C1 radio install

[John Mcgraw]

Has anyone put an aftermarket radio in their C1 other than the Custom Autosound units? I have less than 2 hours of use on my Custom Autosound unit and it has crapped out. I just spent a couple of hours pulling all the A/c duct work out to remove the radio, and I know that repairs will probably take several weeks. I am thinking about one of the name brand radios from my local electronics store, but am unsure if any of them will fit.
I know that most modern radios install from the front side rather than from the rear like the 59. I am not adverse to cutting away fiberglass if necessary, but I just need to know what will fit and how you installed it.

Regards, John McGraw

 

[yesa59]

I finally gave up on my original Wonderbar radio - lousy reception, not enough volume, no FM, and could not connect to my Ipod. After looking around, I finally purchased a Wonderbar look-a-like from Antique Automobile Radio. The radio looks and works great.

Here are the pros and cons of this radio:

Pros:

1. Looks and works much like a real Wonderbar (pushbuttons and push bar work great)
2. Works with stock antenna, speaker, and electrical wiring
3. Very good FM reception (digital tuning)
4. Works great with Ipod (I use FM transmitter for the Ipod)
5. Pretty easy to install - much smaller and lighter than real Wonderbar - and does not require any fibreglass cutting.

Cons:

1. Costs $650
2. Differs from original wonderbar somewhat (pushbar does not have red tuning bar like real Wonderbar, FM numerals appear in the background of the dial, and radio has a small light to indicate AM (red light) versus FM (green light)
3. The dial pointer is not always in the right location - sort of annoying but does not impact the performance of the digital radio

All things considered, I am very happy with this radio - it is great to listen to FM or my Ipod while driving my 59 car.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Has anyone put an aftermarket radio in their C1 other than the Custom Autosound units? I have less than 2 hours of use on my Custom Autosound unit and it has crapped out. I just spent a couple of hours pulling all the A/c duct work out to remove the radio, and I know that repairs will probably take several weeks. I am thinking about one of the name brand radios from my local electronics store, but am unsure if any of them will fit.
I know that most modern radios install from the front side rather than from the rear like the 59. I am not adverse to cutting away fiberglass if necessary, but I just need to know what will fit and how you installed it.

Regards, John McGraw

John I will post a picture of mine. Its a modern one. not a knob type radio.I actually cut a rectangular opening for it. When I went to the dealer I always use I asked for a stereo that would give me the purest sound,connect hard wired to a multi disk cd player and an xm radio,and be simple to work. Well I all most have that with the exception of simple to work. I wanted to keep the interiour looking classic and I definatley made a mistake with this stereo as it does not fit in with the rest of the interiour. I have all billet and chrome in my interiour and the trim around the unit is a grayish color. I have to redo mine and have not found the perfect unit yet (since and because I cut it to a rectangular opening)

Sorry I cant answer your question but at least you know what I did wrong.

I cant even figure out how to turn the darn thing off,every time I start the car the CD comes on and my antena goes up. Normally not a problem but If its parked under the lift I have to use caution pulling in so the antena sticks out from under the lift otherwise it gets stuck under the lift.I was just in a real high end willys hot rod.that its stero looked like just a dark black plate (like a limos rear windows) and it was controlled by a remote control. once you turned it on then you could tell it was a stereo unit. that would be perfect for our car but the fellow just got the car and there is no name on the unit or the remote. I did a google search for hot rod steros and have not found the unit yet. I think I am going to join a hot rod foum to see if they know who made it

Good luck and iff you find some thing before me let me know

 

[BarryK]

John, I apologize for sidetracking your thread but this is hopefully to help Larry with the problem he is having........

Larry, the CD player (seperate unit) and the power antenna should be wired in to the SWITCHED or TRIGGER power lead off the headunit. That way the antenna goes up and the CD powers up only when the headunit is actually is turned on. It sounds like it got wired up to a switched ignition wire instead so they both turn on when you turn the car on. Check the wiring on the CD player and the antenna and make sure they are wired to only turn on when activated by the headunits trigger lead.
Be careful there though as the trigger leads on most headunits are low current and will only take so much of a load before frying the circut - they are usually designed to only handle a single load. When triggering more than one unit - in your case both the CD player and the power antenna, your best bet may be to wire the trigger lead to a relay than run the power antenna and the CD player off the relay, that way the headunits trigger lead only has to activate the relay when you turn on the headunit and not the full load of the accessory units - the relay itself handles that load instead.

 

[IH2LOSE]

John, I apologize for sidetracking your thread but this is hopefully to help Larry with the problem he is having........

