Quote from: Ustauk on April 19, 2007, 03:24:55 PM
Quote from: Thorin on April 19, 2007, 03:15:41 PM
Quote from: Ustauk on April 19, 2007, 03:04:38 PM
Now that spring is here, I'll get the deck installed one of these weekends.
Have you got your eye on a particular deck or a particular set of features you want in your deck? CD playback, MP3-on-a-CD playback, front-panel audio input to hook up portable music players? Removable faceplate, since your car is pretty easy to get into and doesn't have an alarm system?
All of the above would be nice. I just noticed that Best Buy has free installation with a deck over $149. (http://www.bestbuy.ca/popup/promotionpopup.asp?logon=&langid=EN&ndx=0&sku=0926INGFS10072818)
Quote
Installation Included on all Car Decks over $149 ? Click for Details
Installation Included on Car Decks over $149*
*Applies to basic car deck install only, parts and extensive labour extra. Exludes prior purchases. Offer available in store only. See store for details.
I don't know if ripping apart my dash would qualify as extensive. Given the age of the vehicle, I imagine converter cables would be required. I might wait for Mel to come back from Mani, though, since I know he swapped the stereo on his old '82 Supra among other Toyotas, so he'd know the quirks of replacing a deck in a vehicle like mine. If you'd like to give it a try in the meantime, Thorin, there'd be a 26 of your favourite beverage in it. Or do you think I'd be ok with the Best Buy guys? I get nervous at the thought of strangers touching my baby.
Are your radio and tape deck together as one unit with a pocket underneath, two separate units one right below the other, or two separate units in two different parts of the dash? Toyota had three different systems they used, although the single-unit-with-a-pocket-under and the two-separate-units-one-above-the-other were
much more common than the now-extinct separate-units-in-separate-parts-of-the-dash units. I'm guessing you've got the two-separate-units-one-above-the-other, given that Melbosa said you'd need to buy a pocket.
I'd be fine with people who do installations all day five days a week for a living to work on my car audio, and I'm an audio enthusiast myself. They'll probably do a better job, given that they have a nice warm work area with all the right tools and connectors and wiring harnesses and soldering bench, etc. To be honest, it'd be as good or better to get them to do it, because if it's done wrong and they cause, say, an airbag failure,
you have a target with money for a lawsuit (yeah, I know, no airbags in your car; it was just an example).
And a final article I found while looking for pictures of a 1984 Celica coupe dash (that I never did find): 1985 Celica Coupe with a Dodge 5.2 litre V8 (http://www.toyoland.com/cars/celica-v8.html)!
Oh, and 26 ounces of Coca-Cola doesn't seem like a real good bribe :P
If the installation is done at home by a friend, I suggest you get a mounting kit (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fPBBweHdNtz/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?I=1421457B) and wiring harness (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-fPBBweHdNtz/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?I=120701398). This will generally remove the requirement to cut any wires or run any new ones, and will provide a decent finished look when it's all said and done.
Don't forget to buy a stereo with a removable faceplate and remove the faceplate, even if you just throw it under your seat. This will stop most people looking to steal your stereo. Or better yet, spend a couple hundred dollars on an alarm and join the BEE-woo-BEE-woo-ing masses.
Nah, just leave a couple 8-tracks on the dash ;)
I think I'll wait for Mel to get back from Mani, given his prior experiences. By the time he gets back, hopefully he won't be freezing his fingers working on it outside, which would happen today, brrr. I'll try and get a wiring harness for it; is there anyplace local I can get one? I think its a two level unit, but I'm not sure if its two smaller or parts or one whole part. I'll use my phone to take a picture tonight :)
That's some pretty cool pictures you found. My car is an 1985, so you could theoretically do the same thing to it, though I'm certain Mr. Analog would put some holes in me if I spent that much money on the car.
