zuendler

I had a Custom Autosound radio for some years now - and it sucked hard. The mp3 module froze often and you had to turn it off and on to continue. The display was much to bright too, but this was only a minor issue compared with the poor quality. I had also problems with loose contact at the main connector until I bent the pins to solve the problems. Well it was just cheap china junk. Since it froze more often I needed something new.

Bought the "expensive" radio from Zip, at least they advertise it as valuable with metal buttons and frame.
It came with a big scratch in the foil of the inner LCD. Thank you. Delivered to Germany ($170) and customs paid ($170) I canīt really return it now.

Ok, get startet with this new unit, at least it works out of the box and needs no repair
The display is slightly to bright, but ok. The ugly thing is, that it is light blue and not green what I needed for my ī69.
So I put a yellow foil behind the LCD so it went green:



But you can still see the fireworks graphics around the text display.
All this stuff is absolutely sensless, I canīt imagine who wantīs this **** in his classic car. This must be an asian idea, it is blinking all the time, making me crazy.
So I cut a frame out of black foil to cover this needles blinking stuff.



Next thing I printed a original radio scale on transparent screen to have the look of the original radio:



Now the display is not so good to read anymore, but you still recognize what it shows.



But when it is off, it looks nearly like a original Delco radio:



Ok, next big thing was the MP3 operation of this unit.
There are 5 big buttons on the front side:
#1: no function
#2: pause
#3: intro play
#4: repeat
#5: random
skip song with the right turn ****.

Missing something? Yeah - how to jump to another folder on the usb stick? Answer: you canīt do this with the radio buttons, you need the remote. I can completly understand, that they put only the very important functions to the 5 buttons of the radio. I will use #1,2 and 3 very very often I think.

You can jump to other folders only with the remote. But this is ridiculous. Having a tiny remote floating around in the classic car and holding it 3" in front of the radio to change folders.

So next modification came up:
I seareched the net for reprogramming the CPU to get the needed function on the not used button, but found nothing.
Then I mounted a separate switch into the radio:



You can click it by pushing the first button to the side.
Then I wired it with the remote control:



Put the sending LED to the front of the radio behind the screen:



here you can see the scratch with which it was delivered to me. Luckily itīs behind my frame now.

Then I build a small power supply for the remote, because I did not want to pull it out after 2 years to change the battery.



So now the remote hangs out of the back side of the radio, if it is necesarry you still have access to it from the passanger foot panel.



It works very well.

Btw, this is what you get for 400 bucks (700 for me):



The value of the board is around $10, there are similar moduls from the same vendor available on ebay. The housing must be around $5 but I donīt know how much the front frame and buttons are, because the are produced in a small quantity I guess.
The quality inside is poor too. I had to apply some heat glue to stabilize components to prevent them from vibrating and breake their wires.
The board it self is only keept in place by the rear conncetors and the amplifier IC that is mounted to the rear for cooling. Thats crap.

Some new wires are now in the radio:



I have also installed a second hidden switch to turn it on even when ignition is off. But thatīs another different story.

blue427

you obviously have alot of talent and patience,I've had two Custom Autosound radios and they were both junk.I brought an original radio off a forum member and I'm going to install it this winter,if I can't hear it over the headers and side pipes than I'll no choice except to learn how to play the harmonica,hands free of course(don't want to break any laws).

mikem350

Nice work..your persistence paid off!! I hope you did all the work on your bench first. And not taking the radio in and out from the dash!!!

BTW it is possible to add a modern power amp to the original radio...

zuendler

Btw, I had to order a bunch of the scale stickers, they did not want to make only one for me.

(EDIT: commercial sale offer and link removed, Non Supporting Vendor)

My first idea was to put a chinese MP3 and radio module into the original radio.
Have it here, the display was so bad to read from different angles and there was no possibillity to jump between folders. No wonder, it seems to be from the same company.
And it would have been a lot more work to modify the original radio. So I decided to go with the radio from zip.

