stratmaster

iTrader: (1)

Guys I have the original stock delco cassette stereo system in my Bird, as I said I just purchased the car and I am using one of those cassette adapters that you can plug your MP3 player in or cd player with the 3.5mm input jack. Only thing is it seems like it doesn't want to accept the tape converter. It constantly keeps switching sides for a couple seconds then it just altogether cuts out and rejects the adapter. Do you think it's the cassette deck? Or is it the converter adapter? Is it maybe the head needs to be cleaned? Or if that is the case would it just sound bad but it would still play correctly?

I suppose I could just buy any old cassette from a garage sale or something just to test it, but I really like the stock delco deck because it has a cassette adapter to be able to play an MP3 or cd player.

Thanks,

Steve

-srs-

I hate those things. I threw three away before I broke down and bought an FM signal injector at Best Buy.

88gta_hiflyer

iTrader: (1)

It's the tape deck. I found a pristine pushbutton contol cassette radio in an 85 T/A at the junk yard that I NEEDED in my car. It did the same thing, just flipped back and forth then ejected the tape. The belts inside the tape deck probably don't have the proper tension. You can replace them easily or what I did was take the entire tape deck portion out of another gm radio and swap it in (I was pretty determined to make it work). Also, just FYI, you can buy original radios with the auxillery port to hook up your ipod on ebay. Might be a good option if you want to listen to MP3s but keep the look of the stock radio.

stratmaster

iTrader: (1)

Yeah problem is can you still find belts for tape decks anywhere? Also I don't see the delco stereo with aux jack for sale on Ebay?

88gta_hiflyer

iTrader: (1)

1. Yes you can buy the belts. Thats why I'm telling you it is possible to fix your radio. It's not that hard if you at least moderately mechanically inclined.

2. THere are a ton of radios on ebay with the aux input. I found a bunch by searching "firebird radio". Here is the first one that came up but there are other models too. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/89-93...fAudioQ5fVideo

-srs-

The last time I had to replace a belt, I got it at Radio Shack.

stratmaster

iTrader: (1)

Wow that's awesome! I think though I'd rather just stick with my current delco stereo if I can get it to work. I tried radio shack for the belts and they didn't have any. Is there a website I can order belts from? Maybe Ebay?

majobis

iTrader: (3)

I ran into the same problem last summer. Instead of paying over $100 for a refurbished radio with a drilled hole input jack like on Ebay, I brought it to a local electronics shop. After looking at the Ebay ads, he told me that he could hardwire the input jack to the back of the radio and could hide the input under the dash. It cost me $50 bucks, which included the input piece as well as the stereo cable running between the input and the mp3 player output.

Regarding the cassette playing, mine did the same thing. He opened it up and showed me how the belts had started slipping based on age. I tried 5 Radio Shack stores as well as online; no luck.

I then called GM, who told me that in the 80's, their main manufacturer of the Delco cassette players was Blaupunkt. I called Blaupunkt and pretty much got laughed at for two reasons: their stock of belts was depleted over 10 years ago and because I wanted a cassette player as my main form of music entertainment in the car.

My suggestion: go to the junkyard. Those radios aren't exclusive to Camaro's. They can be found in Buicks, Oldsmobiles and other Chevy's. Keep in mind that if the cassette players have ever been used, wear will obviously be present on the belts, as well as possible loose tensions.

88gta_hiflyer

iTrader: (1)

I also went to the junk yard looking for belts when I was fixing mine. I walked out with a handful of extra belts and a radio from an 87 cadillac for $10. I ended up swapping out the entire blauplunk tape deck out of the cadilac radio and it worked perfectly.

Majobis it sounds like you got an awesome deal from the electronics shop. Wish there was somewhere like that around here. I checked with three local shops that specialize in factory car audio and the lowest quote I got was $200 to replace the belts and clean the unit. I can't imagine what they would have charged to add an auxillery jack. All the shops had the Blauplunkt belts in stock though. Long story short I basically ended up telling the shops where to stick it and learned how to fix radios.

n0mad

i have the same radio as you and i bought a radioshack tape converter with the 3.5 jack for my ipod. it sucked first the tape deck would constantly reject the tape and when i did get it to work i had to crank up the radio volume to max and also my ipod volume to max just to hear my music and a medium low level that was just embarrasing ( i like loud music). i had an older tape converter that i got from best buy a couple years ago and decided to give that one a try. it sometimes gets rejected but the audio is perfect. i just put my ipod at 3/4ths volume and use the radio volume controll and it works perfectly. moral is radioshack is cheap your gonna get what u payed for. the fm transmitters are nice if u can afford them 80-100.

glock

http://kenselectronics.com/lists/belts.htm scroll half way down ....................Many Chrysler & Honda Autosound Cassette Players use 16" 1407-459 rubber belt.
Many Ford Autosound Cassette Players use 15" 1425-91 rubber belt.
'87 Lincoln Ford Autosound uses SCQ6.0 & SCX9.5 rubber belts
GM/Delco Autosound Cassette Players 1980 thru mid-1990's come in 4 styles.
(1) Non-auto reverse models use 7.4" belt 1407-161.
(2) Auto reverse Fijitsu 3 (Mechanical) Button Mechanisms use 8.6" belt 1425-07.
(3) Auto reverse Blaupunkt 4-button Mechanisms use 2 belts: 4.9" 1407-478 & 9.2" 1425-58.
(4)Pioneer (88 up) and Alpine Mechanisms (91 up) have electronic switch buttons use 9.2" belt 1425-58.