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1. I've just had the original radio for my '70 Cutlass Supreme repaired, but only after I had another identical one installed. So now I have two. I'm wondering if these things have much value, or am I the only one who wants a factory look, regardless of the sound quality?
2. I do plan on adding a proper sound system, preferably hidden. Has anyone tried to install something in place of the pull-out ashtray? That would be a perfect location, as it has a door that hides it. And I don't smoke
If you want to install a modern radio using the ashtray I suggest you look at the multi-CD changers. These mount in the trunk and have a control head that you could put in the ashtray.
Which radio do you have? The 70-only (I think? maybe it was 2 years?) stereo FM with separate amp is quite valuable ($500+ or so). The mono AM/FM with tone are fairly valuable ($300-ish). Plain AM radios not so much.
As said, you can go with a Retro Sound style head unit which looks like an old one but has more modern guts, or go with a hidden unit that has a small display you can tuck somewhere. Also depends on what media you want (CD? Radio? Bluetooth? Sat?)
Both my radios are AM only. One is original to the car, so I'd like to put that one back in. The other is identical, from a donor car, maybe not quite as minty, but pretty good. Both are working. I suspect they're not worth much.
I don't want to go with a retro-looking system in that spot. I want to keep the original radio in, in working condition, and add a modern system to play my I-Pod-type device through (It's a Fiio high-resolution player). There are already speaker holes cut in the doors. Hiding the system in the ash tray area seems like the perfect place to me. It's a little small, though. That might mean what you say, oddball, tucking a small display unit in there with the main unit hidden away. Was hoping someone had tried this. Perhaps I'll be the trailblazer.
In the centre of my dash there's a place for vents (air conditioning?) but it's closed off with factory delete "closed vents" for lack of a better word. I'm wondering if that might be a good place for tweeters.
If your AC vent deletes can be removed without hacking up the dash it may be a good place to mount speakers. You can get mounting plates that allow you to put 2 small tweeters in the place of 1 speaker.
Has anyone tried to install something in place of the pull-out ashtray?
Be aware that there isn't a lot of room there so you would have to cut out the dash to make room for just about anything larger than a remote controller as Olds64 mentioned. I have seen some cars with a radio installed there and what the installer had to do to get it to fit ain't pretty.
it depends on your budget, but my reason for choosing this option is that I can keep and listen to my original AM radio. But, I can also just connect, via bluetooth, my phone to play either my own music, or normally, listen to 60s station from Amazon. I installed the box between the radio and the glove box. There was a little gap in there that worked well. i'm only part way through the install since I also replaced the front and rear speakers and I need to run a set of wires to the rear speaker to get it hooked up - but the system is currently operational with just the front speaker working so I've been using it for about a month..
The only concern I had with this setup is that the radio wants a 10 ohm speaker and the Mark2 wants 4-8 ohms. I plan on mostly listening to the bluetooth input so I went with 4 ohm speakers. That just means I can't put the original radio up too loud as I don't want to overheat the output amplifier.
That's interesting, Indy. Normal batter and charging system enough for that?
Well so far but I haven't really added much. There's no sub or door speakers. I'm coming off the same fuse as the radio since only one of those is really on at a time
You're fine w/ the larger photos - they provide nice detail. When you post an image, you need to have the image oriented correctly before you post as there is no method on the CO site to rotate the image after you post. I rotated the image for you.
Speakers: The OE radios need 10 ohm speakers. 10 ohm speakers are very hard to find. Using normal modern car speakers (vast majority are 4 ohm) will burn out the transistors in the OE radio. You may be able to feed the original outputs into a modern amp then run normal speakers, but I do not know for certain. However, if the old radio is there just for looks then this doesn't matter.
Purchasing: Sonic Electronix is a great retailer. Generally very good prices, broadest selection, decent information. I usually cross check prices with Amazon and Fry's plus a quick google search. Car audio is one of the pseudo-price-controlled industries where there's random 50% discounts whenever someone bought stuff out of the back of a van. Do be careful if you're worried about warranties. The manufacturers all require the products to be purchased from an authorized retailer in order to get warranty support because of the rampant gray market. Much like the photography industry. Thankfully warranty needs are really rare.
Power: Power needs for audio are generally grossly over exaggerated. Typical listening draws less than 3 amps max, generally less than 1 amp. You only need to worry about power generation if you're adding multiple subs. Good cabling is always a good idea, and good power wiring is a good idea if running an amp. My system has a 10" sub, 2 6x9's and 2 6.5" speakers with a 5 channel amp. Turned almost all the way up with the sub doing 3" throws only draws <5 amps. No, I wasn't in the car. Solid power is necessary to keep the capacitors fed while pushing significant bass waves, but otherwise none of this stuff pulls much power.
Wiring: In case you're new to wiring audio systems, don't get worried about the huge mess of wires. Every head unit and amp has way more features and options than anyone uses, so usually half of the harness is unused.
Wasn't there a guy on here selling the 8-track housings, that could be used for mounting a modern head unit?
Also, if you are thinking of putting tweeters in the CENTER vent delete spot in the middle of the dash, you're going to lose the stereo effect and I don't see what the point would be in mounting left/right tweeters too close together. Almost (but not quite) the same as a center channel in a surround sound setup, which is not how music is intended to be experienced.
A better option to look into would be to use those holes that someone already cut into your door panels for mid/woofers, and try and find tweeters to mount on the A pillars.
You're right, Jeff, the tweeters shouldn't be that close together for optimum stereo sound. But I previously had tweeters installed under the dash in place of the original radio speaker, and it added a very nice brightness to the sound of my earlier cassette deck, brightness which otherwise gets lost, especially in wind with the top down.
I don't see room in the posts, and to be honest I prefer the idea of removing the vent deletes over cutting more holes elsewhere. Anyone ever removed those vent deletes and know how nice or ugly a finish that leaves? Seems to me they should come out rather easily, but not sure how.
