Car radio

[katiekat]

Hello.

I'd like to fit a car radio cd player in my moggy but don't know where to put it.

I had an idea that I could try and fit one of those oversize radios from a modern car into the glove box space, but don't know which one might fit. Has anyone done this before and if so which radio did they use?

I realise I wouldn't be in keeping with the classic car look but I really like to listen to my cd's when driving!

Has anyone got any ideas?

Thanks, in advance!<br><br>

[d_harris]

I wouldn't use one like that! Go with a standard size one, so much easier to fit.....

[callyspoy]

it's your car so don't worry about what other people think! my only thinking though is that you can buy standard size CD players for not very many pounds, and it will be easier to mount than the one you are proposing as the shape is easier to sculpt. also, you can buy ready made "hanging brackets" for standard size stereos if you are not interested/capable of making a plate to mount one in. not saying you are not of course!

[mike.perry]

Mount the radio/CD player under the passenger glove box so that you can't reach it whilst you are driving. That way you won't be tempted to change CDs on the move and gain 3 penalty points for the priviledge.
Alernatively just listen to the engine, that's what it is there for.

[katiekat]

Thanks.

It would be nice if they made and old fashioned looking one to fit in the glove box space. That would be great!

Maybe I'll just go for the bracket approach!

[hotrodder13]

ive just baught myself a radio and im trying to put it in my self with no help (im 17) so i have no expirance with this but i have baught a small sony one and put it in the passangers glovebox so you can see it when the lid is up

[paulk]

Main thing to remember is the Minor is positve earth as standard.

All new (last 15-20 years) Radios,cds and tape players will be Negative earth.

Its easy to change the Minor over (did mine last night in 10 minutes) But if you try and be clever and leave the car +ve earth and just Isolate the radio before wiring it up remember the Aerial also acts as an earth.

Back to the question, fit whatever the heck YOU want. Its YOUR car and don't worry what other people think. Just don't expect to hear the detail on a quiet Classical track while doing 65 up the Motorway

[katiekat]

How would I check if my moggy has been changed to negative earth?

[alex_holden]

Take a look at the wires connected to the battery. If the - (negative) battery terminal is connected to the wire that is bolted to the car body (earth), it's negative earth.

[katiekat]

Thanks Alex, I'll have a look today.

[alainmoran]

I imagine that your next question is going to be:

'Where on earth do I put the speakers?'

In the front I've found that the hardboard covers by your ankles can have a hole made in them and will fit a pair of 4" speakers quite nicely, also under the dash there are a couple of nice big holes that you can mount some board to and then bolt larger speakers on, this may affect your gloveboxes though.

In the back your options start to become a bit more limited, there is some space behind the quarter panels but not really enough for fitting any decent amount of bass.

I have toyed with the idea of cutting holes in the plate that forms the front of the rear box/crossmember (the bit that the back seat sits on), but it's very structural and no matter how much reinforcing I can come up with I still dont feel like it is a safe thing to do (even though accoustically it would be more than ideal).

At the moment I'm looking at making a plate to fit behind the rear seat pad so that you can fold the rear seat down when you want some bass .. thats a bit of a kerfuffle though when all you want is some music in the car.

I'd love to hear about other owner's experiences when it comes to fitting speakers into a two door, especially when it comes to mounting them in the back.

[ASL642]

Speakers can be fitted on the rear parcel shelf in a saloon and also a bass speaker can be put under the rear seat of a traveller. V. small additional speakers can be placed at the top of the A post (front door) next to the front visor and the cable run up the post under the draught rubber door surround. Bass speakers can also be put in the boot facing towards the front of the car(saloon) but this depends on how loud you like your music and whether you want the neighbours to join in as well!

[katiekat]

I have a simple solution!

Buy two hifi speakers and sit them on the back seat where the passengers would go!

[bmcecosse]

Just use a little personal stereo with earphones. There is then a chance may be able to hear it - and much less chance of someone breaking into the car to steal any extras you fit.

[hotrodder13]

ive put two 4 inch ones on the doors. and 2, 5 inch in the back under the arm rest in my two door. the 5 inch only just fit but look good.

[alainmoran]

TY bmc & katie, but unfortunatley I already have two 800W amps, an active crossover, four 8" 100W sub cones, two 4" 75W full-range cones and two 8" 100W mid-range cones, plus I have some peizo tweeters lying around here somewhere and a piddly amp to drive them (they dont need much power) ... it should give me around 1kW RMS

There wont be any 'head unit' as such since I'm using an MP3 playing external HDD which has an IR remote, so with the aid of one of those 'magic eye' IR extender things I'll be sticking the whole lot in the boot bolted to the underside of the wooden floor.

It's not ideal since you wont have much control over what is playing other than hitting 'next' when a tune you dont fancy comes on, but it will do until I can get a laptop & touchscreen hooked up.

I'm pretty happy with the positioning of the mid & full range speakers, but its the subs that are my problem, I was hoping to do the same as hotrodder, but the magnets on the 8" cones are just too big to fit without completely replacing that rear panel with something designed for the job.

Hey ho, I have time to come up with a solution ... the front suspension is currently in bits (albiet shiny painted ones) in my front room, so there are plenty of things to occupy me before I come to fit the sound system.

[callyspoy]

nuts.

[alanworland]

I cut a pair of elliptical holes in the parcel shelf and mounted them in there, but I would much rather listen to the purr of the engine!