How to add Aux to a old Classic Car Radio?

[joloke08]

I'm thinking of going a bit Retro with Boris and fitting an Old School Car radio rarther than the Modern CD head unit we currently have

Ive been looking at old Radio Only Car Radios and noticed old Blaupunkt units have Aux input allready ;D

However these tend to go for silly ammounts like £100 plus

Theres also a Vintage Wireless Place that can convert your exsisting Radios but again you end up with a radio thats cost you Hundreds

Theres also the Retro Sounds system (again Hundreds )

Which Leads me to the Question if the Vintage Wireless place can convert any old car radio to give an Aux imput can i do it myself?

I'm quite Handy with a Soldering Iron all i need is some sort of Guide and to know what sort of Bits i need to get from Maplin

Has anybody here ever done this?

Id much rarther buy a cheapy Retro Motorola,Radiomobile,or even a standard Mini Radio from a car boot and do this myself if i can rarther than spend hundred on it



the above one is allready converted but a whopping £220


Can Anybody Help?

Huggz
Jodie

[VW]

Ive done loads.

Just disconnect the radio signal and feed the aux direct to the volume pot.

If converting to mono you need to add resistors.

If you want to keep radio function then you need a switched singla input, this can be auto on connect/disconnet, a seperate switch, or use one of the units function buttons.

[joloke08]

How can i identify the radio signal line?

And how do i connect the aux to the volume pot?

any Piccys or Diagrams?

Ive been looking at little build it yourself amplifier kits from Maplin wondering if the amplifier section on the car radio is mono and seperate could it be removed and replaced with a little stereo amp?

i know every make of car radio isnt going to be the same but I'm guessing the amplifier and reciever sections and how on e feeds the other are most probably similar?

Can anybody supply so photos or diagrams of their conversions?

[VW]

All volume post are wired the same, cant remember right now which terminals are which. I 'think' middle is signal though, one of the others is signal earth. Get the wrong one and the volume pot will work backwards.

Going from stereo to mono needs resistors to prevent any damage to teh MP3 player, cant remember values though.

As for keeping it stereo, don't bother with kit modules, just get a stereo pot, wire input in, then take the output direct to some phono outs.

This way all the radio is doing is turning everything on and controling volume.

Run the signal outs to a standard car amplifier and your sorted.


Its all prety easy, but its been a while since ive done one. Theres loads of info about. If you cant find anything ill have a look at the last one i did and double check terminals and resistor values.

There are many different ways to set it up, it all depends on exactly what you want to achieve and what equipment you wish to use.

[VW]

Where are you?

If your anywhere near essex i could show you what to do.

[joloke08]

wiltshire

Thanks for the offer though,I'm just getting info together at the moment Ive still got to get a nice radio to play with

Then ill ditch our modern Head Unit in favour of Old School Audio ;D

i am guessing though the principle is similar regardless of make of Radio?

[VW]

Yes, as long as it has a traditional twist volume control then its all the same.

[trigger]

Can you not fit a rape player and just run you iPod throu a mp4 cassette tape converter. I do that with my modern car and it sounds great.

[VIP]

Mar 14, 2010 19:14:37 GMT trigger said:

Can you not fit a rape player and just run you iPod throu a mp4 cassette tape converter. I do that with my modern car and it sounds great.

A rape player? I don't think that's the sort of 'music' he's into!

[trigger]

Lol! Sorry that should be tape player of course! Still getting use to this iPod touch...

[joloke08]

Mar 14, 2010 19:19:20 GMT VIP said:

Mar 14, 2010 19:14:37 GMT trigger said:

Can you not fit a rape player and just run you iPod throu a mp4 cassette tape converter. I do that with my modern car and it sounds great.

A rape player? I don't think that's the sort of 'music' he's into!

I'm female by the way and Deffo not into "Rape Players"

[JohnnySomersett]

I'm assuming the old radio will run a logarithmic potentiometer (though there are plenty with linear)...but they all work the same.

Have a look at this:

images.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&tbs=isch:1&q=volume+pot&sa=N&start=0&ndsp=18

...and you can find a wealth of stuff.

Luckily, volume pots are the simplest stuff and are really just a variable resistor. One in, one out and one earth

[kangarolf]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some more information on how to achieve this to get a stereo input into an old classic car FM stereo/tape player.

There is some good info here but there are some pieces missing, in particular 'you will need some resistors to prevent damage'!!

I have a standard volume/tone pot which is also the on off switch and its got FM stereo so I am wondering if its possible to get a stereo input working.

Thanks all
Rolf

[retrowagen1234]

This thread might help a lil bit... i did it the otherday , minus the resistors and it works great not sure if that makes it mono or stereo tho?

retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=80601

[Deleted]

Mar 14, 2010 14:32:08 GMT VW said:

All volume post are wired the same, cant remember right now which terminals are which. I 'think' middle is signal though, one of the others is signal earth. Get the wrong one and the volume pot will work backwards.

If you have the knob facing you... left hand terminal is earth/ground, right hand terminal is your new wire coming in, middle wire goes to the amplifier

[beefertoo]

i know this thread is from a while ago..... but i'm trying to do similar, where do i get one of the headpnone sockets that have a disconnect terminal built in, or even what they are called properly?

thanks craig

[ChasR]

Mar 14, 2010 19:14:37 GMT trigger said:

Can you not fit a rape player and just run you iPod throu a mp4 cassette tape converter. I do that with my modern car and it sounds great.

I've tried this in a few cars.

If you have a 'true' modern (i.e less than 8 years old), I suspect many would be dissapointed with the sound.

I've tried a few and it seems there is a limit on how high you can go with the volumne before distortion kicks in.

Not had that issue with Bluetooth or Aux ins .

[daklone]

Jul 15, 2021 12:07:46 GMT beefertoo said:

i know this thread is from a while ago..... but i'm trying to do similar, where do i get one of the headpnone sockets that have a disconnect terminal built in, or even what they are called properly?

thanks craig

Is this what you're after?

cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/psg08284/3-5mm-jack-socket-stero-switched/dp/AV15114

[adam73bgt]

Jul 19, 2021 10:50:16 GMT ChasR said:

Mar 14, 2010 19:14:37 GMT trigger said:

Can you not fit a rape player and just run you iPod throu a mp4 cassette tape converter. I do that with my modern car and it sounds great.

If you have a 'true' modern (i.e less than 8 years old), I suspect many would be dissapointed with the sound.

If you have a less than 8 year old modern and a cassette to aux adapter, you'll be more disappointed with the lack of cassette player to plug it into