As to Mr. A's 8 track comment, I'd actually be happy to keep the current deck if I could get the FM radio working, since it would allow me to use an FM transmitter. Unfortanately, whatever short is causing this would require the deck to be hauled out anyways (I think its water in there because the radio works in the summer, except when the car gets wet, after which it takes time to dry out, and then it doesn't work at all when it freezes in the winter). If replacing the deck doesn't fix the radio, I could always use the aux in along with my phone's radio or one of those miniuature battery powered units.
I'll definetely get a deck with a removable faceplate. Part of my foot dragging on getting the new deck was not wanting to make my car more of a target; this concern has been ameliorated somewhat by my car getting stolen, since it was a target even without a nice deck. I'll just have to remember to remove the faceplate on exiting the vehicle, along with putting my steering wheel immobilization device on. I also don't know how much longer the car will run, but I suppose I can pull the deck when it dies and sell it or put it in a new to me vehicle. Thanks for all the advice.
PS: I meant a 26 of a favourite alcholic beverage. I have to remember to get a 26 of Crown Royal for Mel sometimes in the next while... :)
IF I had an older car (which I can't) I'd buy a kick ass deck for it and when the car died I'd take the deck and install it in my new car. ;)
Quote from: Mr. Analog on April 20, 2007, 02:12:35 PM
IF I had an older car (which I can't) I'd buy a kick ass deck for it and when the car died I'd take the deck and install it in my new car. ;)
Yup, that's what I'll do, unless the replacement car has an even more kick ass deck that comes with it, in which case I can sell the old one.
Every time I've had a deck put into a car I own, I've done it myself. Which is 4 times - twice in the '94 probe, and twice now in my '02 RSX.
Happy to help ya put one into a celica - its easy to do. Go get a harness that fits your car, and I can solder it all together to the new decks wiring. Then it's just a matter of pulling out the old deck, slap in the new one, and plug'n'play with that harness.
I also have an old deck I'd like to sell if yer interested. It's an Aiwa MP3 deck, one of the first MP3 decks in Edmonton. When I got it I had to special-order it from a computer-parts store, no audio stores sold MP3 stuff back then. The LCD on it is a little flakey, but it still sounds good, reads disks fine, etc. It has a remote-control that attaches to the steering wheel and controls the deck by IR as well, though I found the way it attaches annoying and didn't use it. $50 and its yours. It's currently got a harness on it that would plug into a 02 RSX with no modifications (any Honda '97+ actually I believe uses the same harness), but thats easy to cut off and put a different one on.
Quote from: Ustauk on April 20, 2007, 01:39:42 PM
I'll try and get a wiring harness for it; is there anyplace local I can get one?
Yup, go to a place that stocks lots of installation components such as (wait for it...) the Best Buy installation department! :) Futureshop, Visions, Certified Radio, AutoTemp (or are they closed now?) are other places that have fully-stocked install departments.
Quote from: Ustauk on April 20, 2007, 01:39:42 PM
I'd actually be happy to keep the current deck if I could get the FM radio working, since it would allow me to use an FM transmitter.
You realize these newfangled car stereos have both an FM radio
and a CD player in it? I know, I know, shocking :P All kidding aside...
Quote from: Ustauk on April 20, 2007, 01:39:42 PM
Unfortanately, whatever short is causing this would require the deck to be hauled out anyways (I think its water in there because the radio works in the summer, except when the car gets wet, after which it takes time to dry out, and then it doesn't work at all when it freezes in the winter). If replacing the deck doesn't fix the radio, I could always use the aux in along with my phone's radio or one of those miniuature battery powered units.
...can you describe more accurately what happens to the FM radio? Does it go fuzzy, or does the sound go completely away? Is there a backlight on the radio that comes on normally, but not when it's not working because of water? I'm wondering whether this is because of the radio, or the wiring behind the radio, or the antenna, and it concerns me because if it's not fixed then you've spent a bunch of money and can't enjoy the expenditure to its fullest potential. And finding and correcting shorts in electrical wiring can be one of the most challenging parts of automotive repair...