Larry, the CD player (seperate unit) and the power antenna should be wired in to the SWITCHED or TRIGGER power lead off the headunit. That way the antenna goes up and the CD powers up only when the headunit is actually is turned on. It sounds like it got wired up to a switched ignition wire instead so they both turn on when you turn the car on. Check the wiring on the CD player and the antenna and make sure they are wired to only turn on when activated by the headunits trigger lead.
Be careful there though as the trigger leads on most headunits are low current and will only take so much of a load before frying the circut - they are usually designed to only handle a single load. When triggering more than one unit - in your case both the CD player and the power antenna, your best bet may be to wire the trigger lead to a relay than run the power antenna and the CD player off the relay, that way the headunits trigger lead only has to activate the relay when you turn on the headunit and not the full load of the accessory units - the relay itself handles that load instead.

Thanks Barry unit is wired properley,My daughter could wire this unit its all a plug play set up with plastic tags attached to the wires so you cant make a mistake.

My problem is there is not a button that says OFF.So the radio comes on every time I start the car and because of that the power antena goes up.

This is not a wiring problem its a problem of me not wanting to read the 204 page owners manual. My brother had it working correct prior to carlilse so that I had to push the CD button to turn in on or off,I sat on the remote and must have reprogrammed something now the radio goes on and off as soon as I start the car

 

[BarryK]

sorry Larry, I apologize as I obviously misunderstood the situation.
I could assist on stereo wiring issues but not on stereo operator error

hey, i couldn't resist that last line.......... as much as people have made lighthearted fun of me because of my overall lack of knowlege of working on my own car I had to get one payback jab in somewhere and I think this has been the first opportunity.
I understand what you mean though. These modern units are so advanced and do so many functions sometimes you would think they could run the Pentagon's computer system but trying to do the simple things like turning it on or off or just setting your radio stations into memory can take reading thru the 5000 page instruction book!

 

[John Mcgraw]

Thanks guys,
I had considered the wonderbar replacement, but original looks ar not that important on such a highly modified car. A couple of hundred dollars less, and I would probably buy one. Larry, your mistake is exactly the one I want to avoid. I don't want one of these new units with more flashing lights that a christmas tree, and I want a unit that will blend in with the interior of my car.
The one thing that I can tell you is that the Custom Autosounds unit is a total piece of junk. I only want a radio to listen to when parked on the cruise, since it is not like I can hear it over the exhaust and wind noise anyway.

 

[IH2LOSE]

This is a photo of my radio with the car running. You cant tell but there is a video playing of a fellow brake dancing.

This is it from further away

Now allthough my car is not excactly a factory correct car this thing does look out of place

More photos
http://www.clubphoto.com/_cgi-bin/app.pl/albums/large_image_view?id=3756002&link_code=sa01_17

 

[Tom Bryant]

My son had one of those in his Blazer. Drove me nuts. All I wanted to do was make it stop. :L He would laugh at me and turn it off. There was a magic button on there somewhere that turned it off but I never found it. The face of his radio came off for security also. I feel sorry for anyone that would ever steal that thing.


When I got my '59 in '69, being a no radio car, it had a custom radio installation done at some time. Coping saw and drill I would guess. The radio was a 1957 Ford AM. What a sweet sound. :eyerole I have the radio block off plate to put back on now. Maybe that is an option for you? Would save a lot of frustration.

 

[JohnZ]

This is not a wiring problem its a problem of me not wanting to read the 204 page owners manual.

Owner's manuals for electronics are getting like phone books :crazy . I bought a 40" Sony Bravia LCD HDTV the other day, and the manual is 98 pages - I'm a "read the instructions" guy, and I'm on my third trip through the manual to understand all the features/settings/options and defaults. So far the only thing I don't think it'll do is to serve beer, but I'm working on that .

 

[Tom Bryant]

John,

That's sweet. My wife would never go to work again with that unit in the house.

 

[IH2LOSE]

Owner's manuals for electronics are getting like phone books :crazy . I bought a 40" Sony Bravia LCD HDTV the other day, and the manual is 98 pages - I'm a "read the instructions" guy, and I'm on my third trip through the manual to understand all the features/settings/options and defaults. So far the only thing I don't think it'll do is to serve beer, but I'm working on that .

We have a sony set up that was a present for me.Unfortunatley its way too complecated for me. its now down in the kids wrec room and they seem to do well with it .

