Retrosound Model One install

[Kenny_Z]

The Craig has spit its last bit of static my way, at least as of Saturday. I just got my Model One in the mail. I'm going to try to document the install process from start to finish in this thread. I'm not doing the final install until this weekend but I've got some information and pictures for tonight. I'll probably have some notes between now and then as well as I read through the directions and see what I want to do to get this installed. I may also have some questions as I've never tackled an entire system like this before.

I'll start with the radio. I purchased this radio: http://www.retrosoundusa.com/products/details/id/114 because the black face and knobs match the Delorean's enough to look stock. I didn't want to put a full DIN in the car because I don't like how they look in the dash. I'm not bashing full DINs, they are cheaper than the Retrosound models with the same features. My plan for my D is to remain as close to stock with my upgrades as I can.

This is what I purchased (sorry, cell phone pictures):


I also bought these from Houston along with a new antenna cable:


I purchased these because they were cheap at a little over two bucks each. I figure if I don't use them as part of the conversion I'll just stick them on a shelf. I wanted something I could have in my hand and still drive the Delorean around this week.

This connection to the Model One is only for the speakers and is clearly labeled. I'm going to run new dedicated speaker wires straight from these connectors to the speakers in the car.


I'm guessing that should eliminate a whole mess of wires and grounds. My first question is, with the Infinity speakers I currently have installed, will I need to run grounds to each one of them if I tie their positive and negatives directly into the headunit? If so, can I do this to the mounting brackets?

[Dangermouse]

I will be watching this closely (no pressure ) as I have been considering one of these Retrosound units also.

Which model number did you order?

Edit - scratch that question! Just saw the link. Did you get the chrome faceplate?

[Kenny_Z]

I bought it from an ebay seller so I have both the chrome and black faceplates. I'm using the black one.

[Kenny_Z]

The Model One is all installed and sounds great. The difference between that old and busted Craig unit and this one is like night and day. I would like a little more bass out of the set up but that's what future projects are for. As promised, the installation write up.


Step one is mock up. Make sure you decide what faceplate you want to use before you start the install. I went with reusing the Delorean's old plate but I have the one you see in the background of the first image in case I want to remove all the lettering. I had to flip the ears on my radio to center the knobs like the Craig unit. The ears are marked Left and Right, that is just a suggestion. They will work on either side.



As you can tell by the image above, those ears stick out further than the stock faceplate which means there will be a clearance issue. It is very easily fixed. I opted to bend rather than cut the ears. I did this for two reasons. One, they can be returned to normal in a vice very easily and two, you retain their strength by not cutting off one side of the support. This is a universal kit, by definition that means it will not fit every car in the universe. It will need modification.


The knob extensions are just threaded rods. You'll get more than enough nuts and retaining washers to make this work in the Delorean. I found it was nice to have the Craig unit to get me in the ballpark but the real fine tuning has to be done in the car. Use the tip of a screwdriver to tighten or loosen the nuts you can't get your fingers on. (Image borrowed from RetrosoundUSA.com)


Here's a side by side of the Model One and Craig's connectors. Retrosound labels everything which makes it so easy to know what you're looking at.


The new speaker wires are very straight forward. I ran new wires but if you want to use existing just snip off the wires going to the grounds and wire everything to the connector just like below. The connector will tell you which speaker it is and the polarity. Do what I did and tie a loose knot in the ends of the driver side speakers. It makes finding them quick and easy when you carry this harness to the car.


This is optional. I ran a ground from the negative terminal to this connector to hook up to the 7mm bolt on the console. Getting all those little ring connectors back together can be a real nightmare. The bolt points inward so it will clear the outer console cover. I used a small allen wrench to line everything up from one side and pushed it out with the bolt on the other. It was a breeze.



Now for the radio's connections. If you have the Model One you should have an AMP (not used for this tutorial), Switched 12v, Unswitched 12v, Power Antenna, and Ground. I cut my old harness in order to do this. You don't have to do that but keep in mind that DMC Houston sells them for less than 3 bucks.

Here you see what is in the car. I decided to cut the ground wire and put a ring connector on it. With the fuses I just pulled them apart and took the harness to my work bench. The green and purple wires were not damaged, cracked, or stiff so I decided to reuse them. I did clean the fuse connectors with a little sandpaper and electrical connector cleaner from Radio Shack. New fuses will go in these holders.


