Fitting a stereo

[rossrob92]

Hey guys, 

My little red Daf 33 should be arriving later this week and I have secured an age appropriate  car stereo and speakers. I am planning on adding an aux lead to the radio so I can use a bluetooth connection. Has anyone here ever made this mod to an old car radio? Also any wiring hacks for fitting the thing to the car would be massively appreciated. 

R

[andrew]

Aug 9, 2021 20:20:33 GMT rossrob92 said:

Hey guys, 

My little red Daf 33 should be arriving later this week and I have secured an age appropriate  car stereo and speakers. I am planning on adding an aux lead to the radio so I can use a bluetooth connection. Has anyone here ever made this mod to an old car radio? Also any wiring hacks for fitting the thing to the car would be massively appreciated. 

R

There are companies who will fit modern electronic inside an old radio body and I've seen advertisements for them in numerous classic car magazines and newsapers. For what it's worth I picked up a second-hand DAB/FM car radio/CD player for £50, that has both a USB and an auxiliary input plug, so I can listen to both DAB and FM (and AM!) radio programmes, CDs and anything I have on my smart-phone. The correct mounting position for a radio in a Daf 33 is centrally, under the dashboard, below the ash-tray. If your car's ignition switch has a "auxiliary" option (some do) then you should power the radio from this connection, so that it switches off when the key's removed. In this case key will have FOUR positions; off, auxiliary (sometimes marked "B") ignition and starter. My 33 doesn't have this, so I have to remember to turn it off every time, as my key has only off, ignition and starter positions. Whichever way you power it, I would suggest an in-line fuse, to protect the radio and the car's electrics.

The aerial position recommended by Daf is on the off-side rear wing, although I've seen plenty of Dafs with a centrally mounted aerial, fitted above the interior mirror, slanted at 45 degrees. This position does involve the removal and replacement of the headlining when you place the aerial there, though.

I mounted my 2 speakers under the dashboard, as there's generally only me or one other passenger in the car, so I wanted the sound to be heard in the front. These speakers are quite small and don't deliver a particularly "deep" sound, but are ideal for speech programmes. In other Daf 33s I've owned I've mounted seriously big speakers on the rear parcel shelf, giving a decent bassy sound.

If you need more advice, just ask!