Fitting a modern radio

[mgtf328]

I want to fit a modern radio to my car so I can play music from my phone and/or a usb memory stick. I'm not bothered about having radio and don't want to drill holes in the wings to fit aerials as I don't often listen to the radio.

However, when in the garage I always disconnect the battery, could be 2-3 weeks before I use it again. I understand that modern radios require a constant feed to power the memory, I think this is the yellow wire on the harness. I

think I probably need power to the memory when it's working so can't leave the yellow wire hanging but have read somewhere that wrapping the yellow and red power wire together will allow the unit to work.​

I suspect by doing this I'll need to go through the radio's setup procedure every time I switch the battery isolator on, correct? But will this cause any other issues?

The other question is whether the unit will get out of the setup mode if there is no aerial attached.

Has anyone got any experience of doing this.

Thanks
AJ

 

[GregW]

Maybe bypass a radio entirely. There are bluetooth amps on the market now where you can stream to them directly from your phone. HERE is one I haven't tried. I've had thumb drives in the past and favor using the phone over them for a couple reasons. All car receivers (at least when I was in the market) use a FAT12 file system. This puts a limit on the amount of files you can have in a music folder. There is also a limit to the amount of folders you can have on the thumb. If you like to organise your music by artist per folder, that reduces the total amount of songs you can have way below the capacity of the stereo. Using the phone as the audio source has the benefit of muting the music automatically to receive voice directions from Goggle maps.

 

[dcarlg]

AJ,
I placed my aerial under the carpet on top of the tunnel, behind the seats. The short, rubber type of antenna. Works fine and is hidden.
Also, I found a plastic housing for the radio and attached it to the bottom of the heater box.
Good luck.
Doug
BT7

 

[John Turney]

I think Greg's idea is better than a radio also because you won't need to keep a memory alive with the battery between drives.

 

[Deleted member 21878]

AJ
i took a route close to what greg suggested. i bought a transformer for about 6 bucks off Amazon. i wired it to my fuse panel and mounted to the bulkhead over the shelf. it gives me two dongles i can charge from. one for my phone and one for a bluetooth speaker.

it is so hard to hear music at speed anyway but i found the best spot for a speaker was on the tunnel, in front of the heater box, facing me. i leave the speaker on the shelf when not in use and then just move to the tunnel when i want to use it.

heck i don't use the radio in my daily driver. it just bluetooths to my phone. in fact the reason i got rid of Sirus XM as well.

 

[RAC68]

Hi AJ,

A whiie back I installed a Bose radio from an Acura to provide a multi-input sound and entertainment system in my Healey. Having collected many tapes and disks over the ears and wanting more modern inputs as well as AM/FM frequency radio, I chose the Bose system's full sound to transport me back to my early 20s whenever I drive my Healey.

To specifically answer your questions,
1. Many modern radios do not require a common telescoping antenna to receive radio signals with most incorporating a built-in electronic unit for this purpose. Although my Bose radio had a standard antenna input that I did attach to my original fender-mounted antenna, I have never needed it to receive all available AM/FM frequencies.

2. 2 power sources were required. The main operational power/sound fused power input was attached through the ignition switch and body grounded. This power would be cut when the battery ground switch is turned off. The separate second required fused continuous power source is needed to maintain operational and security memory-resident code. These independent set of power and ground lines were routed directly and connected to the appropriate battery terminal to maintain power. Since the ground wire is directly connected to the terminal, the circuit would remain completed even though the battery cut-off switch was turned to off.

Hope this helps,
Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[glemon]

Ray, I prefer period radios in old British cars, but that install looks like a nice fit, suited to the dash and useful. I am still mourning the death of a similar unit in my daily driver, decided to forego the cassette and got Bluetooth, which I do use, but miss my cassettes (many of which have outlasted the supposedly superior CDs, but I guess nobody uses them anymore either).

As far as installs, a good Bluetooth speaker isn't a bad idea, but I have been old school and use wired speakers. I don't know about a 3000, but in a 100 (or a TR250) you can tuck the speakers in the corner behind the seat and just set them there and they stay put because they really have nowhere to go. Tuck the wires under the carpet no holes are scars left behind if you want to remove them later.

 

[mgtf328]

Thanks for the replies. I decided to go ahead and am waiting on delivery of the bits and peices. Will hopefully get it done this weekend. I will let y'all know how it works out.
AJ

 

[RAC68]

Hi Glemon,

Although I have the original radio/speaker and console on the shelf for concourse level replacement, I can definitively state that the driving sound was like listening to one side of a tin can telephone connected by a string. The radio pictured was larger then the original console to accommodate so I fabricated a replacement unit to accommodate the additional 1/2". The radio now has Bluetooth added along with CD, tape and AM/FM so I have great choice. I find I use the period tapes most and is the only player I have that can accommodate them. The one issue I had was where to install the Woofer and its amp. Since there is a definite shortage in space, I ultimately chose to install the woofer in the center of my spare tire with its amp placed under the battery.

Although my installation is quite extensive and does provide volume and good sound, today's sound technology is so much better and condensed to the point of being able to hide an LCD screened/receiver placed behind an original speaker grill that has been modified to pop-up for use. Controls cab be either voice or screen input and an additional period radio dial and knobs could be added as a dummy to further the concourse look.

Speakers can be incorporated as I have or hidden under the dash that can provide good sound with a woofer, flat enough to be installed under the driver seat to really get you to feel the beat. No standard antenna is required for radio reception but, as AJ has requested, some method for providing continuous power is necessary to maintain internal code. If I were to implement a new sound system, this would be what I would try for.

Just my thoughts,
Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[Gliderman8]

After I completed the restoration of my car I too could not bring myself to drill a hole in the wing for an antenna. Instead I decided to go with a Blaupunkt antenna amplifier which is connected to the original Triumph AM/FM stereo radio.
There is a thin wire that extends on either side of the Blaupunkt antenna amplifier. The wire is held in place with some clear tape and is hardly noticeable.