HOW TO: ipod into hotrod without a radio

Thanks for the post. I'm thinking about some tunes for my hot rod. Gary

 

Sgrc


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Yeah, I can use something like this to run tune thru my iPhone.

 

I have gone through 2 PAC cables in 2 years- I was searching this thread to see if I could do this adiffierent way. I hate to keep buying a bad product over and over. Everything else works, fuse is good, but the the ipod doesn't charge

 

I was in Wal Mart recently and picked up a small $19.99 Altec Lansing Bluetooth speaker, about 4" x 1" x 2". I paired it with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S7), downloaded the "I heart radio" app, tuned into my favorite station, and perched the speaker on the dash in the defroster slot. That little speaker really kicks. Smartphones can also store downloaded songs just like an Ipod. Total cost = $19.99 plus tax. I can take the speaker wherever I go, in any one of my cars.

You can also buy a much larger Bluetooth speaker that will rival most car stereos for under $150. They can be charged with an lighter insert that accepts a mini-USB cable, so the speaker won't go dead, although my cheap little speaker is supposed to have a 6 hour play time.

Easy Peasy...and cheap.

Chris

 

I have 2 applications Thx for the info guys The plus is now I can transfer my oldies songs from CD's to a MP3.

 

I,ve got my trusty Creative mp3 player here and a new amp just waiting for my PAC lc-1 volume control to turn up. It says to leave a 2” gap all around the amp for cooling. Am I right in thinking that these things only run hot when driven hard using subs etc. I,m going to be running a couple of 50 watt 6 x 9” speakers.

 

I'd guess that a computer fan would provide the airflow for smaller gaps, but the manufacturer should have a customer service site and phone line and I'd suggest you contact them, since they are the ones that would warranty it and have more knowledge on the requirements.
An infrared temp gun would be another tool that would be able to answer your questions, once you know what temps are within normal limits.

 

I'm no stereo guy, so I figured I'd ask here.
I had set my car up like this thread suggests back when I had an ipod.

I have another vehicle to do soon, and I want to modernize it a little bit. So, can I just swap out the A/V output adapter for a bluetooth receiver?
I assume yes, but want to make sure with someone more knowledgeable before I purchase anything.

 

Hello,

Get a new radio with a Bluetooth connection built in place. No need for an external Bluetooth unit with wires leading back to the radio unit. That was old technology and people stood by with their installations. Now, folks are purchasing a radio unit that has built in Bluetooth.

No need to mess around with wire installations and finding the channels to get to the glove box. Plus, it takes up a lot of the box itself. Cooling? That is up to you. Most people stuff their glove boxes with stuff they never use.

An old Mediabridge Bluetooth unit and wire components. The big wide connector end is for my 2nd gen Ipod that holds plenty of music. It still works, it still has a life, but is a wire necessary unit to hook up to our household speakers if needed. But, the latest (Last Generation) Ipod takes that spot for the Bluetooth speakers to power the household sounds.

Why? Well, the old unit used to sit in the glove box. Wires leading back to the radio. Then another wire came out to connect to the Ipod. But, you had to leave the glove box open and wire dangling. Or could reroute the wire under the dash and connect to your old Ipod.

Jnaki

All of that is moot, now. Not all Ipods have Bluetooth power. So a third gen Ipod started the Bluetooth revolution. Now, that the latest Ipod is no longer in production, it holds a ton of music and has the power of the latest powerful Iphone. But, if you have one or can get one, use it in conjunction with a new, Bluetooth radio head unit.

It makes life easier. My newest Ipod and my wife’s Iphone have all of the music from our old music files. But, the odd thing is, we talk and drive, not listen to music when we are together. But, at least, it is wireless transfers...

The Ipod sits in your hand wirelessly or in your passenger’s hand for pure music if and when you want it. For teens, their Iphones all have Bluetooth and they can also hook up to the car’s radio head unit wirelessly. Keep them happy and learn a song or two. YRMV

The last generation of Ipod Touch units from Apple. Free music, wirelessly without any hassles.

 

I know that I could get a radio with bluetooth built in, but I asked about doing it the way I did for a reason.
For one, I only need bluetooth, I have no need for radio.
And the second is that I still want a volume knob on the dash.
I don't want to have to use the phone for volume, and I don't want a modern radio in the dash.
I want to install it into a F100, and I plan to use the stock radio face plate, and modify the PAC LC-1 to connect to the volume knob on the stock face plate.

 

I'm wondering the same thing as @cretin...this tech is awesome, but it's also old and being that I'm completely stupid when it comes to car audio technology I don't know if this info is still valid or if new technology has made it obsolete.

So, if you don't want to install a bluetooth radio/head unit and just want to listen to tunes from your iPod through a permanently mounted speaker, what do you need? Seems to me you still need the basics outlined here (speaker, amp, volume control knob), but what's the best way to hook it all up? Again, car audio stupid here, so sorry if this is a dumb question. Thanks.

 

I kept my radio delete plate in my dash and went with a bluetooth car amp like this one on amazon.
https://a.co/d/coaATA1
I have it mounted in the trunk and then wired to two 6x9's in the package tray. I haven't mounted any speakers up front yet but this setup will allow for it. As soon as the car starts, the amp comes on and my phone connects to it via bluetooth. I then stream my music from the phone and use the phone volume controls to turn the volume up or down.

 

Cool, thanks @Dos Cincos. So I assume if you want a volume control knob (instead of controlling off the iPod) you just wire that back to the amp?

