1979 F150 with a am radio ...Looking for Am / FM Radio conversion


Any one able to assist? See a few on eBay for $159 but I take it I have to cut wires...


Thanks guys

 

Depends on what you want to spend, and what you do or don't want to do to your truck.
I wanted it to look bone stock, and retain the No battery drain function that the original radio had, so I took my radio out and took it to a local guy who wired an auxilary input jack into it. When you plug something into the jack it supercedes the Antenna input and your I-pod or whatever then plays through your still stock radio. My I-pod plays local radio channels, so total cost $20

Kicker makes a small "hidden" unit that you can wire to the speakers and that plays and controls an I-pod The unit charges, and controls the I-pod, and you basically then ignore your stock radio. Cost $200 plus an I-pod
Several guys have made the swap / conversion to the DIN style head units with just a little Fabbing. Cost is dependent on the system you install.

 

i had pulled my radio/defrost bracket out and made a new one to hold a new style radio , any sheet metal shop should be able to do that if its the direction you would want to go

 

I have heard that the stock AM speaker will not play fm music... is this true?

 

LOL! NOT TRUE! Now, the old speaker may be in bad shape and not sound good, but as far as a speaker is concerned, it doesn't matter whether it's getting a signal from AM radio, 8 track or Sirius, it's all the same.

 

I bought one from these guys and thought it was the best bang for the buck.Vintage Car Radio .com
It was an exact fit but I don't remember the details of the wiring so I assume there was no issues there either..

 

I left my stock radio in place . I hate to cut up my dash . I got a CB mounting bracket and mounted an aftermarket radio under the dash like you would mount a CB radio . Now I have a modern radio/cd/Mp3 player etc. and no chopped up dash . I did something similar in my 65 years ago . Just a thought !

 

yeah I did the same, and I love it, looks factory and pretty much went in with no problems. Best thing is there is not cutting and plus a AUX

 

Golfer, the AM will play the FM stations it just doesn't receive them due to the wrong frequency. if you bypass the input (the antenna) and use your I-pod like I did with mine it plays everything that it gets fed. The signal is decoded by the I-pod so there is no issue.

 

Have you looked at retrosound.com They make some awesone vintage looking am/fm tuners that you dont have to cut your dash for at all they fit i n the stock harness i just picked one up for my 1975 ford f250. They have usb inputs, bluetooth, handsfree calling the whole works built in crossover if you wan't to add subs later. a little pricey at around 299.00 but you don't have to cut your dash and you can keep the stock look

 

Still looking for a stock looking AM/FM Unit i can wire in....

 

Look for a stock on on eBay???

 

LMC sells some

 

LMC has stock "looking " units . I am too cheep for that . That is why I mounted a modern radio under the dash with a CB mount . Easy to remove , no chopping the dash . When I was into VW's years ago , there was a company , you could buy a "hidden " stereo . It went in the glove box . Sure they are still around . Many options . Some cheep , many not .

 

Not seeing any on eBay ...