TECH IDEA... hideaway radio on the cheap

If you buy a head unit with a removable face, you can make a connector to fit the contacts on the face and head unit. The face can go on the back of your visor, and the unit can go under the seat (in the glovebox, trunk, whatever).

The hideaway radios that are sold are cheap crap... and sound like cheap crap. This gets you a quality head unit and a trick visor.

 

Ok, need more info. Lets see some pic, what do the connectors look like and where would you buy them?

 

I see where you are going with this. I don't think you could use a regular plug because the face of the unit is what actually makes the connection. I think with a little creative wiring it could be done maybe some fine multi conductor cable and some creative soldering. I think I might have to look into this some more.

 

Like a telephone cord? - I could see it working possibly.

I hid mine where my heater used to be. made a plate out of 16Ga. steel and glued the metal mounting shell to it. slid the deck in and I use my little remote to change songs and whatnot.

 

Check the Sony Stereo's. My brother had one with a wired knob he has it mounted on the side of his console, with the stereo itself installed in the glovebox. They also sell stereos with a wireless remote. I don't know how cheap, but I bet checking Ebay would find a cheap one.

 

Yeah, I dont really understand how you could do it that way, unless the faceplate on the radio you're talking about works like a remote... I just put an Alpine stereo system in my 63 lincoln, and I hid the head unit under the dash. It comes with remote that has a pretty decent range. I just preset all my stations in, and remembered their order... then you can just keep the remote in your pocket.

Only problem is the ones with good remotes are usually expensive.

 

What if you got an ipod, and some regular CD stereo you could tie it into. Then paint the ipod to match your ride. You can get the ipod and the wireless fm tansmitter - hell, style that as well. Might be a nice little thing to have. a few thousand songs at your fingertips.

 

I guess with my ipod suggestion, thisis gatting away from "on the cheap."

 

LOL Yeah, I think if you really and make it really clean, it's probably going to cost you a few bucks. What I thought was cool is thoe FM modulators, have you seen those?

If you've got a stock radio, it gives a pretty neat, vintage sound. It pop this thing into the lighter, and under it it's got a connection for a ipod, cd player, or even a very small USB stick, which I think is the best option because it's the smallest and doesn't need to be moved around alot. You turn it on, tune it to a station, then tune your radio into the same one, and boom, you've got your MP3 music on your old, vintage radio. Pretty slick.

 

Yeah - I've got to FM transmitters - One like you described I use for my mp3 layer - plug it into the cigarette lighter - But another that just pops onto the top of my ipod and uses the battery power from that. So no wires!!

Works fantastic!

 

Cheap??

I just sing real loud!!!

 

haven't done one on the '36 yet but my girls '61 is in the glove box.

 

I'm going with an iPod myself. And for me it qualifies as cheap since I got it for my birthday.

 

I don't understand why everyone wants to hide the radio. Whats wrong with seeing the radio?

 

In my neighborhood you better hide what you got unless you want someone else to walk away with it. Had that happen before. I've been trying to think of a way to put a radio in my 64 Galaxie without seeing it. The glove box is too far away. Been thinking about maybe way under the dash. Car sits pretty low so you cant see anything under there just walking by

 

Stereos are not the most atractive thing in a dash.. If you are wanting the early look, nothing like a digital Stereo to ruin the look. Also do you want to mount a stereo under the dash of a 32 or a Model A. looks out of plan 99% of the time

I have two different set ups right now..

I have an old Pioneer set up that has a small face plate and all the stereo and modulator fit under the seat and has a CD changer )from the late 80's) (like these new systems you see in the street rof mags..

I also have the Sony unit with the remote knob mentioned above in the wagon. Its controls everythng you need once you preset the stations so you can hide the stereo in the glove box, under the seat or behind the speaker grill in the dash..


