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TR6 new audio tr6

Wike

Senior Member
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Just picked up a new cd/mp3/etc..head unit for my '74 tr6. Need help in wiring this new unit.....the only existing wire that deals with the oem radio was the white/pink wire from the ignition. Thanks for any help!
 
Should only need to hook up the power to the power lead on the radio, and a ground, plus the speaker wires of course, usually the power wire from the radio is red but not always, it often has an inline fuse, and the one with the inline fuse is the power, but the radio should come with a wiring diagram, don't trust me trust it. But basically power and ground (find a bolt or screw to connect it to, or if you want to get fancy a spare bullet connector to the black ground system under the dash) then the speakers should be all there is to it. If it works like my TR250 the wire from the ignition should supply power when the car is on or when the switch is on the acc. position.
 
If it is like my last few modern stereos, it will need both switched power (from the white/pink wire) and constant power. Check the installation guide to see if there is a wire marked "battery" or similar. If it is just a head unit (no power amplifier), then you could just tap into a purple wire at some point (like maybe the wire that leads to the key lamp). But my preference would be to run a wire out to the spare fuse in the fuse block, to make it easy to disconnect the stereo for long storage or troubleshooting, etc. Some units that include power amplifiers will draw a substantial amount of current through this wire and they pretty much require a separate fuse. At the fuse block, jumper the other side of the spare fuse to the brown wire.

The unit may also have an input for dash lights, to dim the display at night. You can pick this up at the dash light dimmer (solid red wire).

If you share a model number, we might be able to help better ...
 
The head unit is a Alpine CDE-133BT, wires from radio, blue-power ant., blue/white-remote turn on, pink/black-not used, orange-illumination, red-ignition, yellow-battery, black-ground, remaining wires for speakers. I was going to hook-up the white/pink from the ignition to the red from the new unit. Run a in line fuse with yellow wire from new unit to battery, black-ground. What should I do with the new unit orange illumination wire....if all of the above mentioned is right?
 
not 100 percent sure, but the orange illumination wire, and check your diagram, but I thought it went to the lights, so when you turned on your lights the unit dimmed its pannel so it didnt blind you at night

could be wrong.

did you get bluetooth with the unit, would make it easy to play music from an I phone

Hondo
 
Sorry, I have mostly hooked up older units, forget about the additional wires for memory, illumination, etc.
 
not 100 percent sure, but the orange illumination wire, and check your diagram, but I thought it went to the lights, so when you turned on your lights the unit dimmed its pannel so it didnt blind you at night
That's what I was trying to say, as well. The document I linked to says "To the instrument cluster illumination lead".
 
Out of interest, where are you planning to mount the new unit? I have a modern stereo waiting to go into the TR6, but can't bring myself to cut the dash support to fit it - all those lights are too garish to my eye and I try to avoid cutting the car if I can avoid it! I plan to put it in the glovebox, but haven't decided how to actually fix it in place yet - any thoughts appreciated!

Alistair
 
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I sort of took the middle ground, wanted something better than late 60s radio, but didn't want to cut up the dash, and don't think the electronic units look "right" to my eyes in an older car, so got a new in the box Pioneer AM/FM cassette (on Ebay, they pop up from time to time) and am very happy with it, I also added an old Audiovox equalizer amp I got at a swap meet for next to nothing, put it behind the dash support on the tranny hump, now I can hear the music with the top down, even on the highway.
trradio.jpg
 
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