Radio opinions

[djberson]

I can't decide what to do. My car came with the original AM radio installed that seemed to be on all the time, although no sound came out except for a little spark sound through the speaker when trying to push the off button. The radio light was on all the time when headlights were on. The buttons moved the selector, but not the knob.

My car ALSO came with a brand new refurbished radio converted to FM/AM stereo, still wrapped in plastic with a receipt of about $400 from last year.

I ordered a stereo speaker for the console, new antenna mast and decided to swap them out. Boy was I surprised to see there is a rats nest of many multicolored wires coming out of the refurbed radio. Obviously, these are not ready to install. I really don't like the idea of butchering up my underdash wiring to install this thing, and quite frankly am not in the habit of using the radio much anyway. So I decided to see if I could replace the dial drive cable on my original AM unit, but again I was surprised to see that instead of a cable there is some type of "clutch" for changing channels with the knob that seems totally messed up. So, now I have an old non-functioning radio with the correct connectors, and a new stereo one that would require underdash surgery.

Has anybody faced this problem before? Do you think there is any value in the refurbished unit and speaker (untested by me) that I could recoup to put toward the repair of the stock unit?

Or should I just cut the harness and put in the new radio? Decisions decisions. Has anyone installed one of these before? Is it as nightmarish as it looks like it will be?

Why on EARTH would someone take so much time to reengineer a radio, and change all the electrical connectors?!??

[Guest]

Radio ...

There are a lot of wires on the new radios, but not really all that complicated. There should be a schematic with it to tell you where they go, or call the supplier for a copy. There will be two power supply's, one for ignition on and one always hot for memory plus your front and rear speaker wires and a power antenna wire which you probably won't use. Just using the console speaker won't give you anywhere near the sound quality of a two or four (two front, two back) setup, but putting speakers in the rear deck is not an easy job and requires a considerable amount of surgery. My front speakers went in the kick panels. Might be worth taking it to a pro if your not comfortable trying it on your own. A few pics of my setup. Mike

[Joe Johnston]

I really don't like the idea of butchering up my underdash wiring to install this thing

No need to cut or butcher any original wiring - get the proper connector for the power leads, your antenna will connect as is or with an adaptor, and the speaker wires will be new to your new speakers. Nothing should get cut, the schematic for your new radio will show the connections. Connectors have improved a lot in the last 50 years and we now have far better quality sound systems than the original AM radio with one speaker.

[jopizz]

As mentioned it's not that difficult. The original radio only has a connector for battery and ground and a wire for the light. There's a ribbon cable that goes from the radio head unit to the power amplifier under the steering column but that's not used on the refurb model. The original speaker connected to the amp unit, not the radio head. The original radio isn't worth anything so just cut the fused wire connector off it and reuse it. If you want to have a functioning AM radio check with Carl Heller (partsetal). I'm sure he has them for a reasonable price. Most of the time the power unit under the dash that has the tubes in it goes bad rather than the radio head itself.

John

[djberson]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I will let you know what I decide to do and how it turns out!

Mike, your setup looks nice but that is farther than I want to go. The speaker I got for the console is stereo, even though it is not really separated. Like I said, I won't really be using it much anyway, I just like things to work.

Another issue is that the new antenna mast I got appears not to fully retract OR REMOVE by its design, and since I like to take my car through an automatic carwash weekly it will probably break off the first time I go through with the antenna. So I may end up not even having a radio at all which is ok. In that cast I may just re-install my broken AM head so that it at least lights up.

Then I will have a brand new converted radio, stereo speaker and antenna mast sitting around collecting dust unfortunately.


-Jordan

[Dakota Boy]

Or you can just forget about the radio, and put some gauges in the spot.

Click on the link below for pics. Made a brushed stainless steel plate with some holes for the gauges.

http://www.squarebirds.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=6940&page=13

[jopizz]

I wouldn't recommend taking your squarebird to the car wash too often. The drainage system was poorly designed which is the main reason for the rust problems in the rockers, quarters and lower fenders. If you must take it to a car wash make sure the drain holes under the rockers are open. They rust from the inside out so you won't notice it until it's too late.

John