel to the car frame. Check to see it is connected properly.

Thanks Gus, seems like a logical approach. Appreciate the help. Kevin

No problem. Added bonus is the radio stays on when the key is off! Tunes without stickin the key in!

As somebody who owned a car alarm shop for 15 years, I cannot TELL you the number of times I saw this kind of stuff! It makes me so mad. These old cars simply do not get any easier to install on- try putting a remote start on a 2010 Impala! The radio should never be grounded to anything other than a clean chassis ground. What's incredibly stupid is that there is a very good ground available on the car, right where the radio is. It's a hole that is actually used to ground the harness for any car with a console via a #12 or 1/4 inch bolt I think- and this location works perfectly. The 12v wires (red/yellow) should go directly to the accessory male connectors on the fusebox, via a fully insulated female connector only. Do NOT chop the factory harness! Install your radio the exact same way the factory did the accessories (with female connectors). There is a constant 12v for the radio memory, and a 12v switched that actually powers the amp and tuner when it's on. Most every 67 harness I've seen has a wire available in the factory dash harness that is yellow I think- this is a great 12v ignition wire that will easily work for this purpose. This car stereo installer was probably just a high school kid that literally walked into the shop and lied about his ability. Undo everything he did, repair any scotchlocks or cut wires, and do it yourself! If I had a dollar for every young guy that walked into my shop and said "I'm a great installer", well...................