Back on the workbench I snipped off the purple and green leads from the old harness. Purple is an Unswitch 12v source for the radio's memory. It connects to the Yellow wire. Green is a Switched 12v source so the radio turns on with key on, it connects to the Red wire. I took an 8 inch piece of black stranded 16 gauge wire to extend the ground. On the other end is a ring connector. Sorry, I didn't notice it wasn't in this shot. The power antenna lead is the pink wire connected to the blue. I snipped the one off the back of the Craig. I did that because I didn't have the correct female connection in my electrical toolkit.


Now everything under the dash is plug and play. With the Delorean harness it is impossible to hook up the green and purple wires backwards. The fuse connectors only plug in one way. I tested the radio sitting on a block of wood in the passenger side foot well. I only had one speaker hooked up for this test. I just wanted to make sure the radio worked and didn't catch fire before I put everything into that console. Everything worked well. I went through most of the deck's features while it was like this. Obviously I couldn't test balance or fade with one speaker.

Now comes install into the console area. This radio is so small, it goes in without much fuss. I did have trouble getting the faceplate to look right. That rubber grommet on there in this image was trimmed a few times until it centered up the face. If I had used the plate that came with the Model One it would have been much faster and I wouldn't of had to do so much precise trimming on that rubber grommet.


I found that for some reason my stereo uses the same fuse my lighter does. I found this by accidentally grounding the lighter's lead to the console...three times in a row. I'm going to assume everyone knows how to install speakers. I didn't take any pictures when I had my interior apart. I have not installed the remote AUX, USB, and Smartcard connection yet, I'm still not sure where I want to put it. It'll just plug into an obvious jack on the back of the radio and stick somewhere with screws or double sided tape.

Sorry about the quality, I was driving when I took this.


I've only taken it on a short drive but I can tell you that I love this radio. It looks so much like a stock set up that it doesn't seem out of place. I had my reservations about the chrome secondary knobs but I like the way they accent the rest of the radio. The knobs are a nice heavy steel that appears to be powdercoated. I had considered using my old knobs but that immediately went out the window when I felt the new ones. I do have a complaint that the display is hard to see during the day. However, at night it is nice to be able to see the buttons I want to push. The remote is also nice to have and controls a lot of functions.

I hope this helps. Feel free to hit me up if you have any install questions.

[Ryan King]

I'd like to take that old Craig unit off your hands!

[Kenny_Z]

I'll send you a PM about it.

[Notifier]

I'm not sure if the stainless would blend in that area. I could try it though, maybe I'll make a test plate from some scrap aluminum I have.

I suggested that because I have the DMOCO stainless shift plate installed and to me breaks up the monotonous black look of the center dash area. But you do need something there to dress it up. Guess the new radio didn't come with any sort of trim plate for under the knobs or is that is?

And yea, agree with you about the single DIN look, this car needs a radio with knob shafts but options are limited.

[Kenny_Z]

One of my favorite things about the dash is the blacked out look. Though I did like the way the chrome radio dials added a tasteful amount of shine. I'm going to give the stainless a shot.

That plate installed is what comes with the universal kit. I did get another faceplate with it but it is for a Jaguar and doesn't fit the knob spacing.

[Kenny_Z]

Up until yesterday I have had zero issues from this radio. Now I've got all 4 speakers dying at the exact same time. I looked up the symptom on the Retrosound website and one of my wires could be shorting out causing all 4 speakers to go down at once. I'm going to check on it tomorrow. I didn't do anything in the console but I did put a decent amount of pressure on it while I was working on bolting down the roof. I wonder if I cut into a wire.

As for the looks, I decided to just paint the faceplate with a semigloss black. Trying to get any sort of writing on it was just useless. I'd need to have a print shop make something.

[Kenny_Z]

Just to give everyone an update on this radio. The issue I was having involved me shutting the battery off constantly. Once I was brave enough to just leave the battery turned on the radio hasn't stopped working. I've had it installed nearly a year and it has worked well. Just recently I started hearing a high pitched sound coming through the speakers. I think my ground cable has come loose. I can tell it is worse when I turn on the headlights. I'll be going into the console on my next day off and fixing this problem.

I'm happy with my Retrosound and I'm in the planning stages of my subwoofer project.