My 85 Celica GT-S still has the factory AM/FM/cas with graphic equalizer. It is getting a bit flaky with staying powered on. Rather than put something new in the dash, I would rather build a box in the hatch and hide a modern receiver there, and run an iPod cord up front and control via a remote control (wired or wireless, if that will even work). Need some guidance. I know street rods, etc will sometimes hide the modern stuff. I don't know where to look to find this type of forum help.
My first thought would be to put a new CD player in the glove compartment. When you need to access it, just pop open the glovie and adjust. Of course you'll pretty much lose all the glovie space.
It all depends on what unit you get, where you want it, how you want things to work up front etc. Hiding the unit could be as easy as extending the radio harness which which is super easy if you solder and have an old harness for anything sitting around. Then build a small wood box to put the radio in.
Why bother? Just buy a cheap $80 Pioneer head unit with a front auxiliary input and put it in the dash. If it gets stolen, buy another.
Sky_Render wrote: Why bother? Just buy a cheap $80 Pioneer head unit with a front auxiliary input and put it in the dash. If it gets stolen, buy another.
$80 isn't pocket change.
Sky_Render wrote: Why bother? Just buy a cheap $80 Pioneer head unit with a front auxiliary input and put it in the dash. If it gets stolen, buy another.
Because he would rather not do that.
OP, diymobileaudio.com is a good forum for this sort of thing.
You might not even need to put a headunit back there. A T-amp with an aux input should do the trick. 
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: You might not even need to put a headunit back there. A T-amp with an aux input should do the trick.
Really good point. I wouldn't have even thought of that.
Couple problems. First is that the car is a 80's time capsule, so I don't want to ruin the look by removing the cassette/graphic equalizer to replace with a modern looking unit where it's visible. Second problem is that the original radio has issues - buttons are sticking, and it intermittently turns itself off. So I need to replace it, and figure that one of the perks will be aux-port compatibility. I would put it in the glove box, but it will take a bunch of space, I don't want to hack up an immaculate 26 year old piece, and I will still need to drive with the door down to access it. I think that I would rather just build a small box for it that I can carpet to match the hatch. I keep the cargo cover extended so it won't be seen at shows and such like an in-dash replacement would be.
You just need to do just that, extend and hide the harness. Do you know/understand how to do that? Its a pretty simple procedure. Just takes some time and materials.
Have you thought about having your stock unit repaired? I've done a couple of old Honda tape decks, and they're pretty simple. Most of the time, it's as simple as reflowing some solder joints to get stuff to work. Sticky buttons are usually grime, and can fairly easily be cleaned.
If you're willing to go a bit without anything in the dash, I could fix it for you, or at least make an attempt. I've never not been able to fix a factory deck, especially one that's most likely either a MatsuE36 M3a (Panasonic) or Alpine, which are what most Japanese cars of that era used.
N Sperlo wrote: You just need to do just that, extend and hide the harness. Do you know/understand how to do that? Its a pretty simple procedure. Just takes some time and materials.
I understand the plan and can do that. I need to think a little bit about how to control something mounted remote.
Derick Freese wrote: Have you thought about having your stock unit repaired? I've done a couple of old Honda tape decks, and they're pretty simple. Most of the time, it's as simple as reflowing some solder joints to get stuff to work. Sticky buttons are usually grime, and can fairly easily be cleaned. If you're willing to go a bit without anything in the dash, I could fix it for you, or at least make an attempt. I've never not been able to fix a factory deck, especially one that's most likely either a MatsuE36 M3a (Panasonic) or Alpine, which are what most Japanese cars of that era used.
I'll think about this. One motivation for doing this is that I know that my wife would like to use an iPod to play a cool 80's playlist while driving this one. I could do this with an FM transmitter also, so I'll think about repairing what I've got.
What about 'Secret Audio'?
http://www.casmfg.com/Secretaudio.htm
Also they make these little box thingies
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/160w-hi-fi-stereo-amplifier-mp3-player-for-car-motorcycle-blue-silver-sd-usb-90330
If you look around the site they are a few dif flavours.