John McGraw I have a post on a street rod forum and hopefully Ill get an answer for us

 

[John Mcgraw]

Well, I went down to best buy and bought a Sony unit today and got it installed. I ended up getting a more complex unit than I wanted in order to get a silver finish instead of grey or black, but am real pleased with t after listening to it. I will be able to listen to this one while going down the road, as it is about twice as loud and twice as clear as the Custom Autosounds one! It has a tip out face with CD behind, MP3 capable, and has integrated XM radio control. This will be nice on long trips, as XM is all I listen to in my other cars and in the shop. This radio will run you out of the car, even with the 2 speakers in one in the original location. The CA unit sounded real tinny, and I just atributed it to the speakers, but the Sony unit will rock your socks off with the same speakers.
The only thing I don't care for is the removable face. That by itself would not be so bad, but if you do not remove the face when you turn the key off it sounds an alarm for a few seconds telling you to remove it. Unfortunately, this function can not be turned off! I just can't imagine that people pull the face off their radio every time they park their car, but I guess that I am just spoiled living in a low crime area.

Regards, John McGraw

 

[IH2LOSE]

Show us a picture.

You know you have taken it to far when you decide to purchase a stereo because of its finish.

How is that other car coming are you finished yet,

 

[IH2LOSE]

The only thing I don't care for is the removable face. That by itself would not be so bad, but if you do not remove the face when you turn the key off it sounds an alarm for a few seconds telling you to remove it.

John on my stereo the alarm sounds for about 5 secounds and then it stops and the face plate rotates back to it home.

Try leaving in place and see if it folds back in

 

[John Mcgraw]

Larry,
My face plate only pivots out when inserting the CD, and then it folds back flat.
I really have not done anything on the 65 since I set the engine in the frame. I would expect that the 65 will not be done in time for Carlisle next year unless it slacks up at work a little. I have been working some pretty long hours. We are in the growth mode, and I have gone from having 12 to 21 mechanics in less than 10 months, it is hectic!
Here is a pic of the stereo, sorry about the focus, but with point and shoot digital cameras you have no control over what it is focusing on! I really wanted to show off my hand-made billet console control panel. I milled it out of a chunk of 6061 T6 aluminum and milled out a recess in it so that a Vintage Air backlit slide control unit would fit into it. It really looks good when it is not out of focus, and looks great at night as well.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/339303/P0001351.jpg

 

[IH2LOSE]

You did a great job on the plate.

Your stereo blends much better then mine does.

I just read my manual on the stereo and I now know how to turn it off.

I have alos learned that I can insert my own movies or slide shows into the display. I made a slide show with a program I down loaded off of there web site but I cant get it to down load into the stereo yet.

I see you didnt do your brake pedal yet.

Lokar has brake pedals that match the gas pedal (the size of a auto trans pedal) I used the one for a truck I think. I just took my clutch pedal and heated it up and hammered the plate flat then drilled holes in it and then installed the lokar pedal on top of it with screws.

 

[John Mcgraw]

I knew you would pick up on the brake pedal! I have one here, I just have not gotten around to intalling it yet. I need to get busy this week and get all the little details done on the car, they called me and asked me to bring to car for display at the Waco NCRS regional meet later this month. I really did not have the time to p*ss away almost a day and a half messing with the radio, but I am glad that it is done anyway!

Regards, John McGraw

 

[cbernhardt]

You know you have taken it to far when you decide to purchase a stereo because of its finish.

Hey, that is exactly the reason I chose the radio I put into my wife's 62. Only fawn beige radio I've ever seen. Unfortunately it died after about 18 months and, of course, they do not make it anymore.

Charles

 

[studiog]

I finally gave up on my original Wonderbar radio - lousy reception, not enough volume, no FM, and could not connect to my Ipod. After looking around, I finally purchased a Wonderbar look-a-like from Antique Automobile Radio. The radio looks and works great.

Here are the pros and cons of this radio:

Pros:

1. Looks and works much like a real Wonderbar (pushbuttons and push bar work great)
2. Works with stock antenna, speaker, and electrical wiring
3. Very good FM reception (digital tuning)
4. Works great with Ipod (I use FM transmitter for the Ipod)
5. Pretty easy to install - much smaller and lighter than real Wonderbar - and does not require any fibreglass cutting.

Cons:

1. Costs $650
2. Differs from original wonderbar somewhat (pushbar does not have red tuning bar like real Wonderbar, FM numerals appear in the background of the dial, and radio has a small light to indicate AM (red light) versus FM (green light)
3. The dial pointer is not always in the right location - sort of annoying but does not impact the performance of the digital radio

All things considered, I am very happy with this radio - it is great to listen to FM or my Ipod while driving my 59 car.

Really like this radio except for the price. Like John McGraw said if it were $200 less I would have it already!