Woohoo! I am now officially a Teen!

[Gerald Creasy]

Wired my first Car Radio in!!

All the kids were doing this when I was a teen but I was clueless.

With a tax refund I finally decided that three years in a car with a defunct radio was TOO MUCH so I sprang for an economical radio and purchased all the adapter kits I could find.

It was with glee I tossed the 17 year old soundless chuck of slag into the trash can, but when I pulled out the octopus adapters and the new stereo plug with bare cords I must admit I was still clueless. So taking a guess I wired all the corresponding color cords together plugged it into my car AND FIRST SHOT I HAD MUSIC!!!!

And then...and then I got my Creative Zen and plugged it into the auxilary and my 250 plus CD library is instantly available!!!

The dash only looks slightly less pristine than original. And I only had THREE screws left over!

And I'm taking the remaining unopened kits back to Walmart.

The upshot is after I started the car up the CHECK ENGINE light was gone.



I'm happy.

And so is my son.

Now he dosent have to listen to my bad Ray Price covers.

[Full Quiver]

AWESOME Gerald! I despise changing out car stereos and will NEVER do it on my own again.

[Pianoman]

Congrats Gerald! In my younger years when we had a
nice rectangular hole to install a radio in - I installed
several. I did my last one probably 10 years ago & had
to take half the dash off to get it in (besides the contortion
act my hands had to follow to get the sucker wired in.)
I'm with Full Quiver - probably won't attempt it again!

[MacUser]

And I only had THREE screws left over!
.

The upshot is after I started the car up the CHECK ENGINE light was gone.



I'm happy.

Awesome. You should have taken some photos! This sort of self repair / upgrade needs to be applauded and encouraged. I personally get extreme satisfaction in doing such.

All you can do is fail? So keep going. The VWs next, right?

[Gerald Creasy]

Awesome. You should have taken some photos! This sort of self repair / upgrade needs to be applauded and encouraged. I personally get extreme satisfaction in doing such.

All you can do is fail? So keep going. The VWs next, right?

I certainly wish I had more of your skills, the VW would definitely be next.
I'm still trying to track one down that is at a reasonable price.

[free]

I've done one in my life time and will never do another one but it was very gratifying.

[MacUser]

skills,

Seriously, It all comes down to time and not feeling intimidated by a project and taking it one step at a time - not getting frustrated. Researching and tackling each element in stages AND using the right tools.

I constantly stress to my son to learn how it works even if it's just the basics. Because you might have to repair it one day ( as EVERYTHING this side of heaven will break down at some point and need repair ) and you will either do it yourself or PAY others to fix it for you.

By doing it yourself you can save much money and experience much personal satisfaction.

So if you are serious.. start collecting the basic tools and specialize from that point on based on your project required. A dollar tool here and there will build up quickly. The radio install for example.. keep all your tools and supplies together as you might use it again and with your gained knowledge.. the next will be much easier.

[scooter]

I was much better at taking them out than putting them in!