Chrysler Radio install

[73Coupe]

I got this radio with my car, but can't seem to get it up and in position at all. I've already scratched the face a little.

It appears it'll fit in the opening all right, once there, but How do you get it up behind the dash? I've removed the ash tray and can see how it mounts. Unfortunately, the heater box is in the way, along with the A/C duct. The accelerator pedal a little bit too. The shop manual doesn't offer much help. It says "disconnect a/c center control, and remove dash pad actuator screws".

What am I missing? Any help would be appreciated...thanks!

 

[73Coupe]

Mo' pix....

 

[Big_John]

The bottom A/C duct has to be removed. There's just a couple screws that hold the brackets to the dash and it's out of the way.

In from the bottom, behind the ash tray opening. There should be a brace from the bottom of the dash to the back of the radio to help hold it up.

 

[73Coupe]

Now why didn't I think of removing the a/c duct? Thanks man, you're right, it was easy. Actually just one screw and the whole thing plopped down. And the radio went up and in place. Now that I'm able to test it....it doesn't work that well. Reception is in and out, volume inconsistent. So it looks like I'll have to have it gone through. I want to have an accessory jack put in so I can listen to other sh*t besides mattress commercials on the radio. lol...

 

[ceebuddy]

You already have something like an accessory jack. It's that pigtail. It is for an optional cassette player to be mounted on the floor. All you need is a 7-pin DIN-socket, a switch, and some earphone wires with a 3,5 mm jack on the other end. And a soldering iron.

1 - 12 V + (red)
2 - channel 1 IN (green)
3 - channel 2 IN (blue)
4 - ground all channels
5 - radio channel 2 OUT (white)
6 - radio channel 1 OUT (yellow)
7 - ground

I haven't yet found out which channel is left and which is right. For the radio to work without a cassette player connected, pins 2 and 6 have to be bridged as well as pins 3 and 5. That is accomplished via the plug in the pigtail that is visible in 73Coupe's photo, so it seems the radio was never installed in a car with the optional cassette player.

Since any other source (smart phone or MP3 player) doesn't have the switching device of the original external cassette player, a switch needs to be installed in the connecting cable to change between (a) bridging the two radio channels and (b) hooking in the auxiliary signal while blocking the radio signal off.

 

[73Coupe]

Ahhh...I was wondering what that little pigtail was for.

So a switch would in theory cut out the radio signal to the speakers and in turn send the AUX signal to them. The power and ground are for powering the cassette player, I suppose...

So you'd need to connect the wires from the AUX player (2, correct?) to the "IN" wires on this pigtail?

Might be a nice cheap solution in the interim.

Another option is having a new board installed in the radio and an audio jack installed. With these, the AUX mode is automatic...just push play and the radio switches out and the device plays.

http://www.turnswitch.com/radio1.htm

Edit: I unplugged the pigtail plug with the radio playing and yup, the speakers went silent.

 

[ceebuddy]

You are absolutely correct!

I wired a small $1.50 switch into the cables I cut from an old set of earphones, routed them underneath the carpet so they end up right between the split bench seat in my Fury. The cables are long enough to pick up and operate the external source (e. g. phone) - or tuck it in between the seats.

The link you posted is for some really cool radio conversions. Pretty tempting. It is really amazing how small these new boards are compared to how stuffed an original radio is.