so, the missus wants a radio for her wagon for christmas. Actually, a radio with the ability to plug her ipod into somehow. doesnt need to be fancy, in fact the plainer the better in an old car i think. I'm thinking the ipod'll just go in the glove box and have a permanent wire to the back of the radio? Any ideas? One thing I DONT want to try is the FM transmitters you can get for ipods. Been there, tried that on another car and it was awful reception, affected by what you drove past too much. Who sells old looking FM radios with modern internals in? something that looks right but gets FM?
You could install the radio in the glove box if you have the right amount of room and but an IR flasher on the dash. Thats what I did for a customers 65 Chevy Impalla. Alpine makes some great radios with "Full Speed Ipod". A radio would start you off around $179 and the cable is $29. Hope that helps. That way also lets you keep the stock look on the dash.
or just put some speakers and an amplifier in the car, kind of hidden away, that you can plug the ipod into. The FM transmitter things work pretty well out in the country, but if you're in or near Atlanta it would be a no-go.
You must have gotten a crappy fm converter. A good one will allow you to set the frequency to an unused channel in your area. Of course being in the metro Atlanta area unused channels might be few and far between.
i built a console on the transmission hump in my buick. i wrapped it in the same vinyl thats on the seats and put my temp, oil pressure, and volt gauges in along with a cup holder. it doesnt look bad but you know it wasnt factory but does have an older feel. works well i also put the speakers in the sides so i wouldnt have to cut into the dash or doors at all. it can be easily removed and didnt cost much. just my .02 cents
Try contacting Antique Automobilie Radio in Florida. Several years ago, they were converting stock radios to AM/FM receivers, with modern electronics. They also had conversios for CD changers that would plug into them. When I was doing stories with them, I was impressed with how well they stayed with current technology. I'd be very surprised if they didn't have an option for iPods now. Can't get better than a factory looking radio for your vintage ride. -Brad
i'd love a setup that was just completely hidden and just had interfaces for sirius radio and ipod. anybody have something dialed in that doesnt require a head unit w/ volume controlled installed in the glovebox or our of easy reach? BTW: Looks like your wife drives a 60's Lincoln Continental? Let's see a pic of the exterior... (I have a '62.) -scott noteboom
A quick search on the net and I found these guys: http://www.vintageautoradio.com/index.php I saw an episode of "My Classic Car" once that featured a company doing this sort of thing. Maybe on their web site there is info. I agree that you got a crappy FM convertor. My g/f had 2. One sucked. The other was great.
A friend of mine (KCMongo) is a dealer for a copmpany that takes old radios and puts new insides in them. They are Ipod compatible. Send him a PM. He can get you set up. This is what I plan on doing for my old Chevy truck. r
Custom auto sound makes them...nice looking and you can plug most anything into........bummer, made in CHINA. I Almost sent mine back, but everything seems to be made there. It's our greedy fucking manufacters have the stuff made there. Ron
That's a 61-62 Pontiac dash... Seems to me one of the stereos made to fit in the stock location for the older cars will fit the dash opening on that car, but those are quite expensive - the bargain route is to hit Best Buy for the latest AM-FM-CD with Ipod jack and hide it under the dash or in the glovebox. Even those arent cheap, the ones in the flyer from Sunday's paper were $150.
what i usually do is get a cheap $80 radio with a rear input line. then just run a cable from the headphone jack out of the ipod from the dollar store into the rear of the deck. the only thing is that it wont charge your ipod while plugged in but it does the trick.
There ARE AM transmitters out there. Also, about any HAM radio shop could probably solder you in a headphone jack to the original radio's internal amp. Run that jack on a lead to the glove box and put the iPod in there, or run it under the carpet on the hump and let it poke out under the armrest in the seat. ~Jason
damn, that would be nice just to get the solder gun out (cheap christmas present!!) hmmm, thinking who I know that knows this stuff. I bet radioshack would have the bits and some ideas..
I run my iPod direct to an amp, then to the speakers. Sounds great and has no visual signs of anything modern in my '63. I've had great luck with MTX brand equipment and have chose them again for this set-up. Once again, great sound at a great price.
You can add an ipod interface to any after market stereo now a days. its a direct line from ipod to stereo, clean, effortless, and always keeps your ipod fully charged.
while most new decks do have a plug in for them, you can also get a cable that will link your ipod to the rca jacks in the back of the head unit. if you dont have that they also sell a little T junction type of unti that splices into your antena wire so it direct pipes in that way. however, if you want it hidden and all your going to use it for is your ipod then i usaly do exactly what squirell said and just plug the ipod right into the amp and do away completly with the head unit all together. then all you have is a ipod in your glove box, or laying on your seat ect. instead of a hidden deck you arent going to use for anything other then plugging something else into. if you go for pluging it in in your glove box you could also wire a new 12 votl socket to the glove box as well and purchase a 12 volt ipod charger. then you get your tunes piped in, your unit charged and its all out of site. you could even run both lines under the seat and have the plug ins pop out right about wre the seat belts do in a bench seat. done deal
i plan on gutting the internals on mine and building a little power amp into it with a set of RCA jacks for an Ipod.
lol, yeah that would work too! i guess you control the volume from the ipod? i have a hole in my dash but of course i could put the old am radio back in. i wonder if it would still pick up old 50's AM transmissions
Radio Shack sold out, dude. All their bits are via catalog only now - it's like going to an auto parts store and them having intake manifolds, but if you need an oil sender or filter they have to order it, or you have to do it off their site. It sucks. A HAM radio shop (there's many in every town) will be able to do it for you, or hook you up with the stuff to do it, right off the shelf. No problem. ~Jason
Ipod speakers amp and crossover (to boost the ipod output) works great doesnt skip more songs than you'll ever need
http://www.antiqueautomobileradio.com/ I got the 57 WonderBar lookalike for Nomad. Bought blank ABS speaker kick panels and installed good JL Audio speakers. You can hook up CD player, satellite radio, MP3, Ipod, etc. 2 RCA jacks are on side of radio, plugged-in a $7.00 cable routed under carpet to come out from under middle of front seat for MP3. I have over 1300 songs on MP3 player at my fingertips. Only problem is trying to select one song at time going down road. I can make play lists so I am not distracted while driving.
Just what I was going to say. The guy who owns the company is a friend of mine (and also a '62 Pontiac owner.) It's just the thing if your stock radio still works well. It's built in Wisconsin.
you could hide this one in there. Made specifically for an Ipod http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/products/product.php?model=iDA-X001
in the old AH sprite i pugged the i pod direct in to the amp. the whole thing was hidden. turning up and down the volume was a pain. plus i would forget to turn off the amps. (batt drain) so i got a stereo pot for volume it also had an on off switch like your old radios have. i wired the "remote" lead to the switch if i turned it all the way left the amps would turn off, i also located an old knob for it, it matched the interior. put the assembly in a project box and covered it with vinyl that matched the interior. ' looked slick, worked great, and i could mess with the volume no problem. you could aslo use the one on an old radio. so it looks stock but works different. hide the subs in the trunk.
looks interesting. I'll re-install the original AM radio in the car at the weekend and see how it works
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