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Retro Radio, Stealth Audio Project, a.k.a.
"The Time Machine"

REVISED 10/7/00

Forward: My motivation for this project has evolved from conception to completion. Originally, the idea was to equip my Spitfire with modern sounds, but controlled from the vintage radios that were sold as an option by Triumph dealers. My reasoning, besides the "cool" factor, is that I could leave my car parked and not worry about theives wanting to lift my stock AM radio, which would really have no value to anyone other than a Triumph owner.

Since beginning the project, it's taken on a much deeper meaning for me. By being able to fill the CD changer with vintage early to late 60's music and driving the car down the two lane backroads of San Diego -- which remain nearly identical to how they would have looked years ago when my car was new -- I can create my own virtual "time machine". A place to relax and reminisce while I drive. Here's how the project unfolded:

1/18/00 -- I found an original Triumph radio like the kind that was fitted to my first '67 Spitfire and ordered it. I'm going to send off the radio to have new, modern electronics installed that will include a CD changer that I'll keep in the trunk. I was real excited to find someone that can do this. Using the original controls of the AM radio, the new "stealth" audio system will also include FM stereo and wireless CD access. The radio will appear to be completely stock, however.

Having been in radio for many years, I have a collection of old '60's jingles from KHJ -- a legendary Top 40 radio station in Los Angeles. My intention is to create some "greatest hit" music CD's to recreate the sound of a mid 1960's radio station during the height of the "British Invasion". I'm trying to decide whether or not to use small speakers like the original that was fitted to really capture that "vintage sound", or employ speaker technology that's equally hidden from view. This is going to be a real fun project for me. Note: I wound up for the BIG sounds after hearing how awful everything sounded through the small speakers...

1/25/00 -- The radio arrived yesterday and while not in perfect condition, will certainly do. I made certain that it was tested and working prior to shipment. This is the exact model and style of the original stock radios fitted to eary '67 Mk3's and identical to the radio that I had in my first '67 Spitfire. Complete with chrome pushbuttons, knobs and trim. As you can see, part of the chrome has chipped off the tuning knob on the right. Note: I've since found and purchased an identical radio for spare parts and the chrome knobs are in excellent shape. And yes, that's a spiders nest under the glass on the left hand side. I'll be shipping the radio off for conversion perhaps as soon as today.

4/5/00 -- Well, my radio has been in the hands of Tayman Electric for several weeks now, closer to eight, I believe. However, the news is good. Gary Tayman has informed me that after waiting for some new components to arrive, my radio is ready to ship. Here is what he had to say in an e-mail this evening:

"As I'm writing this, your stereo is playing beautifully -- I've had it
playing all evening.

Being the first of a new breed, I've been evaluating the new design. This
radio uses the same tuner which is used in Bose Wave radios and some JVC
equipment. Being digital, it uses an analog to digital converter to allow
it to work with a conventional tuner. First impression, this radio pulls in
all the Tampa stations, and some from Ft. Myers. Although some of the
stations are weak, they are clear as a bell -- no background noise at all.
AM is also very impressive. My next concern is with drift -- all analog
tuners will drift at least some on FM. Should this radio drift, you would
suddenly lose the station as the radio entered the next digital channel.
However I've listened to it at a normal level all evening, on a weak
station, and there has been positively no drift at all.

The third concern is with stations lining up with dial markings. I was told
that this design was based on a Delco tuning coil, and that others may vary
according to the "Q" of the coil. On this radio, made by Bendix, I've found
the best alignment to be a little "off", but not by much. Since there are
no FM markings, this band shouldn't matter. However a local station at
107.9 tunes in at around 1400, and stays there as you tune up to 1600. On
AM, 1600 is at about 1450 -- but you can tune up to 1700. I don't know
what's in your area, but there are indeed AM stations above 1600 -- WGST in
Atlanta is at 1670. So actually this is a plus. On the other hand, a
station at AM 930 tunes in at about 1000. So it's a little off, but not
bad.

As for sound quality, there was nothing wrong with the sound of the old
stereos, but I believe this is better, probably due to improved tuning which
has no background noise. Connected to home speakers, it sounds every bit as
good as my home stereo. I suggest you purchase the best speakers you can
find for your car, as this will be the determining factor for good sound in
your Triumph.

When you receive the stereo, I would really like to hear your feedback as to
how well it performs in your car (Yes, as soon as the rush is over, I'm
getting one for my T-Bird). I think this is really going to be a good
design."