Quote from: Ustauk on April 20, 2007, 01:39:42 PM
I suppose I can pull the deck when it dies and sell it or put it in a new to me vehicle.
Having an after-market adapter wiring harness is especially beneficial if you plan to pull the stereo out and re-use it, because it means you won't have to cut any wires in your car.
Quote from: Cova on April 20, 2007, 03:22:45 PM
Every time I've had a deck put into a car I own, I've done it myself. Which is 4 times - twice in the '94 probe, and twice now in my '02 RSX.
Happy to help ya put one into a celica - its easy to do. Go get a harness that fits your car, and I can solder it all together to the new decks wiring. Then it's just a matter of pulling out the old deck, slap in the new one, and plug'n'play with that harness.
I also have an old deck I'd like to sell if yer interested. It's an Aiwa MP3 deck, one of the first MP3 decks in Edmonton. When I got it I had to special-order it from a computer-parts store, no audio stores sold MP3 stuff back then. The LCD on it is a little flakey, but it still sounds good, reads disks fine, etc. It has a remote-control that attaches to the steering wheel and controls the deck by IR as well, though I found the way it attaches annoying and didn't use it. $50 and its yours. It's currently got a harness on it that would plug into a 02 RSX with no modifications (any Honda '97+ actually I believe uses the same harness), but thats easy to cut off and put a different one on.
Sounds cool, but does it have an Aux in? That'd be a requirement in case my FM antenna is busted someplace else besides the deck, and it'd nice to use a cable and not have to fiddle with an FM transmitter, anyways.
Quote from: Thorin on April 20, 2007, 04:28:24 PM
Quote from: Ustauk on April 20, 2007, 01:39:42 PM
Unfortanately, whatever short is causing this would require the deck to be hauled out anyways (I think its water in there because the radio works in the summer, except when the car gets wet, after which it takes time to dry out, and then it doesn't work at all when it freezes in the winter). If replacing the deck doesn't fix the radio, I could always use the aux in along with my phone's radio or one of those miniuature battery powered units.
...can you describe more accurately what happens to the FM radio? Does it go fuzzy, or does the sound go completely away? Is there a backlight on the radio that comes on normally, but not when it's not working because of water? I'm wondering whether this is because of the radio, or the wiring behind the radio, or the antenna, and it concerns me because if it's not fixed then you've spent a bunch of money and can't enjoy the expenditure to its fullest potential. And finding and correcting shorts in electrical wiring can be one of the most challenging parts of automotive repair...
The really confusing thing is that my AM radio works fine, its just the FM that's flaky. When its not working, I don't here anything except maybe a little bit of staic when I crank the volume. During the summer it'll cut in and out when it gets wet, and sometimes it seems to help when I hit a bump. Hell if I know what's going on. When I had the car in the shop a while back, I had my mechanic check the wiring connections to the antenna, and they looked good. If its just a loose connection to the deck, I'm golden. If its a short someplace in the middle of the wire leading between the antenna and the deck, I'm pocked. That's why I want the AUX input, in case I have to use an external tuner :sigh:
Quote from: Thorin on April 20, 2007, 04:28:24 PM
Quote from: Ustauk on April 20, 2007, 01:39:42 PM
I'd actually be happy to keep the current deck if I could get the FM radio working, since it would allow me to use an FM transmitter.
You realize these newfangled car stereos have both an FM radio and a CD player in it? I know, I know, shocking :P All kidding aside...
The CD player is nice to have, but most of the music I listen to would be coming from my phone or my Palm Tungsten. As long as I can pipe the music into the deck from my portable device, I'm happy. I'd use a tape deck adapter, except my deck has autorewind and even with a cassette adapter meant to work with that it will try and rewind after a while. And I'd like to get FM radio back, if possible.
