Period radio conversion

Hi, again. As I contemplate my build,seeing what others have done, I realize its all in the details, some perfer an exact "replica" look. Others something very different. The interiors of these cars give it away to some degree, a period radio, brought up to date with modern technology is reall cool. Some of you have done it. Any leads as to who is reliable to rebuild a period german Frankfurt. Thanks

https://www.speedsterowners.com/shops/shop.asp?venid=1032


you could also do a completely hidden radio, which is really neat, especially in a speedster and will have better sound performance

expect to pay about 400 dollars to rebuild and have one button setup to select the aux input for a satellite radio or a ipod if you prefer....all I ever listen to is my satellite radio

under details on my website you can find pictures of the unit....www.porschereplica.1colony.com

Howie,
Jim Ward also had this conversion done, I don't remember where. Get a hold of Jim, great guy by the way, and squeeze his brain. He may post up anyway. If you need to get a hold of him, drop me a note.
dale

Howard, speaking of details, did you see my prior post on the invisible power window switches that are activated by pulling up or pushing down on the original window cranks? I think that's a great way to hide your power window switches.

Oggie Yes I noticed that little tid bit and have it in my build to do file, thanks, Howie

Here's a place in Germany that sells reconditioned Blaupunkt and Becker radios, including original Porsche 356 radios.

http://koenigs-classic.de.dd12414.kasserver.com/shop/show_product.php?cPath=55_64&products_id=245

S and M electro tech is the place that Ward had his radio done, Mind is already on the way for it guts to be rewired. Thanks everyone.

Check these out on ebay:

http://search.ebay.com/classic-car-radio_W0QQfromZR41QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQfsprZ0QQssPageNameZWLRS

I made my own box useing carboard for a form then layed the fiber glass.

I went out for the old 58 D look

Koenigs is a great place to find knobs, new faceplates and other parts. Their rebuilt Beckers and Frankfurts are a bit pricey though. I bought my knobs and faceplate from them, the shipping was as high as the cost of the items. (But still cheaper than anyone else at that time.) Knobs can be bought through a vendor on the Samba. Repro Faceplates can only be found at Koenigs.

You will be glad you sent your radio to S&M, Howard. Greg is a good guy and they do top notch work. I am very pleased with the quality of sound and the pod jack. Ask him to put the sound adjustments in your knobs instead of the toggle. The price is the same and he has a trick way of setting your tuner/volume knobs up for dual functions for left/right/fade and bass/treble.

For those that have newer radios and want Ipod hook-ups take a look at Crutchfields. They have an interface that plugs in through your CD/Radio's changer connection. The play lists then show up on your radio and you can control the pod through it too.

All the new Alpine radios have a USB connection for iPods. Check out Crutchfields for details.

Thanks, Jim for the info. Ive been following some of your suggestions. I found those Hella Lamps in Germany, It was nice of GB to gift them to you, they were expensive but will look great, they have amber lenses. Why did you use NLA speaker rims and mesh? Are they more period then Henry's painted ones, better quality. What speakers have you used. IM has an option for high end tweeters/speaker system which Marcos used in his build, with separate subwoofer. Sounds awesome. Personally its the exhaust I hope to listen to..... Regards, Howie

Regarding the speaker grilles: They had the period look I was seeking. The speakers are german 356 repros that came from NLA with the grilles.. The sound is clear without distortion and that's what I was seeking for top down or windows open driving. They seem to be able to take the 45W per channel from the amp ok. I have pretty decent sound with the top down at speed. It's by no means a high end sound, but very functional. The size of the original speakers (using B & C speakers front and rear) are odd, but new high end speakers can be made to adapt to the 356 hole and still use the grilles. I copied a discussion on the 356 Registry forum on what size speakers will fit the B & C mounts. When and if I need to replace these speakers I will upgrade to some 3 ways.

The left preset is a switch to turn the radio to AM and also serves as my 1 AM preset. The other 4 presets are FM. That's how I had Greg set up the old three way function radio buttons. There is a toggle on the back left side of the unit for switching the unit from radio to pure amp to power the aux. input for iPod, MP3, Sat., etc. Speaker balance is adjusted by selecting an FM preset, then spin the dial off the right side, when the (preset) station comes back in the left knob adjusts F/R and the right knob adjusts L/r. Hitting the preset again brings the radio knobs back to normal funtion. I can adjust bass/treble by doing the same thing, except by going to the far left of the dial. The dial is an original german 356 unit and so the stations are lined up in the opposite way as US units. (So FM 104 is on the far left). The old FM freqs only went up to 104. My dial works in the US direction and so although the dial is moving as I tune in a station, I have no visual indicator of where it is because the indicator is moving in the opposite direction of the visual marks. It works like a charm though and I can tune in all the FM stations (107.9) (and use 4 presets for my favorites).

I have my AC power outlet mounted under the dash to the left of the radio. iPod has an a/c cord to power/recharge the iPod. The iPod is connected to the radio/amp by a small RCA cord (headphones to aux input o the left rear of my radio.

Greg will explain your options. He is a good guy and seems to get a lot of business. (Plus he is affordable)

I sent my Blauplunkt last week. I'll speak to Greg this week. What youve done makes alot of sense as has your entire IM build. Im just piggybacking with you, Dale, Georgem Stan Marcos and the rest, Henry is awesome.