I can see the concept of make the face place relocated but coming up with some wayto wire the faceplate to the deck would be tough

 

What's wrong with my 8-track?? Seriously, I use an mp3 player plugged into a $20 cassette/fm radio. sparky

 

I hate having the radio in the glovebox. Too hard to reach (driving alone) and, you have no glovebox!
I had given some thought to getting one of those original radios that have been converted to FM and have a CD connector. This way I could put it in the dash and it would look original. I think they're pretty pricey though.
I'm curious about the unit that has a knob to control the functions. Could you mount the knob in the dash, say where the choke knob was? How much does something like that cost?
Sorry, I'm not up on new audio systems.

 

another thing i started to play with is use a factory radio as a flip down face (or removable face). so far i've only done mock ups on 60's cars. build a box behind the original radio face, weld (or bond) the face together and make it a flip down or use very small magnets to hold it.

 

On my buick I have one of the tissue dispensers with the radio hid in it. Nice and hidden. When the face to the dispencer is up you can't even see the radio.
Eric

 

Same here, i hide mine, and lots of people think it's cool haveing a tissue dispenser....little do they know...

 

I like that idea! Very cool.

 

Why not ditch the head unit all together?

That's what I've done. Since the iPod (and most DAP's, Digital Music Player) have built in pre-amps with EQ's and volume controls you really don't need a car stereo anymore.

All you need to do is install an amp and connect your iPod to it.

I just did this on my brothers '64 Cad. Two 6x9's in the package tray, a 200 watt amp installed in the trunk, and a 12 foot RCA-to-mini jack cable that runs under the carpet. The cable was snaked behind the dash and ends at the center ashtray. Place the iPod in the ashtray, connect the cable and hit play. Done. You could do the same thing with the glove box or center console.

The best thing is security. Unplug it and go.
If you've got questions about the iPod or iTunes send me an email.

 

i have the same problem in my buick. i want some tunes but the glove box is way to shallow and the heater box is rith behind it= no room. do you guys have any pix of the tissue dipesnser trick? i was going to mount it under the dash but the way the dash rolls under there is no room to mount a den to install the head unit. i guess i could always build a console.

_T

 

Sean, what amp did you use? How does it sound?

 

Here's a different spin on the faceplate idea.
Get yourself a deck with a remote control, and hide it where ever you want.
The trick is to take the deck apart first and remove the "eye" for the remote, extend the wires on it and put the eye somewhere on the dash.
I've seen a few set ups like that, it works pretty slick.

 

My girlfriend gave me a Sony portable cd player and adaptor kit for christmas two years ago, similar setup to yours, just more low tech. The CD player works great, but I had the adaptor replaced 3 times during garantee. One of them actually never worked out of the box. One lasted one week and the other one only one day.

Now i'm stuck with a CD player I don't use and a broken adaptor. I Emailed Sony but they never even answered back. The problem is with the cheap ass wire they used from the adaptor to the player, it cracks too easily, and the result is crappy sound. I repiaired it once, but it broke again within a week.

My girlfriend's Panasonic setup works like a charm (in my car too, so the problem is not with the car).

Sorry for hijacking this post, but I'd suggest staying away from Sony crap.

 

the "moving faceplate" idea is pretty good, and we did it before in a few of my friends trucks.

They mounted the face plate in the factory rear-view miror, i know, dumb, but at the time, it was cool!


anyway...

The pioneer and sony ones, just use a regular 6 pin connection to get power and all the controlls down there.

I just cut the ribbin cable that connected them previously, lengthedned it using cat5 wiring (eithernet , computer network cable.) and wa-la!

works like a jiff.

 

Geez...my 8-track is mounted into the top of the dash in my '49 F-1....I'm still trying to finish out the hole with bondo...now I find out they don't make 8 track tapes anymore...just when my newest tape (ABBA) broke...my question is A) Should I keep the 8 track and finish the hole with bondo, B) pull the player out of the dash, fill the hole and hide the tape player or C) rig my old garage door opener as a remote and look for more new tapes?

 

OK! Thats a great idea! ipod, or mp3 player, to an AMP.

You could buy a used or cheap 128MB mp3 player on ebay, or at futureshop or something. Buy a el cheapo 4 channel amp from some discount clearance store, some el cheapo speakers - and there you go! You could probably do a nice setup for less than 120 dollars. (canadian )