Radio, radio

Not as much progress as I would like. Between some middle aged man maladies and a change of the schedule when the day gig goes dark for a couple of weeks the time is eaten away. I’ve hit some milestones, seats are well under way, the radio upgrade is complete and the steering wheel restoration is progressing.

Original AM radio.

The original AM radio was replaced in the 80s with a cassette deck. Both unit still work but I want to upgrade so something modern that will integrate with my phone. After looking at some Bluetooth options I decided on a Retrosound Malibu on closeout. That model is now called a Retrosound Retroradio.

Both of the oldies, 1967 and 1980s.

The Retrosound install is pretty straight forward. It takes a bit of fiddling to get the shaft lengths right as they are asymmetric into the mount/bezel. The flexibility in the mounting options offered by how Retrosound does the shafts allows for a great deal of adjustability.

Installing into the mounting bezel.

The wiring is simple. Much simpler than integrating a new model radio into a new car that uses control modules for everything. For example a while back I replaced the stock radio in the Focus with a Sony touch screen with CarPlay. To get those to work properly a couple different kinds of CAN bus and control module adapters are required. Compare that to needing a constant power, ignition switched power, antenna and speaker connections and this is a breeze. The kit includes all the required pigtails to integrate the new radio.

Install easy-peasy.
Included looms and labels.
Powered up.
Installed with the faceplate sticker that makes it look like an original.