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Fitting a radio to an old car
speedyxjs - 19/7/08 at 05:29 PM

I want to fit a radio to my midget (doesnt currently have one) but not sure where to start.
I tried fitting the one from the Jag (aftermarket) but none of the wires in the MG fitted the jag radio so im stuck.
Im not that good at the moment when it comes to electronics


rayward - 19/7/08 at 05:39 PM

its a good bet the mg won;t have had any wires for a radio from new, so any that are there have been stuck in by a previous owner.

assuming the car is a later one and is negative earth (- from battery goes to the chassis)

all you need are a permanent +12v (from the battery via an inline fuse)

an ignition switched +12v (easily tagged of the blower switch) and an earth (again straight to battery will suffice)

if the car is a positive earth model (+from the battery goes to chassis) then your buggered (to put it bluntley)

hthh

Ray


ChrisW - 19/7/08 at 05:41 PM

You'll essentially need three wires to make it work....

Earth - connect to the chassis somewhere

Permanent Live - from battery live, or more likely, from the ignition key

Switched Live - from the ignition key accessories line

There will be other wires to do things like amplifier remote control, power aerial, phone mute, etc. Just leave these disconnected.

After that, it's just two wires to each speaker.

Easiest thing to do is buy an ISO connector that will plug into most aftermarket stereos, wire that into the car, and just plug the stereo in.

Hope that helps!

EDIT: beaten to it! Thanks Ray!

Chris

[Edited on 7/19/2008 by ChrisW]


ReMan - 19/7/08 at 06:17 PM

If you just want a radio/cassette?, take yourself to a local car boot sale and buy something "period" for about £2.
minimum you need then is a fused wire feed from the battery, an earth and 2 (or 4 if it's stereo) wires for each speaker.
You can't go far wrong!


speedyxjs - 19/7/08 at 06:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
If you just want a radio/cassette?, take yourself to a local car boot sale and buy something "period" for about £2.
minimum you need then is a fused wire feed from the battery, an earth and 2 (or 4 if it's stereo) wires for each speaker.
You can't go far wrong!


No i cant live without MP3