Factory Radios - Fact or Fiction?, Was a topic about radio face plates, buuut.... Options

[Lavanaut]

Edit: This thread started out with my question below but quickly changed to a debate about whether or not any 914s ever came from the factory with radios. Lots of cool pics at least! But since I have a vested interest in my original question I'm going to take it elsewhere and let this thread continue down the path of the "radios debate". Even gave it a new title to draw more members with interest in that topic. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

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Ok so this post probably belongs in the originality forum but I need to figure this out asap and answers come slooooooow over there...so, sorry Pat.

My /6 came from the factory with a Frankfurt. The radio that's in there now (Sapphire, see below), while period correct, doesn't match the COA so I'm going to replace it while I tackle the dash replacement. The plate around the Sapphire is a plastic, attached piece and after doing some searching here and elsewhere I'm pretty sure it's actually part of the stereo and not part of the car.

So my question is ~ what's gonna be correct? Judging from pics I've dug up and and based on my '74, I'm guessing it's just that little metal plate/surround piece covered in basketweave material. Can anyone here speak to this?

thanks!

Reid

(sorry for blurry pic)

[Joe Bob]

That plate is exactly like the one I pulled out of the 76 I just whacked....

[MDG]

it's identical to the Sapphire in my ,73 as well. And yes, that chromed plastic surround is part of the stereo not the car

[McMark]

Yeah, most of them are a steel 18g plate that has basketweave attached to it.

[Lavanaut]

And yes, that chromed plastic surround is part of the stereo not the car

It's actually the whole plate (plastic), not just the chrome part.

Yeah, most of them are a steel 18g plate that has basketweave attached to it.

Mark, do you know if that's true coming from the factory? I'm 99% certain at this point, but that last 1% is giving me fits.

Thanks

[Gustl]

back in the days there was an original Blaupunkt radio installation kit available
it included the correct face plate, all brackets, cable, speakers and what else you would need to install the radio
I've seen a NOS kit for sale last year, but the asking price was just hilarious (somewhat around US$ 300)

see here a correct Blaupunkt Frankfurt, installed in a 914-6

[Joe Bob]

Well, I just looked.... my /6 has the same crappy Sapphire AM/FM.....

[Gustl]

found some photos from the original Blaupunkt installation kit

[MDG]

And yes, that chromed plastic surround is part of the stereo not the car

It's actually the whole plate (plastic), not just the chrome part.
Thanks

ah, I though you were just referring to the dial/button surround. The actual plate that the radio mounts in (which gets covered with the squareweave for your year) is metal on both of my cars. But mine are '73 and '76 - not sure if the early ones were plastic.

[Cap'n Krusty]

Every plate I've seen has been steel with a vinyl covering. I've never, in my 36 years of working on 914s, ever seen a factory installed radio in one.

The Cap'n

[Lavanaut]

Great pics Wolfgang, thanks. The closeup of the radio is just what I've been looking for. That install kit is still available, but it's $500!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon8.gif)

Good input Cap'n, sounds like I need a plastic plate to fit the Frankfurt.

Thanks all!

Reid

This post has been edited by Lavanaut: May 11 2009, 05:23 PM

[SirAndy]

Cap'n, I think you just answered my question but I want to make sure I understand what you're saying -- that factory installed radios were never mounted in a vinyl-covered plate, but were instead mounted in a plastic plate (like the one in my first post)? Sounds like I need a plastic plate that'll fit the Frankfurt.

I think what he meant is that there are no factory installed radios.


The radios were dealer installed and it was up to the dealer on how to install them.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) Andy

[Lavanaut]

Not according to my COA. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) There definitely were factory installed radios, I've come across that in my research many times!

Wolfgang has the facts/opt codes, I know...

[Lavanaut]

Just to dispel the idea that I'm making this stuff up, I grabbed one of my books. Rich Johnson's 914 and 914-6 A Restorer's Guide to Authenticity, p. 66:

Many radios were dealer-installed making numer-
ous combinations of radios and aerials original. The
chart on the right lists radio types offered as original
equipment by the Porsche factory.

..and then, in the chart for '71:

...
Frankfurt - U.S., AM/FM
...

...which is exactly what my COA says. I'm convinced. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Reid

[SirAndy]

Not according to my COA. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) There definitely were factory installed radios, I've come across that in my research many times! Wolfgang has the facts/opt codes, I know...

Yes, there were factory "options" for different radios, but the actual *install* was done by the dealer, not the factory.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) Andy

[carr914]

And according to all the books, a Heated AND Tinted Rear Window never existed, but I have one, so don't believe every myth that comes down the road.

T.C.

[SirAndy]

The COA tells you what your car was ordered with, not how it left the factory ...

It's a marketing tool, not a assembly line checklist.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) Andy

[Gustl]

Yes, there were factory "options" for different radios, but the actual *install* was done by the dealer, not the factory.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) Andy

sorry Andy, but that's not correct (IMG:http://www.pff-online.de/wbb2/images/smilies/shake.gif)

every option, that had a "M-Oprion Code" was installed by the factory

other additional equipment (like ski racks, snow chains, suit case set, ...) that had order codes like 914.801.901.00 (that's the ski rack) was not factory installed
when you picked up your 914 at the factory then they gave it to you,
when you picked up your 914 at the dealer then it was "dealer installed" (if possible)

of course there was the possibility, that a dealer beefed up a new 914 with a dealer installed radio (for example when the customer wanted another radio than possible from the factory), but there was also the possibility that the car came with a factory installed radio, which is shown on the COA

a dealer installed radio is NEVER on a COA

the COA represents the configuration when the car left the assembly line at the factory - they had "configuration cards for every car they built

just think about this: do you really think that the factory corrects this cards after the car was sold ?? that means, that they had so search for some very old cards to insert new infos, when the car sold 6 months after it left factory
and to some markets it took pretty long to get the cars shipped to and then they needed to sell them (thinking of the USA, Japan and others)

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif) Gustl

[Gustl]

It's a marketing tool, not a assembly line checklist.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) Andy

might be correct for today

but the infos on the COA come from microfishes form the old production cards
and these cards represent the configuration from the car leaving the assembly line - not as a check list, but as a "to do list"

[carr914]

The COA tells you what your car was ordered with, not how it left the factory ...

It's a marketing tool, not a assembly line checklist.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif) Andy

If you look, my COA is an older one (when they cared and actually got things right), not one of the newer pieces of rubbish. Signed by Fred Scwab - he's been gone quite awhile.

I'm pretty sure that my car left the Factory with Paint, a Leather Steering Wheel, Light Alloy Wheels and a Radio