In reply to glueguy:
Modern FM transmitters are crap. Back in 09 the FCC lowered the maximum wattage of transmitters due to satellite radios cutting in. My response was always to jam them by transmitting at 65 watts on 146.000 mHz. Since that is not an option for everyone, they hammered down hard.
Unless you are prepared to wrestle with a transmitter, go with the prior option. Transmitters can work, but prepare for a struggle.
In-line FM modulators work REALLY well, but the main reason I typically say to install an aftermarket deck is price. Modulators that charge an iPod tend to be $50 or more. A CD deck that does the same is usually not a lot more. If you don't mind using the 1/8 inch jack and a separate charger, then it's not a big deal.
Some decks can have inputs added. If your EQ is separate, then you already have inputs, but a lot of times, they're low level, meaning that they really aren't suitable for an iPod.
ThePhranc wrote: What about 'Secret Audio'? http://www.casmfg.com/Secretaudio.htm
Spendy but perfect. Now I just need to figure out if I can GRM something using a conventional cheap receiver. If not, this will certainly fit the desired goal.
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: You might not even need to put a headunit back there. A T-amp with an aux input should do the trick.
If you don't really care about listening to the radio, this is probably the easiest, cheapest and most unobtrusive way to go. Hide the amp, wire it to the existing speakers, run an 1/8" cable up to the armrest/console, call it a day. Should be about a 6 pack job.
Hell, if you want to listen to the radio, don't iPod Nanos have FM receivers now?
The receiver in the Nano isn't the best unless you have a good, strong signal.
Sounds like most car audio to me...
Where do i find a cord to connect one of these http://www.dealextreme.com/p/180w-hi-fi-stereo-amplifier-mp3-player-with-fm-radio-for-car-motorcycle-red-silver-sd-usb-90265 to a car battery?
Catatafish wrote: Where do i find a cord to connect one of these http://www.dealextreme.com/p/180w-hi-fi-stereo-amplifier-mp3-player-with-fm-radio-for-car-motorcycle-red-silver-sd-usb-90265 to a car battery?
Looks like a coaxial DC power jack. There are a number of different sizes so you would have to wait until you had the unit in hand to see what size plug to buy. Many Radio Shack retail stores carry them. You can also find them on line at Radio Shack, Mouser and Digi-Key but shipping for just the one item will be a killer unless you need some other stuff too. You will have to solder your own wires onto the plug.
Catatafish wrote: Where do i find a cord to connect one of these http://www.dealextreme.com/p/180w-hi-fi-stereo-amplifier-mp3-player-with-fm-radio-for-car-motorcycle-red-silver-sd-usb-90265 to a car battery?
Take a 12v wall plug that fits into it cut off wall plug part. Can be found on ebay.
Or if you have any skills take the case off and solder wire to the leads at the plug.
These things are really cheap so remember you get what you pay for. A side note to that is I've gotten a lot of stuff from DX that while being cheap was actually high quality. My windows CE based 6" GPS unit is outstanding.
My SE-R had a crappy 90s vintage aftermarket CD player that didn't work well. I dropped something like $30-40 and replaced it with a digital-only stereo made by Dual. It had AM/FM radio, slots for an SD card and USB memory stick, and an auxilliary input. Stick one of those somewhere out of the way, pipe your MP3 player into the aux in, and that should work good 'n' cheap.
I would look at something with Bluetooth if you have an iPhone or iPod with Bluetooth. I get in the car, the phone connects to the radio, I can talk handsfree, hear my navigation App, listen to music, stream Pandora. All with no wires or cords. My Clarion unit came with a remote, so I wouldn't even need access to the head unit if I wanted.
I would be tempted by the amp in the trunk and gutting the stock player. you could then install a 1/8inch input in the cassette door and run your MP3 player through it.
I personally would go with the amp and line in mode...
on a side note... I forgot how kewl DX is... this is such an awesome mp3 player
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/car-audio-tape-cassette-adapter-mp3-player-with-sd-mmc-slot-67471
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