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MG MGA - Fitting a Radio

Ok, the MG sounds great. I admit it. However, on the long trips some tunes might be nice. I sometimes carry a cheap boom box but I have my eye on an inexpensive car stereo and was wondering if a standard size will fit? Perhaps the defroster will be in the way? Anyboby have any ideas?

Thanks,

Tom
Tom Baker

Lots of room for almost any radio, the old 50's radios were much larger than today's.
The concern isn't size but polarity is you car posative ground as original? or has it been changed to negative ground? If the car is still as original I would suggest that you convert to an alternator and negative ground. You can convert without the alternator though. Otherwise the radio must be isolated from the car somehow as they are opposite polarity. Barney,s site must be down right now or I would find the link for you. Search his site there is instruction on this in it.
If the car is already negative ground just hook up and enjoy.
Randy
R J Brown

The standard radio slot in the dash is ALMOST the same size as the modern Din chassis. I had to just square off the corners to allow it to fit easily. There is plenty of room behind for even a CD player although when travelling I can not hear a thing!!
Bob (robert) I get up real early somedays

I'm sending my stock AM radio out to be refitted with with modern internals and an input for for CD/MP3 player. The peoplemI'm using use the stock radio faceplate and enclosure.
grg fast

What about antenna installation ? On the cover of the Hayes workshop manual, there is a cutaway view of a coupe showing the antenna positioned at the inner edge of the fender just forward of where the windscreen meets the body. I've seen other positions on other cars. What's a good choice ? Are there any drilling templates available ?

Thanks,
Chuck Mosher
Chuck Mosher

Tom

I make a slightly different suggestion (I am in the middle of doing this)

Mount a small car amplifier up under the dash, and to the audio inputs use a jack-RCA cable to connect an ipod. This takes less space than CDs, and saves the cutting of the dash for the modern radio, plus no antenna hole needed.

The plan is to mount the ipod on the tunnel by using an ipod dock, or to use velcro tape on the back to fix it to the carpet.

Just remember to take the ipod with you when you leave the car.
dominic clancy

Tom, you will find as many opinions on this as there are MGA's. Yes a modern radio will fit by filing out the corner radius(s). You should switch to negative ground if you haven't already. There is no adverse afffects to doing so and gives you so many options.

Then what do you do? You can add speakers in the door panel and the rear bulkhead etc or hang thm from under the dash but the tweeter's sound really don't get out from under the dash. What I decided to do was to build a box that rests on the trans tunnel. It holds 2 speakers both left and right (now top and bottom) stereo speakers. It is wired thru a connector so it can be removed in a moment's notice. Painte flat black with a light black fabric cover it blends in well.

I also opted to put in a motorized antenna in the RH front fender. This allows the antenna to easily be retracted so that a car cover fits easily.

I can highly recommend any of the JVC radios with "Audio cruise". It automatically adjusts the volume based on engine RPM. This really works and you will not be adjusting the volume down as you come to stoplights etc. The Kameleon series is what I have. It has a blank black front panel when off. Rather non-descript. Not really vintage lookig but not as in-your-face as some others. Would like to find a way to hide it under the radio blanking plate but I haven't been motivated enough yet.
Chuck Schaefer

Dominic I like your idea of using an IPOD. But, I'm confused? 2 speakers+amplifier+RCA cable+Ipod? My understanding is that you need an adapter+radio(stereo)to get the Ipod to play through the speakers??At the present I have a aftermarked Motorola AM radio taken from a 59 MGA that has been converted to negative ground but it plays lousy.. Did fit without any modifications.. I would appreciate if you could give me the specs for the parts that are needed. thanks Mike...
mike

Mike

You need an amplifier that is designed to go as a supplement to an auto radio: Like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/EMERSON-MOBILE-MOSFET-400-WATTS-PEAK-POWER_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33721QQitemZ8008361695QQrdZ1

This has an audio input (which you connect with the ipod jack plug) and a stereo output (which you can wire straight to the speakers).

The actual physical connector may vary between the amps - the one in that auction seems to have screw fittings, which means you have to make up a cable or butcher one that fits the iPod. The dock has an analogue audio signal out too. (my amp has a pair of RCA sockets for the input, which makes it really easy, I can use a standard jack-RCA cable). Most amps seem to have screw fittings for the speaker connection.

Power comes from the 12V supply of the car. I suggest putting an in-line fuse in the system.

As you can see, this type of unit can be mounted out of the way up under the dash, without any evidence from the seat that it is there. I will make some cross bars between the dash supports so that I can also mount speakers up there and have good sound but no visible bits to spoil the original look.

All control is done from the iPod

I now have all the bits, I just have to get on and make it all fit. No Auto Radio is required.

If you have a pocket radio, this can also be used with this setup, which gives you good reception without having to drill an antenna hole in the car

dominic clancy

I use the same amplifier setup on my boat, with an ipod and pocket radio. I am going to install one in my MGA. I use a single 12v battery, and am planning to install the amp in the spare battery tray and mount the speakers under the turtle deck behind the seats. One thing to check is the input level required on the amplifier. I used a cheap amplifier and had to change some resistors in the input to get the volume high enough. An amp with adjustable input levels would be best.
Jeff Schultz

This thread was discussed between 22/10/2005 and 25/10/2005

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