Fitting a stereo..

[Special K]

Does anybody know how to fit a stereo in my new bug.. have fitted many in newer cars but haven't got a clue on how to do it in this one??

Thank you..

K

[Shamrockez]

Search on VZi. We're going to do this with Joey soon. I know you need an earth, a switched live and a perm live.

[Special K]

Do you know if you can buy a kit to do it?

[Shamrockez]

I don't think so. If you bought a kit I think all it would be would be a few wires which you'd still have to wire into the fuse box etc.

[Special K]

ok.. cheers Lucy

Will try a local stereo fitters tomorrow and see what they suggest..

K

[Special K]

Have you got a radio in your bug luke? if so where have you got the speakers?

[Dub-Diva]

It all depends on where you want your stereo... someone has put one in the middle of my dash (and really butchered the sides whilst doing it! :eek:) but Rhett's 58 has his mounted underneath the glove box - he's moving mine and his to inside the glove compartment so it doesn't spoil the look of the dash - will ask him when he gets home and will post later :)

[amethystbelle]

My other half has just taken the old cd player out of our bug i will have to ask him what it involved and what goes where. We've been given a 60's working car radio for the retro look hence removing the cd player ;)

The cd player was mounted in the glove box, well we say mounted the previous owner had actually stuck it in with a bit of black tape :lol: The speakers where hidden in the parcel shelf, hidden out of view to keep the car looking clean, something which we will probably re do when we get round to making a new parcel shelf as the wiring is all still in place etc... :)

[Shamrockez]

It all depends on where you want your stereo... someone has put one in the middle of my dash (and really butchered the sides whilst doing it! :eek:) but Rhett's 58 has his mounted underneath the glove box - he's moving mine and his to inside the glove compartment so it doesn't spoil the look of the dash - will ask him when he gets home and will post later :)
Both my Bugs have had one hacksawed in :( so I'm gonna put one back in Bella to hide the jagged gap. Joey's got an uncut dash (very rare these days, especially in RHD form!), so we got an under dash stereo mounting thing off ebay so we can mount it on his underdash shelf. Just need to get round to doing it!

[Special K]

My dash has a hole in for and original radio.. is that classed as uncut?
Or does uncut mean without a hole at all..?

K

[Shamrockez]

yeah that's uncut. Chances are a standard new stereo won't fit without cutting it.

[Special K]

No they wont.. do you think its best to leave it that way as like you said uncut right hand drives are hard to find...???

K

[Shamrockez]

Not so much on a 70s Bug - they are on a Split tho. What I would do is put it in the glovebox. You can get glovebox liners designed to take stereos from places like VW Heritage - best of both worlds then :)

[Blugg]

In respect to the fitting of the stereo. All you need to do is connect the wires to the relevant places. Doesn't matter how old the Bug is as they all have car batteries ;)

I would be steered towards mounting it under the dash or in the glovebox so as to not spoil the well looked after dash etc. Be a shame to go cutting something that has been preserved for years ;)

Wouldn't take 2 mins to find some kind of plate that would fit the hole that is there, as you said there was one, but if you wanted the radio where the original hole is, you COULD find a stereo that would fit in there.

They still had aftermarket radios back in the day too ;) :)

Good luck, and if you need me to find you one, just PM me the measurements :o

[amethystbelle]

I'm sure you can buy the plate to fit in where the stereo has been on your dash, postive VW Heritage stock them :)

[Dub-Diva]

there's a plate that can go across any hole that you have in the dashboard, you can also buy a glove box mounting kit from some vw parts suppliers... :)

[1958 Harry]

Don't cut your dash - pleeeaaassseeee!!!! If you wanna de-value your car thats a good way to start!!!

Right you can either - buy a proper Bug stereo - 70's ones are fairly cheap, I imagine for an FM radio you're talking £30 to £50 max, that will fit in the hole in the dash without having to cut anything - No CD tho, however for some you can buy a lead to enable an IPOD to be connected to them.

You can buy the glovebox liner to fit a modern stereo into (with the correct sized DIN Hole) OK it'll be a bit fiddly when driving (get one with a remote ;) ) but a) no one can see it when the glovebox is shut - better security and b) your dash won't look cack with a modern stereo plonked in the middle of it :)

As for wiring it in its easy, just get hold of a wiring diagram to find out where the wires go for the radio in the fusebox and wire it in (thats what I did - a bit easier on a '58 tho less wires :lol: ) The Samba is good for wiring diagrams.

As for speakers - VW Heritage sell the rear parcel shelves with cut outs already in them for speakers and for the fronts you can either buy ready made speaker pods to go in the footwells or attach them to the bottom of the front parcel shelf (like I have).

[Special K]

Think i've decided what to do...

I'm going to get an old radio.. period for the car if i can, but not wire it in..
Then i'm going to fit the modern radio that i have in the glove box..
I think i'm going to get a front parcel shelf to mount the front speakers in, as for the rear i haven't decided yet..

If i get a rear parcel shelf is it still easy enough to access the space underneath it??

K

[Special K]

Luke, What do your front parcel shelf mounted speakers look like buddy?


K

[1958 Harry]

I have a period picnic radio in Harry (thats wired in and works) and a wicker front parcel shelf and i've simply cable tied the speakers and all the wires to the bottom of the shelf - so they are practically invisible unless you look for them. They are little ones - cost about £20 from Halfords - do the job :D

[1958 Harry]

Think i've decided what to do...

I'm going to get an old radio.. period for the car if i can, but not wire it in..
Then i'm going to fit the modern radio that i have in the glove box..
I think i'm going to get a front parcel shelf to mount the front speakers in, as for the rear i haven't decided yet..

If i get a rear parcel shelf is it still easy enough to access the space underneath it??

K

70's radios come up all the time and lare fairly cheap.

The rear is easy to access cause your rear seat tips forward to access the luggage space underneath.

[Shamrockez]

I didn't work that out for about 6 months when I had Bert :o I didn't even work out how to lift the shelf up :o or open the bonnet :o :o

[1958 Harry]

:lol:

Harrys rear shelf isn't fitted properly - i've bolted it to the rear of the seat, so the whole lot tips forward! Not to the car like it should be - I was worried i'd drill through the side of Harry!

[Shamrockez]

Bert has some rubber bungs which it sits on I think... or that could be Bella... I can't remember!

But yeah, drilling isn't so fun! Try drilling a rock and roll bed into a Bay mm from the fuel tank! That's scary!