Edit:
Mike, you can add a modern Amp to the old radio, but the amp needs high level input or you need a converter from high level to cinch. But there is a vendor offering a new radio that really looks like the old one and has cinch out. The only problem with this unit is: itīs just a radio and has no mp3 function. For me it is important to have old music of my taste in my old car. They donīt play this on radio, and I just donīt like the mainstream junk they transmit.

Sunstroked

I went with a retrosound model 2 head unit, a jl audio amp hidden in the passenger side aft compartment. I built a dedicated box to optimize the 10" sub woofer and 2 6"x9" coaxial speakers with crossovers. I installed a couple of front 3"x5" coaxials behind the kick panels, but didnt run those thru the amp, they go directly to the head unit. A buddy of mine was given free reign on picking out the pieces, and he did a great job. I did the installation. I was cruising down the road last weekend with my daughter cranking snoop dog, and laughing my butt off the whole way! That thing is LOUD! Not my taste in music by the way, but I like to have fun. We had a blast! Then my phone bluetooth music went on, she had to suffer to my classic rock.

kdf1986

Sehr gut und gut gemacht. Very good and well done. I saw your posting was from Karlsruhe. That is where my family is from, near the big yellow castle.

Your write up on the changes to the radio, and the radio scale on the screening makes it look almost like the orginal. Very nice job.

kdf

TheSkunkWorks

Ja, gut gemacht! I very much admire your tenacity.

CraigH

Great post, can you point me to where the board manufacture has similar boards on eBay please.

I have one of the earlier models without USB etc and it died so would not mind doing a retrofit of some new electronics

Craig

minitech

Great work!

I agree on the graphics on the display. Make a retro looking radio and have blinking LED graphics all over it?? Very nice solution for that.

zuendler

Now installed:



Ok, you can see itīs a fake. But at least it comes close to the original delco.
A kind of tribute radio

mrvette

As an old stereophile sound freak, I just removed all the sound from the '72 vert, as I don't CARE anymore so with the custom console/dash there it simply no room for it.....if you can hear the tunes in a VETTE convertible....you have no tunes.....if you get my drift......

Wee

Nice....Looks great. Wish I had the skill to do that kind of electronic work. I need a new radio but what a stock look....After your review I'm leary of buying one of the common retro units....I may look into the guy that puts new guts into old head units.

Brian

briankeery

Excellent workmanship and write up. Thanks for sharing.

zuendler

If the radio is on 80% output I can hear it during cruising.
But if I step on the pedal all others wonīt hear their radios too.

AdamMeh

Love the use of the lighting tints and the change in the lettering.

00fxd

Hey zuendler, nice work. Your comment that your display was too bright intrigued me. You obviously have some experience in these things - maybe you [or someone] can help me. I have the Retro sound model 2 as shown. My display is far too dim. I have it set on the brighter option. My '65 is a convertible and the top is always down. I can't see the display at all in fact it is barely readable when the top is up. The retrosound guys say that how it is when the top is down but I really think this thing is extra dim. I have to make any adjustments when the car is in my shop. I like the unit, mine has chrome buttons, but it sucks to operate. Any comments or ideas?
Thanks, Frank

zuendler

Then you need a stronger back ground illumination.
There are LEDs used for this, they are available in many brightness classes.

In my case I wanted to change the white LED to a green one, but unfortunately it was pressed into the back ground glass element. I couldnīt get the LED out and was frightened to damage this plastik glass so I decided to use the yellow foil instead.
So you see there might be some difficulties but anything is possible. Just a question of effort.

zuendler

Little update after first testdrive:
- itīs maybe a little bit louder than the Custom Autosound, I think. But could be imagination too. I guess they use the same amplifier chip.

- the display (and my scale-foil) reflects the daylight so much, that you canīt read anything on it. (When T-Tops are down)
You have to make shadow on the display to read the digits.
But you can read it good at night, there itīs a bit darker than the other instruments,
but I like it that way, itīs reluctant.

To be honest, itīs not so important for me to read what the LCD shows. I need this only sometimes.

00fxd

Thanks zuendler. It sounds like I will need a sacrificial unit to take apart and have a look ..... :-)