Miata Mailing List: July 1997, Message #131
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From: 	Gary Pollak <gpollak@primenet.com>

Subject: successful CD changer/factory radio mount 

Date: 	Thu, 3 Jul 1997 04:27:29 -0500



At 08:01 PM 6/25/97 -0400, you wrote:



>Can you please keep me posted as to how hard/time consuming/audio knowledge

>is nec. to make the switch you speak of...

>I know very little about radios, but would definately be interested in this

>Sony unit.





Well, just finished installing it.  Took me several hours, but I was also

diddling around trying to incorporate a relay instead of a manual input

switch (I finally gave up after disassembling the CD unit and not being

able to find a 12V source that I could solder onto).  The switch is simple

and works great.



I mounted the player, a Sony CDX-3RF 10-disc changer ($299), on the right

side of the trunk between the spare tire and the rear wall, right next to

the battery.  I turned the circular spare tire mounting cap upside

down--this allows you to push the spare back another inch or two.  It is a

tight squeeze; I had to have my friend who does metal work make me some

special thin mounting brackets since the ones included with the player were

too thick.  With the new brackets it clears the spare by 1/2 inch or so (I

can still get the spare in and out past the CD unit, though).



If you wanted to mount it in this location I'm sure it wouldn't take too

much to make your own brackets with some scrap metal and a drill.  It's

definitely the least space-consuming location in the trunk.  



If you do want to add a CD changer, the only CD players I found that work

as far as bypassing the RF transmitter and going direct into the radio are

Sonys and Blaupunkts, both of which have external RCA audio outs.  Alpines

apparently will work with an external amplifier, but this is a more

expensive option.  All other models go directly via DIN plug from the CD to

the RF transmitter.



Installation is pretty simple.  The tunnel behind the spare is open and

wires can be passed through without removing any carpeting.  The one hard

part--and this is tricky--is the DIN plug that you need to plug into the

back of the radio.  I spent hours trying different ways of attaching a plug

to it, and the only way that worked was to build my own wiring harness with

soldered pins, a piece of plastic for an insulator/mount, and some epoxy

(just as one of the web pages on the subject suggests... wish I had

listened to begin with; would have saved myself a lot of time).  It's hard

to get the pins aligned correctly while the epoxy sets; I punched them

through a piece of cardboard to hold them in place.



Alternately, I called Panasonic and they do sell the DIN plug, but is was

$69.  I called some local stereo shops and found one for $25 (assuming it

was the right part), but I decided to be cheap and build the plug myself.

But if you lack decent soldering skills, go for the DIN plug.  You'll still

need to solder but it will be about 100X easier.



I took the power for the CD player off the power antenna, this way if I

shut off the car, the CD player will shut off too.  If you have no power

antenna (and I bet some of the non-power antenna models have the wiring

harness back there to tap into) you will need to run switched power from

the front of the car somewhere, or just remember to turn the thing off when

you park.



I then bought a DPDT switch for the input switch and mounted it in the dash

where the popout plastic cover is for adding rear defroster switch.  The

switch fits pretty well but I need to make a facade out of a black piece of

plastic to fill in some empty space on either end of the switch.  I put the

changer control into the armrest console.  



Total cost in parts (not counting CD player) for the project was about $10.

 The CDX3RF is black and looks nice in the trunk.  It sounds great--really

livens up the stock Miata stereo and speakers, doesn't seem to skip at all

(only one test drive so far though, but it's light years ahead of my old

Kenwood unit in terms of stability), and most thieves (I hope) won't think

to even look for a CD player since there's no sign of any CD-compatible

head unit.



One caveat though... the CD player is LOUD.  I often listen to tapes in the

car at full volume.  If I ever flipped that input switch over to CD with

the volume that high I would most definitely >blow out my speakers.<  For

now I will be careful, but I will probably install some sort of circuit

breaker or a level dampener to prevent this, for sooner or later I know I

will forget to drop the volume.



I don't know how many are interested, but I'll put this page up on my

website at www.primenet.com/~gpollak/miatacd and when I get time will

elaborate on more specific instructions and maybe add a picture or two.  I

know I probably would never have done this without the two wonderful pages

(Adam's and Harry Sue's) on how to wire into the Miata stereo aux input, so

if I can maybe help someone down the line I'd be thrilled.







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