Fast Marina Magazine

created a monster!! But a lovely one

:shock:

It is actually all your fault Jim, I seem to remember you being the one to tell me there was a TC for sale!!

I'm sure it was uncle Franks idea !!

:shock: oi! dont` you go blaming me for that one matey!!

Oh no, I remember clearly that it was you Jim! I think Uncle Frank was as shocked as everyone else

This is all Uncle Franks fault !! 8)

You can tell yourself that but we all know the truth!

In the process of getting my "new" radio in to JBL, however cutting that dash bit is a pain in the ass! (don't worry I am just cutting out the standard bits not doing anything crazy!) Going to get a round drilly thing for the dial holes (or knob holes as I said to my dad earlier which was somewhat embarrasing...)

I hope that the dash will keep it from slipping out the back which is what it is doing now as theres nothing to hold it on. Also the electrics in there are crazy! and I can;t seem to get any power to the radio from the cable thats in there but not sure if thats because the guy that put the 80s one in seems to have cut all the old wires and put 20 more in there! So it's a little confusing... not that I have an aerial at the moment though! Although my dad may be donating a nice fancy electric one!

So still not thinking about selling her regardless of what my friends may think!!

Wiring is easy, use the volt meter and make sure there is a good fuse in the holder. You will need a bracket to hold the radio in place, really it is a bent piece of metal. Nothing too it!

wiring is easy if it is standard and not the hodge podge bodge job that is in there at the moment!!

I have all the standard wiring sorted out no worries

It’s a piece of cake Sam! If you are fitting a new radio with the standard plug on the back you can buy an adaptor from most car shops (Halfords) as it would be better to cut the adaptor rather than cutting the plug off the radio which means you can interchange the radio unit with other cars if you decide to rest your TC over the winter months.

Ok the problem is that the old 80s radio that was in there obviously didnt fit the wiring that was in there its been adapted (weirdly) and I am trying to find what it was fitted on to and there doesnt seem to be any power there so trying to find what this adapter thing is fitted to.

I have an old 1970s radio to put back in so I need the original wiring!! and there doesnt seem to be much of that left in there. Eventually I will put a cd player in there but cant afford it at the moment. If I was putting a new radio in now it would be much easier... except for the fact there doesnt seem to be any power getting there.... and no the radio that was in there didnt work either.

It's also only a piece of cake if you are familiar with wiring!! On the same principal I could say that making animated avatars is a piece of cake - which I think it is - but if you don't know how to then you are like me and my wiring and resorting to reading up on it and trying to figure it out step by step!

On a plus side I found out why the cigarette lighter didnt work as it wasnt connected! I dont actually smoke in my car but my friend was pressing everything and seeing what didnt work!

Hi Sam,

I can’t do fancy Avatars but can offer help in the way of wiring. The easiest way to find a feed is either use a test lamp (cheap from good car shops about a fiver) or just make one from an old car bulb. One you have a test lamp test it on the battery to see if it works ok. Then look under your dash to find any spare live feeds. Some feeds might be wired through the ignition so try looking with the ignition on too. If you cant find a live feed check your fuse box to see if there is any spare terminals and take a feed direct from there using a spade connection. Best to fit an in line fuse to the live wire that’s going to feed the stereo (5 amp should be ok)

Once a live feed is established you need to get a good earth. Pick a part of the bodywork under the dash and make up a small wire with an eyelet on it and put a screw through the eyelet and into the bodywork. I usually make up my own wiring looms for the stereos for my cars this way I can remove the stereo and loom without too much fuss. Like I said on my last posting I use an adaptor plug which I then cut and then using a connector block I attach the adaptor to the connector block and then on the other side I attach the wires to feed the stereo and speakers etc, this way every thing in insulated and tidy and when its time to put the stereo into another car its just a matter of unplugging it and plugging it into the next car.

Hope this helps

thanks guys

Managed to rope in an electrical engineer (aka my dad) who talked me through it and managed to find what was going where and what colour everything was. And the good news is that once we found the loose connection (and the earth which was hiding) the radio works fine. Just fitting a new aerial now.

Sorry if I sounded abrupt just one of those things that is easy if you know how but trying to figure it out is a little bewildering as where to start! And I learn a lot better from having people go through it with me and I can see whats what, not too good at reading things then putting them into practice - insert your own women map reading jokes here! Managed to fix the blowers as well as the tubes had fallen out and gonna fix the rev counter in a bit as well after our coffee break! I'm quite pleased with myself