Radio Radio

Post by **markthe45king** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:26 am

oh and a hubcap question, but that loses the elvis costello quote!

Any ideas for a nice period looking radio cassette player for my 67 saloon? Needs to be a cassette player so i can plug my i-pod in. also what do people do about speakers? I'm definitely not ripping up my doors to put ugly grills in, so is rear shelf the way to go, and if so does anyone recommend anything that looks "right"?

Also does anyone know the technical term for the removable silver / chrome bit that goes between the hubcap and the wheel to make it look all silver, as i lost one of mine on the motorway and don't even know their name to google a replacement.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:55 am

Welcome to the forum! Wheel trim comes to mind for the shiney bit.
I don't get troubled by wireless etc in my Traveller - it's far too noisy to hear anything over the roar of the engine !

Post by **d_harris** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 12:42 pm

The chrome ring is called a "wheel trim ring" and they are pretty generic - I'm not sure Morris ever fitted them as standard.

In terms of period looking cassette players, good luck! Cassettes were first introduced in 1963 but only really became popular in the late 70's. So I doubt you would be able to find a late 60s/Early 70s car cassette player.

There are companies now that make period looking FM radios (cant think of the name off the top of my head) but why not buy one of these and an FM adapter for the ipod (they are only a few quid off ebay, and no messy wires to worry about!)

Post by **captain_70s** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:33 pm

The Vintage Wireless company and simillar can recon an old car stereo to accept and Mp3 player while looking period, they also sell recon units if I remember correctly.

Although I wouldn't imagine it to be cheap, though.

Most 60s radios won't come with a cassete player either, although you could fit one with a bit of work I guess.

Post by **alainmoran** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:43 pm

I put speakers behind the rear seat, and replaced the wing-nuts with magnets. I also put speakers under the dash on boards, and I have a set which also go into the kidney panels (yes, this requires cutting holes in the cardboard covers)

Post by **bmcecosse** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 9:27 pm

I hope you wear ear protectors !

Post by **Ondergard** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:14 pm

Dan_Harris wrote: Cassettes were first introduced in 1963 but only really became popular in the late 70's.

Are you sure about that? As someone born in the year they developed the one-piece windscreen, I distinctly remember new-fangled cassettes being introduced in about 1970. Prior to that it was 45's and 33's in vinyl, 78's in wax, and reel-to-reel tape recorders.

Mind you, I also remember a sales rep I worked with c 1976 having an eight-track player in his car. Even then I thought the cassettes for that looked bulky. He spent a fortune on it, and it was superceded so quickly it was ridiculous.

I bet he bought a Betamax video as well...

Post by **d_harris** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:17 pm

Ok, Introduced was the wrong word. Should have been "invented" introduced implies being on the market.

Just like CD's were invented in the 80's but only really became popular in the mid ninties.

Then there were minidisks.....

Post by **twincamman** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 11:27 am

There is a bloke on Retro Rides that can add sockets for MP3 players and line out for amps to old radios.
Have a look on there for a bloke known as VW. Don't be fooled by the name, he's got a Mk2 Zephyr Farnham.

Post by **alainmoran** » Fri Aug 07, 2009 12:22 pm

Why bother having a radio on display at all?

I'm using an old phone which has a 4GB hard-drive plugged directly into the amps (at least until I can source a 12V compressor/limiter), you may as well just plug your iPod straight into your amp and have done with it.

Yes, ear protection would be essential if ever I were to drive it with it turned up, the idea though is that it only gets turned up loud when I'm outside of the car and can actually hear the bass ;)

Post by **xpress** » Tue Aug 18, 2009 9:48 pm

Hmm just thinking out aloud here, this is a bit of an idea, I could run some speaker wire from the back sides of the car to the front under the matting and then fix the wire into an amp somewhere discreet, hmm but where i wonder? under the steering wheel?

Post by **alainmoran** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 2:33 am

Over the top is a MUCH better solution, I cant quite remember what it looks like when the headlining is in, but over the top there is a pair of channels which make excellent locations for speaker cables, you can then bring the cables down inside the frame of the front window and into the dash area ... one set of cables can go to the speakers under the dash, and the other set can go down to the speakers in the kidney panels.

The great advantage of doing this is that the cables are shielded against RF noise by the channels they sit within ... I have absolutley NO noise coming from the engine with this arrangement (admittedly each amp is on it's own heavy duty choke, but hey)

You can feed the cables into the 'over the top' channels from the boot at the sides ... it's much easier to feed the cables in from the boot than it is from the inside to the boot.

You will need to feed the cables in a little bit from the boot side, then once they are through to the inside you can pull them through a few inches at a time (my cables were pretty thick at least 10mm diameter), then using your finger you can push down on the cable to free it and pull another couple of inches ... feeding them from the inside to the boot is a nightmare, don't even bother trying, you will strip the insulation off your cables.

Admittedly if you use bell wire your experience will be different, but I used 2.5 mm 136 strand dual core cable. The closest cable I can find from the same supplier is: http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/129-15 ... dp/CB08669 Each run from the rear to the front is approximately five metres. (dont forget to account for a +ve power cable from the battery to the boot - I used a single speaker cable with both wires tied to +ve,however I may replace this with a 6 gauge cable when it causes overheating/voltage-loss problems)

Experience has shown that while subs sit great behind the rear seat, and it is entirely possible to shift the rear seat forward enough using spacers to allow the sub through with the seat up, it will be useful to mount some mid-range speakers in the rear 'door' panels to fill out the sound spectrum (it just sounds weird to have mid-top coming from the front and only sub from behind), as well as some tweeters above the windscreen (my high-range is in the kidney panels, which also seems counter intuitative)

Maybe I'm a bit of an audio geek, but hey ... believe me it's worth it when a ricer pulls up next to you at the lights and not only do you have a cooler car than they do but a better rig to boot!

PS: I've yet to turn it up to full volume, there is just no need, besides I think it would hurt ... it's nice when it's turned up loud and you are sat outside the car though