I mailed off my check to Gary today which includes payment for the conversion, a special wireless CD changer by Panasonic and shipping. The cost of the service also includes a complete cleaning of the radio and a replacement dial bulb. I could have just as easily spent the same amount on a new, modern head unit and CD changer, but I'm really striving for near-total originality in the cockpit, with the exception of the Tiger maple dash and custom glovebox. This conversion achieves my objective.

4/8/2000 -- As a last minute addition, I've asked Gary Tayman to add line outputs to the stereo conversion, which allowed more flexibility in terms of adding components later. For example, they might go to a crossover unit to split off the low frequencies to a powered subwoofer and an extra set of speakers somewhere.

Something really wonderous happened this past week. Through friends in radio and the power of the Internet, I was able to contact the widow of my favorite radio personality of all time, The Real Don Steele, who until his passing from lung cancer in 1998, entertained and dazzled Los Angeles radio listeners since the early 60's. My earliest personal recollection of hearing The Real Don Steele was in 1965, when I was five years old. He sounded exactly the same through the years, wild, fun and consistenly entertaining. I took pride in pointing his work out to my children in recent years, and it felt amazing to be having my kids listen to him as I did. His death hit me hard and I was depressed at the news of his passing. It almost felt like I had lost a member of my extended family. I had listened to him regularly from the time I was five until I was thirty eight. Wow.

When I was seven years old, in 1967, I decided that I wanted to be in radio thanks largely to the influence of the Real Don Steele and other high profile personalities. Eventually, I had a very satisfying career in radio that lasted nearly two decades. While I never had the opportunity to meet and work with my radio hero, I did work in Los Angeles and had the chance to work at a couple of the radio stations he graced, including his final station, K-EARTH 101.

I wrote to Don's widow, Shaune Steele to ask a very unusal and personal favor related to my Triumph Spitfire restoration, specifically with this portion of the project. I asked Mrs. Steele if there was any chance she might have a copy of a full, unedited hour of The Real Don Steele show on "Boss Radio" 93 KHJ, circa 1965-'67.

I was afraid that she might consider me an absolute kook, but I was surprised to hear back from her a short time later. She said that she remembered hearing me on the air somewhere and promised that as soon as she can, she will send me a CD containing an hour of Don's show for the crowning touch of authenticity to my "1967 time machine". To think of hearing my radio idol again, in real time... Hearing the commercials, music and news of the era, along with the inimitable Real Don Steele talking up the intros... Well, it's going to be a wonderful, marvelous, surreal dream come true, if Mrs. Steele can actually fulfill my sentimental request... Update: True to her word, Mrs. Steele forwarded me a CD that contains an unscoped hour and an additional scoped hour of RDS from February, 1967. I feel very privilidged to be able to relive some special moments in time with my radio hero.

4/24/00 -- My radio arrived back today from Tayman Electric in Florida! Gary did a fantastic job with the cosmetic restoral. It's difficult to believe that it's the same radio that I'd sent to him, but it is...

The chrome buttons have been cleaned and buffed, the dial has been cleaned and the bulb replaced and the entire case has been refinished in a beautiful, silver fleck enamel (?) finish that appears very smooth and durable. The paint looks baked on. The new stealth balance control, CD input and line outputs are clearly labeled. A new wire harness is included along with an instruction booklet. I must say that I'm VERY impressed by the craftsmanship so far.

After writing the above, I received an e-mail from Gary Tayman after praising his cosmetic restoral and he had this to say:

"The painted finish is Hammerite, available at Home Depot. Most radio cabinets look pretty lousy, especially after 40 years or so. This paint gives it a professional look. I don't recall how much I did to the rest of the unit, however for the metal pieces I use a mag wheel cleaner, from any auto parts store. For chrome I use Simichrome. The flourescent orange-red dial pointer is painted with the same color, available in any hobby shop. If there is black lettering in the chrome, I use Wet Look nail polish in black. For white I use a white latex paint. I can go on and on, but there are all kinds of tricks to shine up the parts."

When I asked Gary what's the best and safest way for me to clean the plastic chrome coated knobs were, here's what he added:

"Fill a jar with ammonia and drop the knobs into it for a couple minutes. Pull out the knobs and clean them with an old toothbrush. Then, look for a tube of Simichrome polish. It comes in a small tube, but don't let that fool you -- a little dab'll do ya, and with just a dab at a time you can do the entire car. The best place to look for it is in a motorcycle shop."

I think it's terrific that Gary was willing to share his techniques and materials list with me like this. The more information we can gather to help us in our restoration efforts, the better.

