[TheDude]

Hi,

I removed my original AM radio from my Mustang a few weeks ago with the intent of having it repaired. I decided that I want to buy an AM/FM cassette stereo that will fit into the original dash hole. Which stereo should I get? I will either get a CD changer for the trunk or...I will explain this:

A friend of mine has something that she puts into the tape player. It has a wire coming out of it that connects to a portable cd player. It connects the cd player with the tape player so you can play cd's without the in-dash cd player.

 

[Guest]

Hey, I've got one of those cassete adaptors I can sell and ship to ya for a reasonable price. A new one will run you around 20-25.

 

[Buboola]

Check Mustangs Unlimited, CJ Pony ect, they have AM/FM cassette players that will fit in the dash without modifing the dash. They start at around $160. I have seen and used the cassette adapter that you spoke of, they do work fairly well. I also have a wireless unit, connects to the CD player and broadcasts a stereo FM signal to any FM radio within about 5'. I got that at Radio Shack. IMHO, niether of the two systems have the same quality sound that a CD changer/radio unit would have. Of course, another option that is used a lot is to mount an AM/FM CD player in the glove box.

 

[b09676]

A nice AM/FM cassette is available and even says "mustang' on the front face. It's called Custom Autosound USA-1. whether it fits exactly in the dash or not depends on if your cutout is clean and never been expanded.On mine, we had to weld in the repair plate that they sell in the catalogs.

 

[mrgem]

I just installed a Kenwood 600 in my 66. Yes, it does fit in the original dash opening, but the installation was not as simple as I expected it to be. The corners on the faceplate had to have a bit of material removed before everything would fit as advertised. Drove me nuts until I figured that out.

Sound quality is good, and I've always had good luck with Kenwood stuff as far as reliability is concerned. None of these units could be described as premium audio, but most will power a separate amp and provide you with much better sound than the factory radios available.

If you have to have premium audio, then a glove-box or otherwise remotely mounted unit is the way to go.

 

[richard66coupe]

The custom autosound units will fit directly into your dash, they also have speakers to replace the standard mono in dash speaker with two small stereo speakers.

My '66 came with this radio and i am very happy with it. I put in 2 extra speakers in the back and am satisfied with the sound of the casette player. I also connected an mp3 discman to the Line In of the radio that i place on te console sometimes.
Though the tuner is not very well, it has very large steps between the frequencies and the reception is also not very well. Maybe this is because i live in europe??

Good luck

 

[bratpane]

If you want the highest quality sound, go with what Onelow said. I've used the tape adapters and while they do work ok, they don't sound much better than a tape. If you want something that looks good in the dash, and sounds decent without tying up your glove box or mounting something underneath the dash somewhere, then go with the other recommendations. Try to avoid any CD player that hooks into the antenna, you can get interference if you travel to a place that has a frequency close to the one you are using. If you want a changer, get a head unit that is made to accept one. ::

 

[toddwallace]

If you want an original look, there is a guy in Garland Texas called the Radio Man, that takes your original AM radio and puts modern internals. There are CD hookups for trunk mounted changers. It looks like the original Ford AM radio and the presets work, but is a stereo AM/FM radio.