tapps Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 The Vauxhall Zafira is about to reach the end of road. However, my CA790X minidisc unit in it is still playing as well as the day it was installed. I'm starting to look at new cars but they all seem to have integral CD/tuner units. Does anyone know if it's possible get an old unit into a new car or is it bye bye to md on the road? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 I did it and lived to tell the tale. Knowing NOTHING when I started. In the USA (I am in Canada) there is installer.com in Houston Texas, a good cheap source for the parts one needs. However you must be in the UK, and hopefully there is something similar. If not, you are at the mercy of the installer fraternity. Hope you know a good honest one. First thing, this MDLP car deck is probably the best one Sony ever made! I have one, and it has the much praised Type-S codec for LP playback as I found out only recently by peeking at the schematic (nowhere do they advertise this fact). So don't throw it out - I'll buy it off you as a replacement before you do that. You will need: a. a so-called "wiring harness" for your vauxhall that fits your make model and year of vehicle b. a so-called "wiring harness" for sony (standard within sony) c. the gubbins to actually mate the unit in the dash. If it accepts ISO then you are in luck and nothing whatever is needed. I've actually done two of these neither accepting ISO, and it still wasn't that bad. d. some (usually blue) crimp connectors to mate a. above to b. above, and a crimping tool. Really not a great idea to solder (the old fashioned way). You should be set, as now you can probably use the speakers in the new car. Much better not to retrofit those. Any more questions, ask here or PM me Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim.hoggarth Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 The Vauxhall Zafira is about to reach the end of road. However, my CA790X minidisc unit in it is still playing as well as the day it was installed. I'm starting to look at new cars but they all seem to have integral CD/tuner units. Does anyone know if it's possible get an old unit into a new car or is it bye bye to md on the road? Hi. Are you in the UK? If so, shouldn't be a problem whatsoever. The majority of cars sold in the UK in the last N years have ISO connectors. With a standard adaptor cable, which you may already have behind your CA790X in place, the Sony connects straight to the two ISO blocks. These adaptors can be had for just a few Pounds on eBay. One of these ISO blocks is for the four speaker channels which should already be mounted in your new car's dash, doors, back shelf etc. If you get into any difficulty just give me a shout as I have the required pin-out data and colour codes, etc. I actually have a Sony Bluetooth CD/Radio player in my Citreon (I would have an MD unit but this was a pressie from the Missus). Whenever I want to test an auto MD deck (in-situ rather than on the bench) I just pull my CD player out, plug the MD player in, and it works fine every time. Your only problem me be pulling out the factory made CD unit and then finding a suitable way of mounting the metal frame (forget now what this is called) and sourcing a suitably shaped plastic trim to finish off the overall appearance. Some in-car units have fronts made to fit the contours of the car's central plastic console, not the standard letter-box shape of an ISO sized CD player. Personally, when I saw the price of a 'proper' bit of trim, I did not bother and simply pushed on the rectangular trim supplied with the player, leaving a slight gap between player and car's plastics. Didn't look too bad as the finish of the console continued under the front of the original Citroen radio cassette. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapps Posted February 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 Hi. Are you in the UK? Your only problem me be pulling out the factory made CD unit and then finding a suitable way of mounting the metal frame (forget now what this is called) and sourcing a suitably shaped plastic trim to finish off the overall appearance. Yup, I'm in the UK (just updated my profile). Many thinks Stephen / Jim for the advice. Yes, my real worry was the problem quoted above. But now I know it's possible there will be more of a spring in my step in the search for the new car. I buy new and try and get a dozen years out of them so if I can get the MD unit in I see no reason why I shouldn't be still listening to my minidiscs until 2023....a very comforting thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfbp Posted February 16, 2011 Report Share Posted February 16, 2011 Many thinks Stephen / Jim for the advice. Yes, my real worry was the problem quoted above. But now I know it's possible there will be more of a spring in my step in the search for the new car. I buy new and try and get a dozen years out of them so if I can get the MD unit in I see no reason why I shouldn't be still listening to my minidiscs until 2023....a very comforting thought ... and if you want to play CD's or MP3 CD's you can easily attach a Sony 10-disk changer (recommend the CDX-757MX as it should support MP3 CD's as well as ordinary ones) with no wiring to the car at all.... all connectors go from the changer to the back of the CA790X. Stephen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odyssey Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 Some of the new cars have the radios integral to the computer security systems. You have to watch what you are doing or you might not be able to start your car. Then again some of the new radios have a plug for input. I like the radio that came stock in my car so I bought one of those RF devices, you plug in the MD recorder, turn it on and tune the radio to the freq it transmits on. It sounds alright. I have an MD changer for the RV, plugs into the SONY radio, My library of music increases and sounds Sooo good when traveling. Really, CDs are too big to bring along and they can format if they get too hot in the sun, goodbye expensive cd recording.... Copy to a MD an d you can always make another recording. No IPUD for me....Keep those MDs spinning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.