Re: [Amc-list] Stereos

[Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx>]

Easiest out-of-sight way is to just mount it in the glove box. Of course that means leaning way over to change a CD, but most modern stereos (even some cheapos!) come with remotes now, so changing volume and such won't be an ordeal. Second easiest thing to do is use an under dash mount. That's fine on these old cars with a pretty straight lower dash board, unless you expect to use an under-dash AC system. Hot rod shops have plastic enclosures, but I made a metal one for my car. I've installed a radio before by simply making a flat plate with a flange bent on the top and a hole to take the radio. Made it just a bit taller than the radio and about an inch wider on each side, slanting the side cuts up from the bottom out to the dash. Then stick the DIN mount insert in that, then of course radio. Works, but you can see the radio box on each side. Simple enough to make some short sides for it though, or make a cardboard sleeve for the radio (with sections cut out of top for ventil
 ation) to "hide" it a bit. 

Here's the most common under dash mounts - http://www.autotoys.com/x/home.php?cat=447
They look like they want a flat surface to mount to though, so you still have some fabricating to do. 

I like this marine mount better for an under dash unit - http://www.s-tracking.com/marine-gear/mounting-hardware/poly-planar-wc-70b--black-weather-cover.html


You really need to check out what Tom J. did though! Since you're an engineer (software engineer?) you'll appreciate it! If it only had a "random play" function and could still get AM/FM It would be perfect for me! http://wps.com/projects/MP3-system/index.html
The computer is AM/FM radio capable through a USB receiver, but the interface doesn't have that option. Tom asserts that the push-buttons on the old original type radios are hard to use and require the driver to look at them, but I don't agree. My J-10 still has one (will change that some time!) with five buttons. I set the buttons to local stations that I like then just push them until I find something. Easy enough to figure out which of the five it is by feel -- easier to tune that way than with the tuning knob! I'd like to see a simple controller like Tom made but with a few buttons to change modes and such. Two would probably do -- one for input (radio or computer, could be a physical CD player too) and one for that all important random play! The only other suggestion I have for Tom is instead of having the player stop at the end of a playlist, have it start the list over again. I would still want a random play though. I leave a CD of varied music in my car just to have s
 omething when I don't want to listen to the radio. Even with 20 songs I find that after 2-3 run throughs I anticipate the next song and it gets boring. Putting it on random (some say "shuffle") mixes it up enough that I don't get bored with that one CD very easy. Of course my 1GB card will fix that once I install that radio! 

I ended up buying a cheap stereo from Wal-Mart since my Sony died. The only reason I got it was because it has an SD card input (along with a USB input for thumb drives too). I don't want or need gobs of stereo power anyway, and I'm not a big audiophile, I just want some decent music to listen to while driving. I figure I'll stick some music on a 1GB SD card and leave that in, using the "random play" feature when there's nothing on the radio I want to hear. No navigating that way! I understand completely the problems with navigating through the card, that would be worse than trying to find a station on an old dial radio, or even talking on a cell phone while driving! You could arrange your music in logical folders or play lists though, the fewer the better for ease of navigation. I don't understand those who want ever piece of music they own in one system though. SD cards (or thumb drives) are small and cheap enough you could carry several with different theme music on each, 
 then use "random play" for a couple hours. That's more or less what I plan to do. 

Blaupunkt, Alpine, and Clarion now have "digital media receivers" that have no CD player at all. You load them with MP3 files or listen to the radio. Not a bad idea, but you can't go buy a CD and listen to it in the car without ripping to an MP3 file first. 

This might be the ultimate solution for an old car though -- http://www.crutchfield.com/p_068RETRO1C/Retrosound-Model-One-C.html?tp=5684.
You will likely still have to enlarge the radio hole in an older Rambler, but not by much. No CD, but it has a USB input for a thumb drive. The USB input is on the rear, so I'd mount a USB socket in an ash tray, the glove box, or under the dash for easy access. There's also a neat remote unit readily available. It took me a while to find the face plate kit photos, here's the link: http://www.crutchfield.com/g_328150/Retrosound-Dash-Knob-Kits.html?tp=8699
There's a universal kit, but looks to me like the 55 or 56 Chevy kit would work well for most of the mid 60s and earlier Ramblers. Radio opening should be about that size and the dash area for the radio is flat. Unfortunately they don't list dimensions, but shouldn't be hard to find -- just send Crutchfield an e-mail. 

-----------------
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2009 11:46:08 -0700
From: Victor the Cleaner <jonathan@xxxxxxxxxx>

If we can assume that I'm approaching this from a "reasonably stock"
position - that is, neither an anal-retentive resto geek or a hot-rod 
boom car dork - what's the best way, given current technology?

I'm not averse to plasma-cutting some clean holes in the rear deck
for speakers, but I don't want to chop up the dash, and the factory
radio cutouts aren't going to accommodate anything that needs a CD
inserted.  

The other factor is the user interface.  As an engineer with pretty
extensive experience in UI design, I absolutely reject the idea of 
putting an iPod (or similar) dock in a car.  Portable MP3 players 
have UIs that are *way* too visually-intensive - you just can't 
navigate the content without taking your eyes off the road for 
unacceptably long periods of time.

I assume there are those among you who have researched this all at
some length.  I await reports of your informed and considered analyses!

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)


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