You know . . . I never really realized how important a working/quality stereo is in an automobile until I drove this car without one. The 27 year old stereo (click button radio, manual tapedeck, old speakers, broken antenna, and interfering speaker balance control) was just not cutting it anymore. Clearly, this had to be addressed. This presented several challenges: I did not want to risk damaging the original wood in the car, and I didn't want the new setup to be too intrusive against the original & classic look. However, I wanted great sound quality with newer technology (MP3 Playback, Compact Discs, etc.).
I first started with the speakers, hoping that was the only issue . . . and hoping that suddenly the radio would work wonderfully. I went with Boston Acoustics S55 5.25" components (like the ones pictured below) throughout the car. I chose these speakers because because they have the attached tweeters on the front, fit the exact same footprint as the stock speakers, sounded great, and were reasonably priced. We ended up having to build custom mounts for these speakers, as the original old mounts were in relatively bad shape.
The crackling, hissing, and static was still there after replacing the speakers, so I proceeded to replace the head unit. I decided to place the head unit in place of the of the stock tapedeck in the lower compartment. I chose this position so that I would not risk damaging the original wood & classic appearance of the car. I retained the original piece of wood that surrounded the tapedeck, just in case.
During the installation here, we ran into several challenges, yet still. This car, as many others from the same era, had a common ground . . . so some custom work had to be performed in order to ground the head unit properly. Further, there was still some crackling trickling to the speakers . . . which required new speaker wire from the head unit to the speakers.
This head unit came with a remote control . . . which, at first, sounded silly to me. But, given the placement of the head unit . . . just out of reach of my hands while I am driving, it has proven to be quite convenient.
At this point, the stereo sounded great. I had one last lingering issue I needed to address. The antenna for the radio did not operate properly; it would not retract all the way down. Below are pictures of the old antenna and the internals that caused the problems I was having.
We ended up replacing it with a Japanese antenna that fit directly and weighs a ton less. The technology is a lot more efficient and leaves a much simpler footprint nowadays. At this point, I have a great stereo with fantastic sound quality to listen to.
In the future, I might try to tactfully add an amplifier, custom box, & subwoofer setup. I might even one day purchase and get the HD Radio or Satellite Radio add-ons for the head unit installed. Either way, I will keep this page updated with any updates!
Make sure to come back by periodically to see the progress on this project, and thanks for stopping by!