Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

I'm a very happy new owner of a '68 1600. The radio was upgraded in the 80's to an AM/FM push-button unit in the vertical dash mount, only one speaker at the passengers feet.

What have others done about putting new stereo equipment in these cars? My preference is to leave it as stock as possible, minimal cutting or mounting in an obvious way. Any ideas would be appreciated.

As an intro: I've wanted a roadster for 20 years or so. I finally got over the fact that it wasn't practical and just decided to go with the fun! I took a risk on ebay and bought myself a birthday present last month. Wow, it's better than I could have hoped for! I got the car from Mike Young, so it is really clean and runs great. Before him it was a one-owner car and the guy kept a diary of every penny he spent (every gallon of gas, part, service, etc.). ( I even know the speedo cable broke 3 times and the estimated miles between repairs.) This little book is almost my favorite part of the car, I show everyone, I'm really trying to keep up with the records, but it's not really in my nature.

The interior and some tunes I can hear with the top down are my first projects, but I'm sure I'll have a ton of other fun repairs/upgrades to make over the years. If anyone has info on events in/around the San Diego area let me know.

Thanks,

I put the head unit under the glovebox in a custom bracket that a fellow roadster owner made, a CD changer in the trunk, 5.25" speakers in the side panels behind the doors (There are adequate sized holes in the metal behind the panels for them to sit flush), and 3.5" speakers in the Miata seat headrests. Not ground-shaking sound but adequate for me.

They sell very expensive remote radio kits where the faceplate would be mounted somewhere you can reach but the stereo itself would be hidden. You can also have your radio modified to be an am/fm/stereo/cd controller but that's $$$ too, and you'd want to start with a factory radio so it'd look stock.

The good news is that you got a AM/FM. You at least have aptions with that FM dial.

I bought an Alpine XM/CD-Changer unit for $35.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... gory=38655

For few more dollars you can put in a CD Changer $50-100.
You can get the CD/MP3 changer (CHA-S634) for $200.
If you really want tunes add on XM-Satellite (TUA-T020XM) unit $190.
If you really a tech geek you can run the aodio output from your DVD player into it.

DVD, MP3, CD, XM - That is a lot of options for a measley $35. I don't think Alpine makes this "specific" unit any longer, so get em new while you still can.

Best of all the car looks absolutely stock.

As for speakers you can run another speaker. the ideal location for a the speakers is on the side wall behind both seats underneath where the top bolts to the car. There is a cavity ther to put your speakers into. You will however need to cut into it.

If wattage is not enough from the deck you can get a speaker line high level output to an RCA low level adaptor to to an external amplifier. Remember the there is added distortion expected when converting high level to low level, but is generally undetecable until you get to higher volume levels.