Bluetooth radio build.

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dartfreak75

Restore it, Dont part it!
Joined
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Its raining cold and nasty outside today so I am stuck inside I figured since I'm in i might as well work on a car project I can do indoors. So I started my bluetooth radio project. The goal is to have a functioning radio I can play music from my phone and my car still look 100 percent orginal. So I dug into it. I cut out all the wiring and old boards I left the tuning part so you can still turn the knob and the needle still moves. So it looks original but everything else is out. I bought a 14 dollar bluetooth board from Amazon. I'm gonna use the original plug to power it so it will plug in just like the orginal. I am gonna modify the the volume knob to work the controls on the bluetooth board. I have it taken apart. I have to shorten the shaft and drill out the end of the plastic part to fit the knob on the bluetooth board. Then I'm gonna epoxy the metal shaft that the knob goes on to the plastic part and it all should turn when its put back together. Here are the pics of what I have so far I will update it as I go.

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Got the shaft cut and the plastic part drilled to fit the controller. Got it all put together I used washers for spacers to get the knob the correct length without a bunch of play Just got figure out how I'm gonna mount it now lol

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:popcorn:
I'm likeing your idea. I hope you can give us all the links to the bluetooth parts when your finished with it.
Why certainly lol here is the link the price went up since I bought it! Its 19 now. I'm gonna try to hook it up in my truck just to make sure it works lol
 
Got the shaft cut and the plastic part drilled to fit the controller. Got it all put together I used washers for spacers to get the knob the correct length without a bunch of play Just got figure out how I'm gonna mount it now lol

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Looks pretty cool. I think i spied four mounting holes in the board. Could you mark the frame and clearance drill holes for small all thread screws and nuts for elevation?
 
Ok other than wiring it in it's done. I used the little screws and spacers that came with it and drilled some holes in the bottom and screwed it down to fasten it. Its kinda angled down so the top screws wasnt long enough but it's got 2 holding it I'm sure that's good enough. It's really tight and the knob moves really good. I'm happy with it I'm gonna run to the truck and wire it in see if it works brb

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I dig having my Bluetooth in my old car. I like the idea and went down a similar road last year myself. I actually installed an entire receiver inside a factory unit. Affords me hands free calling, AM/FM, Bluetooth,and a USB for charging/data. Also gave me more outputs for speakers and a prepowered sub under the front seat. Love having modern sound with original appearances. Great work! Stereo Insanity Plea
 
Its works!! It wont let me video the sound and keep playing at the same time but it works haha love it. It could be louder but but it will work fine.

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Now I gotta wire my truck back up. Haha
Not bad for a rainy cold day!
 
Nice work! I will be checking this out, I need to do the same thing.
 
Thanks for the link. This will be my next little project. How loud is not very loud? Do you think it is loud enough to hear over exhaust ?
 
I did pretty much the same thing on my radio. I used a separate amplifier module that had a little more umph and I am also running an amplifier for the rear 6x9's. I used the original volume pot to turn it on and off and adjust volume. I also used the radio station buttons to select the option buttons on the bluetooth module.
The tuner knob and needle still move so it looks completely stock from the front.
The bluetooth antenna is connected to the car antenna so it has really good range.

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Thanks for the link. This will be my next little project. How loud is not very loud? Do you think it is loud enough to hear over exhaust ?
It's not very loud but I only hooked it into one speaker. I'd say with two it would be better. They make I higher amp version that is more expensive it maybe louder. Idk how loud your exhaust is but I would say you could hear it it's not gonna be jamming out or anything tho. I do wish it was a little louder I should have left it on my truck and took it up the road to see if I could hear it over my truck because its loud! Lol I didn't think of that till just now.
 
You a Wizard, very nice.
Get good at those Blue Tooth conversions and you could have a nice side job going.
Thank you I appreciate it. Iv been wanting to do this for a while. I'm gonna do some research on a better higher amp board. Now that I know I can do it I want to do it better lol I'm gonna see how this works out as far as clarity and volume I may upgrade if it's not loud enough.
 
I did pretty much the same thing on my radio. I used a separate amplifier module that had a little more umph and I am also running an amplifier for the rear 6x9's. I used the original volume pot to turn it on and off and adjust volume. I also used the radio station buttons to select the option buttons on the bluetooth module.
The tuner knob and needle still move so it looks completely stock from the front.
The bluetooth antenna is connected to the car antenna so it has really good range.

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That looks really good. How does the bluetooth and the amplifier wire in together? I may have to try your way later.
 
Thats so cool, how did you get the station preset buttons to manipulate the bluetooth board? They have some pretty stout single board amps available that would fit in there no problem.
 
Do yall think I could ground it right to the side if the radio since the radio is grounded to the dash?

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Thats so cool, how did you get the station preset buttons to manipulate the bluetooth board? They have some pretty stout single board amps available that would fit in there no problem.
Yea that is really cool mine isnt that fancy lol
 
Ok it's done I got it all back together I hooked up my speaker wires and soldered the old wire to the new one then put a shrink wrap and tape around it all I gotta do now is put it in the car.

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