4/28/00 -- I completed the installation of the "stealth" radio today, by mounting the CD changer in my trunk and running the cables and speaker wires under my carpets. Although the wires and cables are completely hidden from view, I could have done a better job had I been willing to remove seats and carpeting -- but I just didn't feel like it. I'm going to have to take everything out when I decide to get the bodywork done, which probably won't be at least for another year or two -- so I'm just going to enjoy things as they are for now.

I made ONE mistake while wiring the changer. I connected the power lead to the same radio switch on the ignition. I should have wired it directly to a constantly "hot" power source, so it can retain memory. For instance, if I had it wired correctly, you could turn it off when you park the car, come back and pick up right in the middle of the song where you left off (the way
it's supposed to be). With the way I wired it originally, it lost total power when the ignition was off, so when you restarted the car, it wanted to start with disc one, track one again. Not good. My initial plan was to run a wire off the solenoid to connect to the CD changer power lead. After thinking about it, I decided that no, I'd run a larger wire to a new accessory fuse block, which I'd mount behind the firewall. Finally -- and to my great delight -- I discovered a spare spade lug ("Lucar" connector according to the shop manual) on the bottom of the stock fuse block. The bottom fuse is an "always hot" circuit. I checked this with my voltmeter to be certain. This "spare" connector made things a lot easier. I simply fastened an insulated female Lucar connector to my CD changer power line and plugged it in! Works perfectly now.

I mounted the changer in the boot on the right side. There are other places it would have fit, but this spot made the most sense from a space and security standpoint. Four nuts and one connector to unplug and it's out. With the right socket drive, you can have it out in less than a minute. The unit itself is smaller and more compact than it appears in the photo.

The mounting plates each have two studs sticking out of them to mate with the brackets you bolt on the changer. They also come with double sided adhesive tape that theoretically is supposed to hold these plates in place. They are designed to fit behind carpeting, which would also tend to hold them down better, but since I have no carpeting where I wanted to mount them, I had to depend on more than just the double-stick tape to secure them.

The good news is, these plates are very adjustable in their positioning, so I was able to find places to put them where they sit nice and flat and also have the most surface area to mate with on the car. To hold them securely, I place a single pop rivet in each one (after "dry" fitting everything first!) which keeps the mounting plates solid against the inner frame members. The CD changer is verticle and the cable exits out the front. I ran the cable over the top of the right rear wheel arch, exiting out the bottom of curved "horseshoe" vinyl finishing piece that fits in front of the wheel arches, just behind the B pillar. From there, the cable disappears under the top edge of the carpet, completely concealed and travels along that edge, then through the opening in the floor crossmember along the drainage channel, across to the transmission cover, then back along side of it and up over the top rear of it.

The CD changer has a small wired control that includes the track display, four-way button for selecting tracks and an infrared receiver. Mounted back against the firewall on the back wall of the parcel tray for now, it cannot be easily seen from outside. The included wireless transmitter controls all of the CD functions remotely and fits nicely inside my ashtray. I knew I'd find a good use for that thing, eventually!

I found two locations that are great for the wired controller. One is right in front of the gearshift boot below the radio. The boot holds the controller in place perfectly and the controller is thin enough not to get in the way of shifting. When not in use, just stash in the parcel tray. The other place is on the bottom of the spacing plate between the steering wheel column and the dash. It's sort of angled down a bit, making it tough to see the LEDs, but it fits in this spot like it was made to go there and is almost invisible unless you're looking for it. For now, I think this is where I'm going to mount the controller, but eventually, it will go on the backside of the door of my glovebox, with perhaps an IR extender that I can place in a discreet spot for total invisibility. Placing the wired controller in the locking glovebox will work well. When the kids are in the car, they'll be able to reach forward and fiddle with the controls the way that kids love to. When I'm parked, to door will be locked and the controller will be safely out of site.

I was pleased to hear that the CD changer sounds even better than I expected. This afternoon, I drove around listening to a Real Don Steele show originally broadcast on KHJ in Los Angeles in June, 1968 that I downloaded from the Internet. Man, what a trip -- in every sense of the word! I took a long drive out in the backroads of San Diego that included (county maintained) dirt roads! I was impressed at how well the CD changer did. There were a few brief hiccups that occurred when I'd hit a rut in the road, but for the most part, the changer performed admirably. Despite the stiffer ride from my Koni shocks, normal highway driving should present no audio problems whatsoever.

The last phase of this project will involve the selection and installation of permanent speakers, and possibly separate, hidden bass and treble controls, an external amp and powered subwoofer.

