Hi Ed. I'll tell you what I've come up with (notwithstanding that Keoke's always making problems). I found an old Becker Europa push button am/fm/cassette radio on ebay. Some has already been restored; others will need some work. Becker can still provide parts if needed. They fit the hole perfectly.

I added a high/low converter to use the speaker out wires into a very small 200 watt amp, that I attached underneath the heater box (installed upside down). If you don't use the converater (about $10), the amp will not work right and everything sounds horrible. I found this out the hard way. The amp I used wasw a Pyramid. It's very inexpensive ($25 online) and works great.

You can't see a think from the cockpit and the old radio looks like it belongs. Granted that the radio is a few years newer than it should be, but nobody but you will know that. And the combo of tne amp and good speakers with the old restored radio pushes plenty of high quality sound that can be heard over the roar of a SS exhaust.

No matter what anyone says, the combo of 60's music plus the exhaust sounds better than anything else. Especially "Born to be Wild." ;-)

Well SHG, that is part of the secret. The internal audio power amplifier in most radios is incapable of producing adquate clean output power .The addition of a HIGH Powered external power amplifier should be incorporated to drive the aftermarket speakers.---Keoke
P.S. The converter can be iliminated where the receiver has a "Tuner Output" Or you can have Detector output modified to produce one in the older radios.

Hi SHG, Yes I dropped the ball on that one . Let me just say simply that the material Martin sent is fantastic.Grips like a tasmanian devil and is molded in one vitually undestructible piece. You will be very pleased with this product and all colors are available now.---Keoke

Greg, It sounds like you were thinking the same about radio selection as I am. I don't want something that looks like a radar tracking screen " tarting up" my BJ8. If I wind up buying a modern unit, it will have to be as simple of a display as possible. I have already converted to neg. ground.
If I buy something modern, I will look for something that uses non-volitile memory so I don't have to run a seperate
" keep alive " ground wire to the battery. I like your idea of using the space above the radio in the console for a couple of speakers. Also, I am trying to keep the expense down as I already spent many $$$$$ on this car.

SHG, I was leaning towards using a push button radio for both the looks and the fact that no keep alive ground is needed. So if the unit doesn't have enough power, use a hidden power amp.
I like this solution. The " high / low " convertor you mention must be something to cut down the signal to prevent distortion. What was the name/model of this convertor ?

Perhaps we should open a new topic to discuss this subject, but I am also in the process of installing the new weather seal around the door openings. The product that I have is aluminum inside and I was planning on drilling some small holes thru it and the knife edge so I can either screw or pop rivet it on. Is there a better quality door seal available ?

Hi Ed. Greg's link shows you what they are. Very simple, inexpensive, small boxes, usually with RCA jacks out so that they can connect to an amp. The hi/low converters or adapters (different companies call them slightly different things) are available all over the place, even on ebay. But without them, the old radio won't work properly with an amp.

As for the amp, you don't need anything fancy and you don't want anything large. It has to be small enough to hide behind the center console and attach under the heater box.

As for radios, check out this link to give you an idea of what's out there. http://motors.search-desc.ebay.com/blaup...aMEFSRCHQ3aSRCH

I just realized that I have a spare hi/lo adapter. I had ordered one, but it didn't come in time so I picked on up and ended up with two. It's a Pyramid NS-60 that cost me about $10, so if anyone wants it, let me know.

I'm for good tunes in the Healey and have had a radio and CD changer on board for several years. The quality of the sound is even better with the recent addition of the hardtop.

I have four speakers--two box speakers (about 5"x8") in bracket mounts behind the dash and two 6" flush speakers recessed in the kicks. Mounting and balancing speakers is the easy part.

What's difficult is where to put the other components (receiver and CD changer) so that it "looks right" and is easily accessible and functional. This is especially so in roadsters that lack a central console and, at least to me, are not complimented in appearance by radios, etc. hanging out under the parcel shelf or sitting on the tunnel.

I'm attaching one photo to this message showing part of what I have come up with--the Sony receiver mounted out of plain sight on the parcel shelf and the most important component: The Sony RMX4S "Rotary Commander" shown mounted on the heater motor face. (The box speaker is also shown in the photo). The 6-disk CD changer is shown in the next message.

The heart of the whole system is the Rotary Commander and mine is mounted inconspicuously, yet falls easily to hand and allows me to change function (CD, FM, AM, etc), disk and track and volume all "without looking" just by twisting the stacked knobs. It is probably 4" by 1" and is wired, along with the receiver, to the changer in the boot shown in the photo attached to the next message.

Sorry I don't have the model numbers for the Sony receiver. The changer is CDX-CA710X and a visit to the Sony site will show which units are compatible with the "Rotary Commander" controller.

Here's a shot of the Sony six-disk changer mounted in the boot. BTW I first had both the changer and the receiver mounted in the space to the left of the spare (An option available only to 100 owners)but felt that it was helpful to be able to see the LCD display for the station frequency when using the radio, so I moved the receiver to the parcel shelf and remounted the changer as shown to allow me to stow jack, tools, etc. in the storage nook.

HI ED, I guess I have to be the wet blanket on the "HI LOW Converter". There is no way the converter can reduce distortion it can only incresse it.What it does is reduce the amplitude of the receiver"s out put to be compatible with the external amplifiers input.Consequently,all the distortion present in the receivers audio system plus that created by the converter is being fed to the external amplifier.Nevertheless, if the system sounds good to the user then it must be satisfactory to them.Additionally, not many production car radio systems will match the performance of a good aftermarket one. IMHOP, once I selected a radio to use{for what ever reasons} if it did not include a PREAMP output I would take it to a good radio repair shop and have one put in,it shouldnt cost much. What this modification does is to bypass the distortion prone audio power amplifier in the receiver and brings out a clean{Clean as the receiver chosen contains}low level signal that needs no lossy converter to be compatible with the amplifier's input.---Fwiw---Keoke

keoke,after your latest diatribe with the put outs converted high low to pre ins back to amp side circut etc.etc,i elected to purchase and install a single crystal 'electro-lab'set[for 9-12 year olds]thanks!!gegw,help!!!!

Well Andrew, just use a high quality after market radio that has a PREAMP output and its own external power amplifier. The power available per channel should be on the order of 100 Watts, a little less OK. To optomise the stereo imaging put at least 6 1/2" round coaxial{you could go Triaxial if you want} speakers with very low compliance cones in the side panels of the foot wells.I don't have much advise for rear mounting speakers.---Keoke
OH,! The crystal set will work great just use a higher powered amplifier.