Boys,
Dumb question: did Chevy offer any sort of radio delete options with a 'block off plate'?
Thanks ahead for educating me on this topic.
The various radios available were an option; if no radio was ordered, the car came with a blank plate.
So technically you can't 'delete' a radio that is an optional extra, you just don't select it at the time of ordering.
It's not at all a dumb question. At some point, a radio became standard equipment.
'Radio delete' is a misnomer. A radio, even the cheapest AM, was an extra-cost option at least into the '70s. If no radio was ordered, the area on the dash panel where it mounted was covered with a metal or plastic cover ['block-off plate']. In addition, the front speaker grille in the dash structure was covered with cardboard; the hole in the hinge pillar for the antenna was plugged. In the case of a few cars [1968 & 1970s Novas] the plastic dash panel had no provision for a radio. In the engine bay, there were no radio ground straps.
Dealers often did it on stock orders because the Motorola knock-off radio was half the cost on the factory unit. However, more than a few Chevrolet Dealers found that ordering significant numbers of cars without a factory-installed Delco radio earned them a visit from a Zone Rep. The Rep would remind them Delco was a GM division and it they persisted, order delays might result.
the way I remember it , before 1979 radios were optional at extra cost.
If you did not order a radio, there was nothing to delete.
after 1979, the radio became standard and you can order RPO UL5 Radio Delete
A friend of mine had a radio\stereo installation business in the early 1980s and would have new Corvettes all over his lot waiting for Blaupunkt radio\stereo systems to get installed and some of them had no factory radio