70 Stock Radio Conversion

[70-1600]

After much hand wringing and angst over the options, or lack thereof, for updating from the vertical mount AM radio to "something else", I ponied up to have the stock radio "converted". There are a handful of vendors who perform this using solid state technology from Aurora Designs. They gut the electronics out of the stock unit, save the mechanical tuning functions and controls (power on/off, volume, tone), and install a small digital PCBA with 4 channel outputs, line-level outputs (including sub-woofer) and an AUX input. Here's some pics of my process and the results.

Stock radio vs converted radio...

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I had some very old Jensen surface mount speakers that I "updated" with Kenwood 4" 2-way elements...

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I installed a low profile sub-woofer speaker and a mono sub-woofer amp to the stock speaker box...

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All the elements ready for installation, including some harnesses made up with Vintage Connections elements (which I needed for some harness repair on elements of the center vertical console)...

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My wiring diagram (the wife says I'm a total nerd)...

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Unit installed, and showing the addition of a multi-color LED in the radio dial face - red is for AM, yellow is for FM, green is for AUX input...

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While the sound doesn't come near the Bose system in my 2017 Yukon, it is a big leap forward from the stock AM radio and single speaker. What I like best is the stock look, yet modern functionality.

-jt

[Gregs672000]

Wow very nice stock look.

[S Allen]

That is nice. I bet it sounds great as well.

Steve

[vorpal]

Well done, I did a similar thing in my '69 with a converted Aurora system into my stock radio. Now have Bluetooth, USB input and AM/FM and powered speaker outputs all with the radio mounted in the stack looking absolutely stock.

Already had small speakers installed in the headrests so I powered them off the internal amp they installed. Switch between inputs with a half-press of the volume knob and skip tracks with a quick flick of the tuner knob.

[spl310]

Impressive!

[ham]

that is exactly what I want for my newly purchased 1600.
who can I call?
ham

[johnscf]

Who did the conversion for you? Where did you mount the kenwood speakers? Behind seats on the sides?

[70-1600]

Ham: I used Joe's Classic Car Radio. https://joesclassiccarradio.com There are a few others out there on the web who do the same thing using the same technology.

johnscf: The Kenwood speakers (surface mount housings re-used) are mounted on the kick panel just forward of the doors. Here's an additional picture of where they're mounted.

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-jt

[sfdaugherty]

http://garytayman.com also does them in Florida

[devauxmidwest]

Very nice! Where did you mount your sub woofer? Any thought of installing rear speakers?

[70-1600]

The sub woofer is mounted in the stock radio speaker location - against the firewall in the passenger side foot well, utilizing the stock mounting bracket. I do need to re-make the panels that are directly behind the seats; when I do, I will likely install additional speakers there. The radio outputs are already there (per the wiring diagram); will be easy to create a small harness to connect the rear speakers.

-jt

[halvernaz]

Nice job, thanks for the all the details.

[70-1600]

Part II: I wasn’t too happy with the initial sub-woofer performance. The sheet metal box would give a funky popping tone, like a steel drum, at the lowest frequencies. So I decided to give a try at building a fully sealed housing from 1/2” MDF with the same dimensions of a stock speaker box with a port to house a 6.5” driver with better performance specs. The result is much better when I turn up the volume on the road with the top down. I sized the enclosure to be able to use the stock mounting bracket to the firewall.

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-jt

[70-1600]

Part III: While the fabricated MDF housing and 6.5" driver element was a significant improvement over the first attempt at a sub-woofer, I was still not completely content with the bass response. Another owner had posted he had put in a Kenwood KS-SW11 compact powered subwoofer. I checked the dimensions of the unit and determined it would fit in place of the "stock" speaker box on the firewall in the passenger footwell. The unit had very good reviews on-line, so I decided to take a chance on it. This is exactly the performance I was looking for. This unit fills in the low end with great punch and smooth response. Installation was fairly simple; I needed to fabricate a "backing plate" to utilize the existing holes in the firewall to mount it. Hookup was very easy, as it took the place of the sub amp I had previously installed. The remote gives me the ability to dial in just the amount of bass response I want song-by-song. Here's the unit:

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I mounted the remote inside the glove box next to the fuse box; just enough room there.

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I am completely satisfied with the performance now, so much so that I have decided not to add in any additional speakers to my set up.

-jt

[Egz]

Does anyone know if anyone just sells the Aurora components by themselves? Or are they a dealer only thing.
I would really like to do this on my own instead sending it out.