If it's only FM that does it, but AM works all the time, and you notice this only when it's wet and cold out, then I'm guessing there's something actually inside the radio that's broken/near-broken/shorting. So putting in a new head unit (aka stereo/deck/receiver/radio/whatever-we-want-to-call-it) will fix the problem. If there was a problem with the antenna, your AM would be equally affected (it catches all signals and the head unit just pays attention to the one you care about).
When shopping for a new stereo, the most important thing to look for (beyond the AUX input on the front) is how easy it is to push buttons/change volume on the front. Lots of after-market head units suffer from poor, poor ergonomics - buttons too small, volume knobs that if you accidentally push them lightly they change to bass/treble/fade/balance controllers, etc. Try the different brands in the store and make sure that when you're trying to adjust things you try it at least a few times without looking at the head unit.
JVC and Pioneer both suffer from the touchy-volume-knob problem, where if you bump the volume knob it switches to the bass/treble/fade/balance controller. Imagine trying to turn down the volume because you're about to order in the drivethru, but instead you turn down the bass... Now you're blaring Nickelback in a horrible, tinny sound!
JVC, Pioneer, Sony, and Kenwood all frequently have tiny, tiny buttons. Tiny buttons aren't entirely bad all on their own, but when they're closely spaced together, they suck! I wish the after-market head unit designers would learn something from the OEM market on this one.
By the way, does your current radio have two knobs on it, one left and one right of the radio display?
Quote from: Ustauk on April 20, 2007, 04:46:23 PM
Sounds cool, but does it have an Aux in? That'd be a requirement in case my FM antenna is busted someplace else besides the deck, and it'd nice to use a cable and not have to fiddle with an FM transmitter, anyways.
It does have a aux-input jack on the front of it - a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
A quick googling of it gave me this: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/cdcmp3/ The one I have is the CDC-MP3 - not any of the other models referenced in that article. And ignore all the pricing stuff in there - it's quite old (both the article and the deck) and in $US.
I'm back Ust, give me a call if you still want help. I'm off the rest of the week.
Quote from: Cova on April 23, 2007, 11:20:53 AM
Quote from: Ustauk on April 20, 2007, 04:46:23 PM
Sounds cool, but does it have an Aux in? That'd be a requirement in case my FM antenna is busted someplace else besides the deck, and it'd nice to use a cable and not have to fiddle with an FM transmitter, anyways.
It does have a aux-input jack on the front of it - a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
A quick googling of it gave me this: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/cdcmp3/ The one I have is the CDC-MP3 - not any of the other models referenced in that article. And ignore all the pricing stuff in there - it's quite old (both the article and the deck) and in $US.
It sounds like a nice deck, but a "flaky" LCD could turn into a dead LCD pretty easily. I think I'd rather get a new deck considering the effort that would go into the install. Thanks anyways. You might want to post on edm.forsale, usededmonton.com, and/or craigslist. Good luck.
Quote from: Melbosa on April 25, 2007, 11:28:54 PM
I'm back Ust, give me a call if you still want help. I'm off the rest of the week.
Things are going to be pretty tight for me this coming weekend for time. Assuming I got the deck, harness, and bracket ahead of time, how long would the installation take? Would you be available Sunday afternoon?
I tried to upload a picture of my current deck this morning, but I had some trouble with the USB cable for my camera. Anyways, it looked like two separate units, one on top of the other. The cassette deck is on the bottom, with the radio/controls on top.
Quote from: Ustauk on April 26, 2007, 10:46:04 AM
Quote from: Melbosa on April 25, 2007, 11:28:54 PM
I'm back Ust, give me a call if you still want help. I'm off the rest of the week.
Things are going to be pretty tight for me this coming weekend for time. Assuming I got the deck, harness, and bracket ahead of time, how long would the installation take? Would you be available Sunday afternoon?
Just give me a call and let me know. I can probably get the shop to work on it on Sunday afternoon. Shouldn't need the mounting kit, as most of the time I just modify the one in the Toyota's to work with all after market ones. The Wiring Harness is great for getting this done quicker. I would be doing it at Autoya, so Ray will be charging you some shop time to put it in. Should be no more than 2-3 hours to do (depending on how much modifications I have to make to the dash to fit in your new deck).
