My plan has been to install a very stock dealer-install-type stereo into my car... but not hook it up. This will be a thief-decoy.

I want to find a CD/MP3/FM unit, with remote. I will hide the stereo somewhere like the glove-box. However, the kicker is that the remote needs to be strong enough to send a signal to the hidden unit (still strongly leaning towards a glove-box install).

I don't want to run wires up and down the chassis of my car, so I'm really leaning against a trunk install.

Has anyone done this before? Tips, tricks, cautions?

-Rusty

shouldn't be a problem if the unit will fit in the glove box.

Use a remote extender to put an IR receiver either in passenger footwell or a small hole in dash. You could probably trim it out so that it was undetectable in either location.

I'll cut the glovebox, if I need more depth.

Remote extender? IR receiver??

Where do you get something like this? Would there be a plug in the back of the unit to plug it in to? I like Rusty's idea and would like to do the same thing. The stereo I have in the car now already has a remote.

See crutchfield.com for info. It is the only place I order equipment from. They are GODS in auto stereo

Todd

they make ir boosters for stereo cabinets, but they are all probably 110 volts. look around. just go with a wired remote. somebody does a gearshift remote, but that is insane.

if you want to go wayout retro, i think i have a blauPUNK am only i the basement at the old house.

my brother installs high end home theater and automation systems.

There are a couple different types, the simpliest one is an eye with a lead. The lead gets attached to the IR receiver on the stereo. The lead repeats the IR signals to the stereo.

Any high-end custom car audio place should be able to hook you up.

Curvie nailed MY question... before I select a deck, it would be nice to know if some kind of "RF antenna thingie" (the technical name I'm sure) will plug into it. I don't want to buy a new unit, and have to crack it open (and void my warranty).

It attaches to the face of the stereo where the IR port is.

ir is infrared ( sp ) which needs a direct line of sight. rf ( radio frequency ) remote should work from a few feet away without a booster. whacha got?

then I just need to find a "period correct" stereo to put in the dash. I've mentioned this in stereo posts before, but I think it's interesting enough to repeat: My first 914 came with its' original stereo installed by the dealer - a Blaupunkt AM/FM stereo cassette with a RECORD feature! It had a little microphone with a curlie Q cord that plugged into the front.

I doubt you'll find any RF remote controls for a car stereo. They just don't need the range.

Here are the parts you'll need. Crutchfield has them all:

IR Receiver
Hub
IR Flasher
IR Cable
12V Power Supply for Hub

IR Receiver:
Niles MS-1

IR Hub:
Niles® Audio IRP2+ Infrared repeater hub

IR Flasher:
Niles® IRC2 / IRC2P

IR Cable:
Monster Standard IR Cable


This is a piece-meal system. And not cheap. There may be a packaged system available.

i'll check the basement at the old house on the way home. am only. you might have to let the tubes warm up.

Lawrence,
ThinkGeek has a pocket size mp3 player with a built in FM transmitter. Hook up a cheap FM radio in the car and listen to the mp3's playing from your pocket.

-Ben M.

ps - You could also add a window sticker that reads "If you try to steal my cheap radio again I will tag you in the ear with a 147gr. Hornady XTP hollowpoint." (That bullet shoots real nice in your 92F if you haven't tried it yet)

Curvie...

Check out evilBay. Just type in "Blaupunct" and lots of old radios will pop up.

-Rusty

I'm only saying this because I think I'm the only teener around the STL area...

Why not just get a detachable face? The stereo is worthless without the face.

Honestly, most of the time I just remove the face, and put it in the glovebox, or under the seat..... if a theif were scoping out a car, he's see the stereo with no face, and walk on.

Then you don't have to worry about high powered remotes..... hidden stereos, etc. Besides, if you use a block-off plate, or just cover the dash with that black brick pattern stuff......... a thief will see the speakers..... but no stereo??

Hmm.... maybe it's hidden in the glovebox??

I say just get a detachable face.....

My 2 cents

No, he'd see the stereo with no face and think "It's probably in the glove-box or under the seat". Then he'd break the window.
-Ben M.

Somebody ought to make a detachable face that looks like an old radio. Put that in for shows, put in the real one when listening to tunes

Uhhh... if the thief looks into the car, he'll see a 33 year old Blaupunct in the dash, with matching 33 year old speaker covers below the dash.

The old Blaupunct will make the concours weenies drool, but it's certainly not what our criminal friend needs to steal to get his 25 dollar fix of crack for the night.

The real stereo will be hidden.

[quote=airsix,Aug 21 2003, 11:20 AM]
[/QUOTE]
No, he'd see the stereo with no face and think "It's probably in the glove-box or under the seat". Then he'd break the window.
-Ben M. [/quote]
LOL!!

Perhaps....... I never really take the car anywhere where I know it's going to be "sitting" long. Plus, the top is almost always off.

I guess if they want something bad enough, they are going to get it, no matter what you do.

I just likew to make things easier

Besides.. to paraphrase something that was very well said recently on the BBS.

Most new stereos look like something out of the f*cking Starship Enterprise. No place for the swirl of LEDs inside my classic roadster.

i agree with the led crap. the best sounding stuff out there is panasonic/technics stuff m.a.s.h .......multi analog sound shaping. everybody else uses a sony chip set which sounds harsh to me ( sony bought the patent rights from philips)

compressed shit sucks, but less so in a car.

if you blindfold me, i can tell the difference between a panasonic and all the other makes.

I made a fake face plate out of foam core years ago when I was in college. It did the job I guess. No one ever bothered breaking into the car....granted, most people wouldn't look twice at an '86 hyundai excel hatchback anyway.

I just used scrap foam core left over from a project the art major accross the hall hat sitting around and spray-painted it black. Glued the face plate together in layers to make it look like the generic two knob deal. Big downside being it wasn't very sturdy. Easy to break accidentally.

It fit in the empty cavity left after taking off the real faceplate.