73-87 Delco radio with aux. input added

[Cramitthefrog]

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Hello all. This mod came about because I wanted to listen to my ipod in my truck, but I did not want to cut my dash.
I looked into the aftermarket shaft style but right now I can't justify the cost, so for about $20 I made my own.

The first thing I did was grab a stock radio from the local yard, and started to locate what wires were the tuner wires before the amp.
This part is real easy, there is a ORANGE wire and GREEN wire that go from the main board to the amp board

What you need to do now is cut the wires in the middle so you don't need to solder directly onto the board.
Now if you look at the location of the wires on the amp board it will tell you which one is left and right

Next you need to get a switchable female aux. input. I found one at radio shack, and it is real easy to locate because it will have 5 posts and has a clear side so you can see inside to id which is in and out for both the left and the right channels.

The reason you need a switchable input is because without something plugged in you have normal radio function, but as soon as you plug your ipod in it will disconnect the radio function and will send the new source into the amp

So now that you have cut the wires you need to solder 5 wires onto the aux. input. 1 ground that goes to the radio body , a right channel in and out, and a left channel in and out

Now you need to find out which is the left and right channels on the male portion that you plug in. If you look at the plug you will see 3 sections, the first at the tip is the left channel, the next one is the right channel, and the third is the ground. You need to solder the the red and green wires from the main board to the input posts on the aux. input then solder the output wires of the aux. input to the wires going into the amp board.

Once that is done you need to drill a small hole for the input to mount into, I found that just above the first channel select was about the best spot. This will involve cutting the am/fm selector plate to clear the wires. After all that it is time to put the radio case back together

One thing you need to be careful of is to have the radio off when you plug in and unplug your ipod because for a brief instance everything will be connected and the possibility of damaging something is higher.

With all things electrical take your time and double check all conections before you solder, I learned this the hard way and burnt up a perfectly good radio. I also used an am/fm only radio because you have more room to work, but I am sure one with a cassette would work also.

I am sure I confused some people with all of the input here and output there but if you shoot me a pm I could try and help.

[Cramitthefrog]

More pics I hope this helps...