Should have the wiring harness purchased and all soldered together before ever taking the car to the shop. If Melbosa can't do it, I can do that part.
Here's some pictures of my current deck.
Classic!
Hey, is that really only your third and fourth picture you took with your phone?
Yeah, it's two separate units (you can see the crack inbetween) in a 2-DIN opening. Now just to go to some stores and find a stereo that you like, eh?
No offence meant to anyone, but please consider having it installed professionally. For the few extra bucks you'd spend (although I think some places do it for free?) if accidents happen they'd just pull a different part off a shelf instead of being stuck and having to buy a replacement.
I dunno, and remember, I'm a guy with no ability to legally drive a car, just seems like a safer way to go to me...
Well, at least ask them to tell you how much it would cost - with the "free installation" offers you might still have to pay to get a cover or pocket put on the bottom half, but for all I know that could cost *less* than a 2-6 of something plus a few hours of shop time. And you'd be buying it anyway, if you get any of us to install it.
Quote from: Thorin on April 26, 2007, 11:10:21 PM
Hey, is that really only your third and fourth picture you took with your phone?
They're the third and fourth picture that have gone to my microsd card. I switched the storage site from the internal memory to the card only recently.
Quote from: Mr. Analog on April 26, 2007, 11:17:50 PM
No offence meant to anyone, but please consider having it installed professionally. For the few extra bucks you'd spend (although I think some places do it for free?) if accidents happen they'd just pull a different part off a shelf instead of being stuck and having to buy a replacement.
I dunno, and remember, I'm a guy with no ability to legally drive a car, just seems like a safer way to go to me...
This is sound advice, for any purchase or install.
Up to you. I've done over 15 decks in various cars, even more amps and sub installs, and have yet to burn a deck doing any of it. Just wanted to be clear on that.
Modern decks have at least 2 fuses built in for power serges. One on the back of the deck, one on the constant power, and sometimes one on the ac power. This pretty much prevents any damage to the decks internal components. Most causes of deck failures are heat issues, which a fair number of cars between 75-95 have their car decks just below or above (or in front of) the heat system in the car. The deck eventually just breaks down due to extensive heat exposure.
So did you ever get yourself a new stereo, mate?
Quote from: Thorin on May 31, 2007, 10:20:23 AM
So did you ever get yourself a new stereo, mate?
No, I missed doing it the Sunday I intended to do it. I probably won't get it done until June or July now, since I've spent a fair bit of my savings recently and have to pay property tax at the end of June.
Quote from: Ustauk on May 31, 2007, 10:37:39 AM
Quote from: Thorin on May 31, 2007, 10:20:23 AM
So did you ever get yourself a new stereo, mate?
No, I missed doing it the Sunday I intended to do it. I probably won't get it done until June or July now, since I've spent a fair bit of my savings recently and have to pay property tax at the end of June.
So...which is it? Money or time? LOL :lol:
Quote from: Mr. Analog on May 31, 2007, 11:02:50 AM
Quote from: Ustauk on May 31, 2007, 10:37:39 AM
Quote from: Thorin on May 31, 2007, 10:20:23 AM
So did you ever get yourself a new stereo, mate?
No, I missed doing it the Sunday I intended to do it. I probably won't get it done until June or July now, since I've spent a fair bit of my savings recently and have to pay property tax at the end of June.
So...which is it? Money or time? LOL :lol:
Both :)
Quote from: Ustauk on May 31, 2007, 11:31:12 AM
Quote from: Mr. Analog on May 31, 2007, 11:02:50 AM
Quote from: Ustauk on May 31, 2007, 10:37:39 AM
Quote from: Thorin on May 31, 2007, 10:20:23 AM
So did you ever get yourself a new stereo, mate?