 

This amp only has a master volume control so the listening volume would have to be controlled via the bluetooth device (ipod/phone)

 

I used the same amp as @Dos Cincos used but I did mount two small speakers in the location of the dash mounted 6 x 9 speaker. I cut down the old 6 x 9 and mounted the speakers to the 6 x 9 speaker frame and aimed them toward the A pillars.

 

Hello,

In these days and modern technology times, there is always something to make life a little easier. The Ipod story I wrote was the latest at the time, but now, Apple has deleted the future of the Ipod. With the latest Iphone version, the storage drive in it has tons of space and can hold what seems like a zillion songs.

That is old school, just hit the Bluetooth tab in the settings and have your Bluetooth speaker under the dash or seats for a quality sound coming from such small speakers. The wonders of modern technology.
There is no need for amps, large speakers, wires or even cords to connect everything. A simple phone with Bluetooth will do all of the selection, volume and it is handy for anyone in the car to use and change music as one drives to the next destination. The stock dash with the old radio can just look original and cool. No need to add additional speakers in the doors, unless you want Bluetooth speakers inside there.

Jnaki

We are old school and only use our phones for talking and texts. The music if we listen to it, comes from our last generation Ipod before the whole program got cancelled. Apple wants everyone to use their music service on the phones and hook up wirelessly anywhere.

So don't worry about whether you are information challenged or not. We all were at one time. Our Ipods are ready when we want music, but the latest factory radio entertainment center like Apple Play are connected to your home Itunes program and can run the same songs from your library, wirelessly.

Note:
The original Ipod and 2nd generation Ipod does not have Bluetooth capabilities. We use our 2nd gen Ipod in the garage wired to a powered speaker system for cool sounds while working in there.

Note 2:
If you want to go through 1960 technology with some new components, go ahead. But these days, there is no need for 6 x 9 speakers or even 6 inch speakers. The modern tech is clearer and can hold just as much charge or power for outstanding sounds. Space is usually the premium in hot rods. Ipods and Bluetooth speakers solve those problems.

 

I am using this from JL Audio, plugs right in the output of the amp. Super easy and works great. My phone controls the volume.

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/ite...MIwIK6i9aA-wIVpiutBh0HFQjXEAQYASABEgIibvD_BwE

 

I did bluetooth with one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/Fosi-Audio-Bluetooth-Amplifier-2-1Channel/dp/B08K44GBM9


https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...all-non-invasive.1155455/page-2#post-14566749
I made a box to test it out

Works great. It's small and could easily be hidden. Mike

 

I'm working on a setup right now for my truck. I plan to post what I did here once I've finished.
I'm concentrating on getting the truck on the road first though, so it may be a few weeks away from being finished at least.

 

So this is what I've come up with. It is still untested, but I don't see why it shouldn't work. As I've stated before, I know next to nothing about audio, so if someone more knowledgeable sees an issue, please let me know.

My goal was to have the bluetooth version of the original post on this thread. I wanted a dash mounted volume knob, with bluetooth connectivity, and nothing modern on the dash.
After my post #429 on this thread, @Woogeroo sent me this thread from the '67-'72 chevy truck forum.

https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_167012101972910&key=3ddbb42d66675f20d3a5103dae5d4319&libId=lb8qwccx010025g1000DL4k0mbktm&loc=https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/conversations/radio-stuff.5647151/&v=1&out=https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=229621&ref=https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/conversations/&title=radio stuff | The H.A.M.B.&txt=https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/showthread.php?t=229621

I found this thread very interesting. He went through alot of work to do that and still had a modern faceplate visible in the truck which confused me, but I thought the basic idea was great, and was adaptable to what I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to avoid replacing all the guts in the potentiometers if possible, so I started looking around. I was able to locate a 1M ohm dual pot logarithmic potentiometer with an on/off switch.

So, that saved me the time and trouble of degutting and regutting the pots.
time to get to work.
I gutted the factory radio, and started taking measurements for fitting the factory knob to the new dual pot volume control.
Here is the new pot on the right compared to the old on the left.


I had to turn down the diameter of the new pot, so that was the first step.




The hardest part of that was to make a cut through the center of the shaft to fit the knob and keep the knob from just spinning on the shaft. I was a little concerned that the new shaft is plastic and would be too weak, but the turning force is pretty effortless, so I think it'll be alright. I first just made the cut with a hacksaw blade, but it was way too narrow. I then remembered we had some key-way cutters. One happened to be the right width. So, I rigged something up to cut it. It was pretty a pretty sketchy set-up, but just for plastic, and worked out well.


I checked knob fitment.


Then I assembled the radio to figure out where I needed to mount the new pot, and made a little "L" bracket to mount it.


I then installed RCA's on either side of the radio case.


I wired the pots between the RCA's, wired the power switch wires, and extended the light wire.
(the purple wire was free. Haha)





I then mounted the bluetooth receiver. I wanted to mount the receiver inside the case for a tidy package, but was concerned the case would interfere with signals, so I mounted it on the bottom of the case. (Obviously, that means this photo is with the radio upside down.)


Plugged the bluetooth receiver into the one side of the radio, installed a grommet for the wires to come out of the case, ran the wires and assembled the case. For the purple wires out of the case, one goes to power, and the other goes to red on the receiver. The white wire is the radio light. I will connect that to go on with gauge lights.
Then, for the remaining receiver wires, yellow is constant power, black is ground, and blue is remote to turn on the amp.



This is the complete radio. I made a modification for the adjustment behind the volume knob to be there too, so it will look like a completely factory radio, and even though it doesn't do anything, the tune knob still moves the indicator.