65 Radio Swap - Wiring Help

[Charlotte65]

HELP!!
I have a 65 convertible and was trying to do what I believed to be a very simple swap of the original AM radio with a Custom Autosound (USA-2) AM/FM radio. I've swapped sound systems before, but never had this much trouble with such simple wiring.
The old radio had two wires for the dash speaker (black/green).
It was grounded through the brace and metal dash.
It also had a black wire for power and a light blue/red wire for the illuminated face.
All worked fine.
The new radio has more speaker wires (which is great - adding kick panel sound, too) and a yellow lead for auto antenna (will not use).
It has a black ground wire - not a problem. I will ground to brace/dash.
The remaining two wires, orange and red, are for "battery" and "ignition." Obviously, one powers the unit, the other keeps power constant for memory presets, etc.
I have it properly grounded and have tried connecting the red to the black while the orange goes to the light blue/red. I've tried the opposite combination.
I can't even get the radio to power on.
What am I doing wrong? Speak slowly, I'm apparently not as smart as I once thought.
Thanks.

 

[65coupe408w]

When I setup my customautosound radio I powered my constant power off the cigarette lighter feed and then found the switched power from the ignition. If you have any issues just PM me. Good luck!

 

[PhilJustPhil]

I believe the light blue / red is from the dash lights and therefore variable voltage (ie: lower output when headlights are on and dash lights are dimmed, etc) and not a constant 12 volts.

On the unit I installed, the "always hot" lead was higher power and drove the internal amplifier. Best to run it right to the battery with an inline fuse. Any new stereo is likely to be 50 watts or more.

For the "ignition on" lead, go to the fuse panel with a multimeter and find one that has 12 volts to it, but only when the key is on.

Better yet, put in an accessory fuse panel from Painless. Odds are you'll find more uses for the circuits (such as halogen headlamps).

Phil