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Stereo installation question...again...

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[ QUOTE ]
Well, now that I've sliced my finger while trying to removed the steel cage form the CD unit...sigh...I'll attempt this again today. I now see how it's supposed to fit in there and will take the plunge again today.
Thanks!

[/ QUOTE ]

I've got skinned knuckles, an aching back, and my arms hurt. T'werent an MG, unfortunately!

152before-450.jpg
 
Yikes! I feel a little bit better about my issue now! Yeah, it's those two stupid little metal sticks that are driving me nuts...still. They just don't seem to be unlocking the metal cage enough to slide it out. I hated to resort to my "network" but I just talked to a good friend who's done a lot of stereo installation and he said he'll come by and do it for me on Tuesday. Of course, I still have the need to keep jockeying with that stupid little frickafracka case....harumph.
 
Ya know you are gonna be embarrased when your friend shows up and shows you how easy it is...because he knows the trick...that is what reall hurts. Been there, done that! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Bruce /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
If you've got someone to come help, wait on them... if you keep playing with the sleeve, it could get bent, or damaged.
 
Yeah, I quit playing with it and will wait for good ol' Tom to help out...sigh...
 
Whew!! After all this time I finally got the stereo installed but I still have a speaker question. I bought 5 1/4" Kenwoods to stick in the existing opening but they still touch the door mechanism. The top mount depth is 1 7/8 inches, about the shallowest I could find that didn't look like something from "Pimp My Ride". I may have to cut out the opening a tinge more and that might help but if it doesn't, what material can I use to make spacers? I did try some dense foam matting material but then the speakers stuck out too far. I'll fight with these again but just wanted to know if anyone else has had this issue.
Thanks!
 
Are we having fun yet? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Sounds like you're almost there, and it also sounds like there's more cutting to do. I'm sure you'll get some more advice, but if you're planning to be at the show this weekend, I'll be glad to take a look. (As will most of the crew who'll be there!)

Mickey
 
Well, I did manage to get the speakers in but the panel seems to be a bit warped and that's why they didn't sit in there well. I still think I need to do something about the fact that they're not totally flush but I'll worry about that later...ah, beautiful music!
Thanks Mickey...I'll see you Saturday!!!
 
One last question and then I swear I'll stop asking...!!!

I had a friend wire the unit in place and things work fine except for the fact that the unit resets to default when I turn off the ignition, causing all of my settings to be lost. I think he may have wired it incorrectly but he wanted me to ask if anyone else has had to wire things any differently than what a standard unit's instructions say to do.

When he first tested the unit I'm not so sure we both knew then that you have to hold in the power buton for a couple of seconds. I'm enclosing his latest email so here goes:

Remember when i first tested the unit... with just the red(battery hot) attached to the unit-red(acc lead) and nothing happened, so I removed the unit-red and then attached the unit-yellow... and nothing. So, I finally combined the unit-red and unit-yellow and attached to the hot and then the unit worked.

In this scenario, the radio would only operate IF the car was running OR the key was in the "ACC". Ahhhh... this might explain it. We are completely losing power to the unit ( i.e. no "trickle" voltage is available to sustain the settings). Back in the day, prior to the digital, there was no need to supply power constantly (it was undesired, because the unit would draw at full power and drain the battery). Currently, the newer units could require constant access to sustain the settings, the unit is "intelligent", in that it only syphons off enough current to maintain state.

Current power diagram:


------------------------ (unit- RED)
/
/
(Battery-HOT) -------------------
\
\------------------------- (unit-YELLOW)

(Sorry the diagram pasted funky in the body)

Any suggestions or did he just not wire it correctly??

Thanks!
 
The red wire "should" be wired to a switched-on circuit (hot only when the ignition is on), and the yellow "should" be wired to a constant hot wire. The yellow supplies the memory only.

Mickey
 
Yes, but I'm not sure where to do that just yet. I got a meter out and did some testing but am a leery of plowing into the wiring on this thing. A friend who's a former wrench turner came over and did some tesitng as well but wanted a litlte adivce as to where to get that hot wire to the yellow...do we need to splice into the wiring from under the dash?
 
Thanks, Stewart...you replied as I was posting again. The weird thing that happened when we were testing wires was that we got a faint squeal from the CD unit when checking under the dash. When my mechanic buddy used a test light, then the squeal was much louder and we decided to quit. I tried it two times this way, once with the yellow and red wires connected together and once with the yellow totally disconnected. I was really afraid we would screw up the unit and so we just stopped but I wondered if anyone has any idea as to why that would happen?
 
hey, did i tell you about the time i installed a negative earth radio in a positive earth car? it was a floating system (duh!) that worked pretty well. the one problem i had was the antenna. since the antenna was connected to the car, i couldn't just plug it into the radio. i used a ferrite donut and wound a coil to the antenna and another to the radio. oh by the way, the radio was mounted in a wooden box between the seats. the speakers were also isolated from the car as well. overall, it worked fine and had nice reception. as i restore the car now, i don't plan on any form of radio. the sound of the engine (and tranny)will be music to my ears /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Yikes! Yeah, I think humming would be an easier option than having to deal with that. And then, of course, you'd be more aware of things going wrong that music can cover up when cranked up at full tilt!
 
My heart skipped a beat when I saw the pic. Seriously.

Patrick
 
I assume you are referring to Paul's restoration pic?? I got a little confused there for a minute (and may still be).

Anyone know about that squeal I mentioned earlier? I still think that's strange...didn't come from the speakers mind you but from the unit itself...odd.
 
I don't know about the squeel, unless it was just the player running a little out of kilter from being jostled around so much, but hook the yellow wire to PURPLE for hot all the time...this will keep your settings and clock set. There are purple wires to the map light (solid purple, NOT purple/white) or the lighter and my 74 even had an extra female bullet on the harness above the radio. You can just tap into one of those purple wire with a tap splice...it will draw less that 2 amps and not overload anything there.

Bruce /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
Hey, thanks, Bruce. I'm going to give that a try....yeah, the stereo unit was turned off when it squealed so I, along with my mechanic buddy, was bewilderd by that. I'm going to a British car show tomorrow and maybe someone there can enlighten me on that one. Thanks for the info...I'll see if I have an extra bullet there ...be nice if I had one!
 
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