3/3/00 -- I've decided to put off purchasing a set of CerwinVega 6.5" speakers that I was going to mount to the rear cockpit panel in favor of a pair of Advent indoor/outdoor speakers with impressive, similar specs that I found at Costco of all places! For $49 a pair, if they get stolen, it won't be the end of the world. Plus, they are easily detached and stowed in the trunk. The mounting bolts for the hardtop along the rear edge of the cockpit worked very well. I simply turned them upside down, with the head of the bolts underneath the lip of the rear deck. Granted, these are NOT "stealth" speakers (yet!), but they sound very good.

I've also decided that the obnoxious Monza dual exhaust system has got to GO. I think it lost any sound deading properties years ago and it's just too loud for my tastes. After all, I'm not out to make teenaged guys jealous over how much louder my pipes are than theirs! They would be the only ones impressed with the racket that this exhaust generates. I am going to see about different placement options with these speakers. Perhaps under the parcel trays or on the parcel trays...

5/14/00 -- Well, the Advent speakers won't fit anywhere else but where I've got them -- so until I can permanently install some different speakers, that's where they'll remain. Lately, I've been having some problems with the CD changer. I think the unit I have may be defective. When I first installed it, it would play just fine and rarely skip. Now, it rarely plays fine and always skips. This is not good...

I discovered that, the dash mount that retains the crash pads fit very snuggly along the front sides of the radio. Tayman Electrical had placed the wiring harness to exit directly adjacent to this area, which was causing friction between the wires and the metal dash piece. A minute piece of the shielding had been worn off the FM modulator power feed, so that when there was sufficient vibration (the engine running) it would barely cause the wire to ground short bursts -- or longer when a voltage load was applied, such as when the bass or volume was turned up. Both of these functions consume current. If the current isn't up to snuff, you get trouble instead of music.

After placing electrical tape between the wiring harness and the dash bracket and after changing the oil pan seal today, I took the car for a bumpy ride around my neighborhood. Now that I've restored the exhaust to near stock, I was able to fully enjoy my sound system for the very first time, without so much as a hiccup!

Whew! What a long, strange trip this has been. A fellow Spitfire owner, Brad Kahler, was having his radio modified about the same time I received mine. I advised Gary Tayman to relocate the wiring harness exit and all connectors to the rear of the case, so Brad won't likely be running into these issues -- nor will any other Triumph owners that go through Tayman Electric. I think this qualifies as a good deed. Willie the dog thinks so, too.

5/23/00 -- Today I removed the radio and following Gary Tayman's instructions, relocated the wiring harness to exit further back on the side of the radio. I also installed a rubber grommet in the hole so that the wires rubbing against it won't have any chance of fraying and shorting out again. For the very first time, the system performed as it was intended to. I'm still contemplating a permanent installation of the rear speakers and have purchased an amplified bass tube for the boot on eBay. This weekend, the car should sounds fantastic. Today, it was loud enough to almost completely drown out the sound of the engine with my new muffler.

5/27/00 -- Well, my happiness was short lived. A few days after writing Gary Tayman to let him know everything was swell, the audio started to break up again today during high bass and higher volume use, minutes after I completed the installation of my new 10" subwoofer that has its own 80 watt amp built-in. I've got my spare tire, toolbox and subwoofer in there now -- and precious little room for anything else! That's okay -- I won't be taking any overnight trips!

I'd thought that by rerouting the wiring harness all my troubles with the audio would be over. Wrong-o. After noting that the audio was breaking up again, I tried several different things to isolate the problem, but never really could. I checked every wire connection, every crimp. I even tried running the FM modulator power directly to the battery and thoroughly checking the connector on the wiring harness. Everything checked out and the problem remained.

6/10/00 -- I've canceled the plan to install different speakers for the mains, now that I've purchased a top cover. The fabric hangs down in front of the Advent speakers, totally concealing them from view, making my "stealth audio" installation complete. I was very pleased to find this cover -- an original with white piping (to match my seats!) at a local British repair shop/graveyard yesterday for $65. The piping was yellowed and cruddy, but cleaned up beautifully. After applying vinyl cleaner to the fabric, it looks nearly new with no rips, tears or scratches. The very end snaps don't quite line up correctly, so I suspect this one might have come off a later Spitfire -- either that -- or the absence of "B" pillar aluminum cappers might be making the difference. I'll install the ones that fellow enthusiast Susan Hensley gifted me with recently and see if that does the trick.

