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I needed to improve the tunes in the car, but did not want to screw at all with the stock/factory set up. So I did a cool Labor Day project.
I made up a slick stereo system for my stock/factory '69 L71 roadster that sits in the luggage area, takes up almost no space, is completely mobile, sounds great and required absolutely no mods.
Using black melamite shelving pieces (36"X12") I made an "L-shaped" unit that fits right up against the back of the compartment. It looks like a little black park bench. I cut holes in the back vertical piece for 2 6"X9" Rockford speakers, and on the base horizontal piece/shelf, which sits about 3" off the deck, I installed a JVC car HD radio/CD head unit under the base piece. This whole unit sits a good 2" behind the rear compartment doors, and with the soft top stowed, is vitrually invisible, except for the glowing little receiver peeking out in the middle of the back compartment. I got a cheap FM window antenna that I just hooked on the back of the vertical piece out of sight, it picks up FM great.

To hook it up, I used small positive/negative clamps that clamp right on to the battery posts back there and can be removed in seconds.

The JVC unit is awesome with a USB port (for playing music from a flash drive, very cool) and an iPod
/aux port, it also has a little remote control, so operation while driving is simple. The little remote (size of a key fob) sits in the ash tray, even with the door slid closed.

I installed handles (like drawer handles) on each side of the unit, so picking it up out of the car is a snap. It probably weighs about 25 lbs.

The sound is quite good (JVC unit is 50 watts/4 channels) even at highway speeds.

The great thing about it is that you unhook the battery clamps, lift it out from behind the soft top, and it's gone. With some length on the pos/neg wires, you can put the whole unit on top of the rear deck and have outdoor tunes at the cruise-in.

Fun project that makes tooling around even more fun than before.

 

Can you post some pictures pls? Thanks!


Kelly

 

Sounds cool. I'd also like to see some pics.

 

Need pics

 

Great idea! Pics are a must...

 

 

For some additional convenience, get a flush-mounted two-pin connector that you can put in the lid of the battery box. Hook the inside connector ends to the battery terminals (permanent or alligator clips), then you can just "plug-in" your stereo to the top of the battery lid whenever you want it. Sounds like a cool system. Show some pics!

 

Yes PICS! This sounds very interesting.

 

I just re-read through the procedure for picture uploading--this will finally make me do it!

 

Do you have room for a small amp.
This same thing is my next project...after honey-do's1thru7

 

Actually I do. I made the shelf about 3-3.5" off of the rear deck, even though the JVC head unit is only 2 1/4" high. I did this so in the future I could tuck either an amp or a small subwoofer up under there too.

 

Please post me some pictures,
Perhaps I am way missing the boat but all that time work and money,
Wouldn't a nice boom box do all that?

 

Curious about the remote, wired or wireless? I've been thinking about a setup like this for awhile. Looking forward to pics

 

I can see doing it this way as a way of not dealing with having to tear apart the dash and center console to install a new stereo.

Since the melamine is pretty thick, did the radio front have trouble mounting in the depth of the board?

Where are the pics?

 

This is a small diagram that I used when planning the project. I will take some pictures, now that i know how to post them.





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Question on remote, it is wireless.

Question about why not just use a boombox--that's what I tried, but the CD player in boom boxes aren't motion/shock resistant, and I didn't particularly like using the AC/DC converter, and batteries would be a pain to replace all the time. Also it takes up a lot of space. Also, the JVC has the UBS and iPod ports, which is great.

Question on the melamine, the receiver is actually mounted to the bottom of the shelf with "L" brackets so it doesn't protrude through a hole, it is bolted underneath the shelf and approximately flush with the edge of the shelf.

 

Here's how it looks in the car




Here are the alligator clips that clip right on to the battery terminals



Here's the unit out of the car









Here's the little remote

 

Does the top go down with it in the car, if it does what is the sound like with the top down?

 

Yes, I measured to make sure the the top folds in and the deck latches. It takes up very little space. About 2 inches at the very back and about 3.5 inches on the deck. The shelf is available for storage. The sound is very good even at highway speeds. The head unit has 50 watts per channel in 4 channels (only using 2, so it could be even louder with 2 more speakers)

 

Looks
Great.

Probably sounds even better!

 

Come to think of it, I've never driven the car with the top up, or the hard top on! That would kinda ruin the point of a roadster.

Seriously, I understand your question. The folds of the soft top are partially between the speakers and driver (about 1/2 of the speaker is below the lowest point of the roof fold), but you know, there's a pretty good "sound box" back there and the only place for the sound to come out is right at shoulder height between the seats.