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Radio Options?

975 views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  rosco3059 
#1 ·
Allright, after a long winter here in MN, I am nearing the end of restoration and need some stereo advice. The Original CJ dash has the cut out but no radio. I am considering a deletion plate or a replacement. If I go deletion plate, I would like to find some speakers which I can hook directly up to my phone or IPod. Has anybody heard or uses such a thing? Or has anybody found the OE radio at a reasonable price?

81 CJ7
 
#3 ·
rosco3059 said:
Allright, after a long winter here in MN, I am nearing the end of restoration and need some stereo advice. The Original CJ dash has the cut out but no radio. I am considering a deletion plate or a replacement. If I go deletion plate, I would like to find some speakers which I can hook directly up to my phone or IPod. Has anybody heard or uses such a thing? Or has anybody found the OE radio at a reasonable price?

81 CJ7
Get an amp, a RCA to 3.5mm patch cable, and hook up the amp and plug in your MP3 player. There are cables you can get to plug in that are Aux jack sockets that mount in a ~1/4" hole on the dash and then plug in a male x male cable for a clean supposed to be there look. Or just snake the patch cable from under the dash to the glove box and roll up the cable for the stealth "I ain't got no radio to steal" look.

You can control the volume with your device. Just set the amp volume at a level that provides you the output range you need.

That's how I did mine in the cj. Did this in another vehicle and helped a buddy build a waterproof sound cube to take to the river tubing.
 
#5 ·
aggiejon said:
Get an amp, a RCA to 3.5mm patch cable, and hook up the amp and plug in your MP3 player. There are cables you can get to plug in that are Aux jack sockets that mount in a ~1/4" hole on the dash and then plug in a male x male cable for a clean supposed to be there look. Or just snake the patch cable from under the dash to the glove box and roll up the cable for the stealth "I ain't got no radio to steal" look.

You can control the volume with your device. Just set the amp volume at a level that provides you the output range you need.

That's how I did mine in the cj. Did this in another vehicle and helped a buddy build a waterproof sound cube to take to the river tubing.
This is perfect Aggiejon! I will be getting started on it this week! Thank you very much!
 
#6 ·
I just bought the Alpine head unit and then marked the outline of the mounting sleeve onto the dash, then cut it out with a hacksaw.
Sleeve went in, head unit went in, trim ring went on, and that was it. The only real issue is the depth, because the defroster vent takes up a lot of room right behind the head unit.
This was an issue for me because I needed to run cables to my amps and it's a real tight fit because the RCA plugs take up about another inch or so.
If you're just running the built-in amp it wouldn't be a problem.
But just in case, you should measure your depth and get a unit that leaves enough room for whatever you set-up is going to be.

Also, if you're thinking XM, HD Radio or something that needs a black box or two, there's a convenient little space right behind (actually, forward of) the glovebox where that stuff can go, and the air duct makes a convenient shelf.
I laid a piece of foam rubber on it to dampen vibration, and my XM tuner sits right there with plenty of room left over.
 
#7 ·
Colt44 said:
I just bought the Alpine head unit and then marked the outline of the mounting sleeve onto the dash, then cut it out with a hacksaw.

.
All I heard when I read this is that freaking Sarah McClachlan (sic) song about the abused SPCA dogs. Definitely to each his own but cutting an original dash makes me have a single tear fall.

Chris
 
#8 ·
Well, my original dash wasn't in what you'd call museum quality, so I shed no tears.
I had to refinish it and do some patching, so enlarging the stereo cut-out wasn't even a factor.

But if the thought of defacing an original piece gets you all misty-eyed, I'm pretty sure an aftermarket item can be acquired.
 
#9 ·
stamp32 said:
All I heard when I read this is that freaking Sarah McClachlan (sic) song about the abused SPCA dogs. Definitely to each his own but cutting an original dash makes me have a single tear fall.

Chris
I am with you stamp. I think I would rather put a deletion plate and use an iPod, amp, and speaker upgrade instead of chopping a dash up...
 
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