9/30/00 -- Time for just one more pitstop. One of the problems with being a pioneer is that the pioneer is the guy who get the arrows through his hat. I continued to have problems with the stealth stereo and finally, last week I returned it to Gary Tayman for investigation. Mr. Tayman has been a very pleasant and professional gent to deal with. A deep, intermittent hum had entered the picture, despite running a ground wire directly to the negative terminal on the batter and the positve lead to the corresponding terminal on the battery. I have determined, without a doubt that my wiring has not been the issue.

Another complaint I had is that the tuning on the FM was terribly "twitchy". Very difficult to tune in a station, and once there, it would be prone to drifting after a time. It got to the point where the only thing I would use was the CD player, but the latest noise problem even prevented that. Mr. Tayman informed me that Antique Auto Radio (AAR) has developed yet another upgraded module that features easier tuning, muting between stations and an Automatic Frequency Control (AFC) circuit to "lock in" the station.

He told me that AAR had agreed to perform a swap to an upgraded circuit board and asked me to return the unit under warranty for repair, which I did. Upon opening my radio, Mr. Tayman observed that a large coil on the AAR board I had was hanging by one wire, leading him to suspect that this might have been the cause of the hum. His comments regarding the problems I was having are worth noting.

"To give you a little insight into what's happening, all of the original
stereo boards had a problem with FM drift, as they were analog. They did
produce a type that worked well, it was called the Stereo 4.2 pot-tuned.
Instead of using the AM oscillator coil, a potentiometer was added
physically to do the tuning. The radios worked well, but installation was a
nightmare. In February AAR suddenly discontinued the pot-tuned in favor of
a completely new version which used a Bose-clone digital tuner. The
oscillator coil inductance was converted to a DC voltage, which was then
linked to the digital tuner. They were designed around a Delco tuner, and
Delcos worked well. In fact, most radios, particularly the older types with
large hi-Q coils, did a spectacular job. But the smaller radios, such as
yours, didn't tune easily, and could jump off of a station. This can be
annoying, as the drift is not gradual but sudden.

AAR recognized the problem almost immediately, but could not get to the
drawing board because of all the back-orders that occurred through the
spring and into the summer. So when production finally caught up, they
discontinued the board in favor of a better design.

The Stereo 6 board uses the same digital tuner, but the analog conversion is
very much improved. There is an "adjacent channel AFC" which does a very
good job of locking the station in place, and there is muting which makes
tuning much easier, and gives it a smooth feel. Even the signal seekers
work well -- they have memory, which allows it to locate the next station,
center it, and lock it in before the dial even gets there. So far I've run
the gamut of different models, and the Stereo 6 board has done really well
in all of them.

In any case, AAR recognizes the problem with Stereo 5 boards in some radios,
and will swap them for Stereo 6 versions. I figured this would be their
answer, but couldn't say it until I heard from them".

10/7/00 -- I received my repaired radio with the improved electronics yesterday and installed it today. After installing and grounding the case normally, I took the car for a good test spin for several blocks in the surrounding area and everything performed beautifully, exceeding my expectations and hopes. I haven't tried the AM tuner yet, but the FM sounds far superior to my ears and vastly easier to tune. This is a 100% improvement.

When I first powered the unit on, I was concerned because I could hear nothing... Then, I remembered the new muting circuit on the FM band, raised my attenae mast and started tuning around.

I can tell an immediate difference in the output. The bass is much stronger and cleaner. The output is simply better defined and more powerful. The audio quality of the FM audio now closely matches the CD output, which is very nice.

I had a car many years ago -- a Sterling. The best thing about it was the radio, which sounded fantastic and had what I call a very "forgiving" FM tuning section, incorporating some kind of circuitry that made even marginal-quality music stations sound first rate. The new FM circuit on this board reminds me of that quality.

Besides the static between stations pleasantly absent now, actually tuning in a station is SO MUCH EASIER. No longer to I need to have fingertip movements with micrometer-type precision.

Of course, I've only driven 5 miles or so with the new setup, but I'm very hopeful that this time, the fix is permanent. It's frustrating to realize finally that my wiring was NOT the problem, but also a great relief. Gary E. Tayman is a class act and a gentleman to work with. He also has the benefit of experience with Triumph radios now, which will make YOUR conversion a lot smoother than mine was. I highly recommend Gary to others that are looking to convert their stock radios to something much more exciting. Just make sure you get that "stereo 6" board from AAR, or better!

My own personal "Time Machine", circa 1967 has just pulled up for another trip filled with solid gold music and personality that just won't quit. Let's ride...

Please. Always wear your seatbelt while driving -- and that goes double for your children if you hav any.

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