Darth Rotor

Hi everyone, I could use a little help here from someone that's intimate with the factory stereo. I've got an '88 vert with the separate radio/cassette deck setup (part number on the front pieces are 6e64 on the radio, 6D03 on the cassette, and 6V03 on what I think is an amp). The sound is good enough, but I'd really like a good way to hook up my Ipod. I've tried the FM transmitter things, they aren't too good. I was surfing around and came across this on another site:

How to do it: Although this might not work with newer radios, and if you aren't careful you can mess things up easily, with a bit of persistence it can be done. It may be different on your unit of course, but for mine, I found that the radio (which has a built in cassette deck) consists of two parts, the radio itself (with amp and everything), and the cassette deck. The 8 wires going from the deck to the radio include all that needed to be played with. After listening in on several of them while the tape player was playing (with some headphones) I found the 3 that sent the sound to the radio portion. Then I checked how the deck instructed the amplifier to take its source from the aforementioned 3 wires instead of the tuner - it was a simple 5v "high" on one of the wires. Here's where the switch mentioned in "the end result" comes in: the switch operates a 4 pole relay. Three of the poles switch the audio signal (L/R/Gnd) from cassette deck to "aux input - the 3.5mm socket" and the last applies the "high" voltage to the control line of the amplifier. It took me a few nights to do it, but now I have the same old factory radio I love, and an aux input through which I can play my Minidiscs, all controlled by a simple switch!

Can anyone simplify this for me down to the "here's which wire goes where" level? This would be outstanding for me if it works. Thanks!

93BlackFD

buy a diff radio

ZeroBanger

for like 209.00 buck-a-roo's you can get a JVC head unit like mine that has an aux input. I use that with my archos.

Rx-7Addict

iTrader: (2)

You need an auxiliary port which the stock stereo doesn't have. Most aftermarket stereos have this (but not all). The best case would probably be one with an external one (my JVC had one). Otherwise, you will have to run the wire from the back of the stereo to wherever youd like

Try http://shopping.yahoo.com to get a good deal once you found something you like on crutchfield


IPODS RULE!!

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

Use a cassette adapter.

7racer

Griffin Technology is coming out with the iTrip....

may be better than those currently out there
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itrip/

wolf50000

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...1&I=142PCA1+++

Here is a cassette adapter...it's probably your easiest solution. Ipod's are very nice by the way.

But...
Almost all decks now come with inputs as an option...I like the ones that have the input on the front (like the JVC's) but there are others that have the input in the back if you wanna go that route.

Wolf50000

Darth Rotor

Everyone,

Thanks for the responses so far. Here's the deal though. Cassette adapters don't work in that stereo. Try it. The deck senses the lack of tension and thinks the tape is broken. That's a feature from Pioneer. I'm aware of all the different stereos out there, but frankly I don't like the way they ultimately fit. I really want to use the factory stereo and the article I posted says how. The factory manual even gives the pinouts between the radio and cassette modules, but I'm not sure which wire controls the cassette changeover and how to wire the relay. What I really need is a stereo or electronics effort to give me a little detail on how to wire it. Thanks.