Lots of Radio Questions

[Vart]

Hello,

several questions regarding the shat radio in my car.

1. Does the stock radio (the AM/LW one) jam up after 100 KHz for other people? its the original '85 DL model.

2. Can it be fixed easily and if so how?

3. Should it be that it can't be fixed (tragedy........) any recommendations for a 'cheap as chips' replacement ideally one that has FM so i can start listening to god awful music and not just god awful talk sport.

4. Would the supplied 3 foot ariel handle FM?

5. There are some panels in the boot that look like they might be usable for rear speakers, is that what their there for and can cable be easily routed there?

Thanks

[redline]

dont know about the stock radio , I have a sony radio cassette I bought from ebay for £15.00 that works fine in the car using the standard roof mounted aerial ,
the panels in the rear of the car (each side above the parcel shelf ) are indeed meant for speakers , I believe Chris has a set of the original speakers for sale unless Pete has already bought them from him ,
running speaker wire to them shouldnt be to hard , I would be tempted to remove the metal trim from the edge of the carpet and run them under the carpet then carefully route them under the plastic trim in the boot up to the speaker position. the other option is to fit 6x9's to the rear shelf but I would reinforce the shelf with mdf first it will stop shelf from sagging and should create a better sound , Good luck

[Vart]

Thanks,

also

Would the Radio need a fascia plate to fit it? the radio does seem abnormally large for such a shady unit.....

I don't have a Parcel shelf and carry lots of stuff about quite a bit so i think it would be more practical to put the speakers in the sides. i noticed there are already quite a few wires running behind the drivers side panel, is it possible to use the same path for them if so where do they run from?

Who is pete?

[redline]

ok remove the radio, then you remove the trim from under the dashboard ( looks like carpet ) and then remove the kick panel on the drivers side ( bit of plastic to the right of the pedals ) you should be able to run your speaker wires all the way down from the radio aperture to the carpet , then carry on as I previously described , the ribbon of wires that is already there is for rear lights , rear wiper , heated rear window etc, just be careful to tape speaker wires up with electrical tape to other wires every few inches under the dashboard where you can , that way they wont drop down later and be careful they dont get tangled around the steering column when you turn the wheel

[redline]

sorry I forgot your other question Peter is Pete Farrell another member of the forum who expressed an interest in the rear speakers Chris has

[lentinj]

Yeah, unless you want your radio flopping about, a fascia kit is needed. They're quite easy to get hold of from halfords/ebay/etc. You can also get adaptors from volvo stereo plugs to DIN radio connectors, to save chopping up your volvo. Although on the one I got I had to swap around the +12v permanent and +12v on ignition to get my Sony stereo working (but then, it was a highly dodgy e-bay purchase). I also needed an adaptor to connect the aerial (another quick halfords purchase).

Alternatively, my volvo came with the radio from a 740 which fits in the hole, matched in style pretty much and has all the same connectors. That had a digital FM/AM tuner, cassette, equaliser and external amp out.

The aerial in my '87 car handles FM fine, but I'm no expert on the differences between different aged volvos. I'd imagine that you'd be fine, though.

[Vart]

theres a radio from an 850 volvo on ebay at the moment which looks like a similar sized unit. have volvo changed their connections since the 340 or is it likely that it will fit?

[5lab]

i strongly doubt that would fit.

i've got a spare origional radio or 2 here, you can have if you can be bothered to come pick it up

[Vart]

to be honest the supplied radio is a little disappointing. or at least mine is. it starts clipping at about half volume and breaks up totally anywhere past that, the tone control is more like a 'bright' switch and the switch sides tape button sends it right over the edge. whilst i don't often listen to the actual radio it would be nice to have FM tho. from looking at the pictures in the photo's section it looks like my radio is a lot bigger than a lot of peoples. it appears about twice as large (vertically) as most CD player units.

thanks anyway

[Chris_C]

Cheers Redline... Pete has expressed an interest, but I can't remember if he has decided either way. Looking at the For Sale/ Wanted boards Vart, you've got a set now, but I will check with Pete and post back in case.