No, I missed doing it the Sunday I intended to do it. I probably won't get it done until June or July now, since I've spent a fair bit of my savings recently and have to pay property tax at the end of June.
So...which is it? Money or time? LOL :lol:
Both :)
That's unpossible:
If you
had the time on that Sunday you would have done it, yes? Then it was timing.
Since that time you've either spent the money you had allocated to that project or you've re-evaluated the feasibility of the project altogether (which to me seems odd).
Of course the tinfoil hatted person might think that you might be thinking of getting a new deck in a newer car due to additional pressure from an outside source, this is my own crazy gamma-ray induced speculation, since if you had put aside the money before, you knew what your spending limits would be when you were shopping between the day you were supposed to get the work done and today. That to me means that you either changed your mind on a fairly large project when you were shopping in that between-time interval or you have changed where that allocated money was going...
;) :lol: Just buggin' ya :)
Simple, Women consume both time and money.. That is what they run on. The byproduct is emotions.
Quote from: Lazybones on May 31, 2007, 12:22:18 PM
Simple, Women consume both time and money.. That is what they run on. The byproduct is emotions.
ROFLMAO! Should get that on a bumper sticker haha!
Quote from: Lazybones on May 31, 2007, 12:22:18 PM
Simple, Women consume both time and money.. That is what they run on. The byproduct is emotions.
ROFL
Quote from: Lazybones on May 31, 2007, 12:22:18 PM
Simple, Women consume both time and money.. That is what they run on. The byproduct is emotions.
LOL :) To be specific, I spent a great deal of time with my girlfriend in the past few weeks spending money on making my condo a proper home. The shopping part is pretty much done, the furniture will be in place shortly, and the remainder of my girlfriends stuff should be moved within the next two weeks or so, so I should get some time back. But with property tax coming due I'll have to put off purchasing a car stereo until I can save the money for it.
Quote from: Ustauk on May 31, 2007, 12:44:40 PM
Quote from: Lazybones on May 31, 2007, 12:22:18 PM
Simple, Women consume both time and money.. That is what they run on. The byproduct is emotions.
LOL :) To be specific, I spent a great deal of time with my girlfriend in the past few weeks spending money on making my condo a proper home. The shopping part is pretty much done, the furniture will be in place shortly, and the remainder of my girlfriends stuff should be moved within the next two weeks or so, so I should get some time back. But with property tax coming due I'll have to put off purchasing a car stereo until I can save the money for it.
so... it's money then :lol:
I ended up getting this (http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10081476&catid=21981) deck at Bestbuy last Saturday. We were taking a road trip this past week to Saskatchewan to see relatives, since my brother was out last week visiting from Ottawa, so that was the big push. It worked very well on the trip, and I'm happy with it overall.
Nice!
I'm impressed, Ustauk:
# of pre-out pairs: 3 (that'll be one set for the front speakers, one set for the rear speakers, and one set for the subwoofers)
Crossover: HPF/LPF
Pre-out voltage: 2 volts (middle of the barrel, but a surprisingly large number of decks still have lower voltages coming out)
Sub volume control
Those four items make it a good starter if you choose to expand your car audio. And if not, well, the price is pretty good at about $200. Did you have to pay anything for installation?
It took me a bit of reading to find it, but I see it even has the front aux input you were looking for... Congrats, and I'm glad you enjoyed it while on a roadtrip :)
Now to convince you to throw in an alarm, high-quality front speakers powered by an amp, and a 10" sub in a bandpass box... >:D
I think I got the deck for $145 or $155 on sale. I didn't research it; I just asked the sales guy which of the several decks within my price range were decent, and picked that one. Base installation was include, since it was over $139.99. I had to pay for the dash kit and wiring harness on top of that, but that was expected. I normally don't get extended warranties, but I splurged a little and got a two year one for another $25, since it included installation on a replacment unit, not just a new unit itself.
I don't plan any further upgrades at this time. I got my radio back, and the ability to take input from MP3 players, so I'm happy for now.