I like what you did there, though personally I would have gotten a line level bluetooth adapter and added it in at the input of the volume control in AF amp stage of the radio. I bet the radio needed less work then you thought, maybe a dryer out electrolytic cap or two and a dirty volume pot. No main filter capacitors as it is already on DC.
Cool. The 78 came with cb radio and did not work... I am fixing rust and will repaint, rebuilt engine is on order (current one at 122K is tired, PO ran it with out the engine to body seal, tops out at 65 and takes forever to get there, but around town, perfect)...when comes time for the radio, I'll come back... came here because I have a Boman vw1-72-FM from a 70 westy, seems simple enough to test..dude wanted 65 dollars to test it as a diagnostic...maybe I am too cheap...IDK
Hi captain, so if you look on ebay, the plug you need for the power socket is made by hella (the same people who make the tail lights on your vw) just search for hella 12v plug. They are quite cheap....
Holy shit. Thank you. Seriously, I spent hours on forums trying to figure out how to use that connector, and all I got were people showing vintage accessories that plugged in there. Just ordered a Hella to Cigarette Lighter port adapter for $10. Absolutely fantastic.
Although I wouldn't be surprised, I was most disappointed when Google removed the headphone jack from the newer Pixel devices. I was literally about to buy one, and then they removed it and I've been using my 5 year old iPhone and hemhawing ever since.
I want to take on this project with my '77 VW Bus. right now I have one of those really annoying radios that you'd mentioned with all of the lights. It ruins night driving. I've always hated it. Over the years I have eliminated the extra speakers that the previous owner had installed. I'm looking for a more stock look. So I now use only the one speaker in the dash for my radio. (However, I also use a Sony bluetooth speaker that wedges nicely between the dash and the windshield (SRS-XB31) but I'd love to eliminate it and just use a stock-looking radio.) So, My question is: what shoud I be looking for (tech speaking) while searching for a donor radio that matches my dash? I see some radios similar to yours on ebay, but they do not have the "VOLKSWAGEN" written on the front. Did you add that? if so, how? Also, this video is 2 years old now. So, would you recommend anything different with the new bluetooth products that have come out since 2020? many thanks!
Fantastic idea, I love what you have done to preserve the originality too, the benefit i guess is that you can charge your phone via the USB whilst still listening & connected via bluetooth. I have an orginal VW AM/FM/LW radio in my bus then use an adapter from the din socket at the back of my radio to connect to my iphone via its lightening connector which allows me to listen to music via my phone as well as using the radio, but no charging option. Also upgraded the speaker which is easy enough to do. Great job!
