I have an '85 Berlinetta with one of those swivel stereos. I love the different look it gives my car, unfortunately the cassette deck doesn't work. I was considering taking the cassette portion out and embedding an XM radio in its place. This would at least give me more function and maybe give it a more futuristic look, while allowing me to keep the swivel radio style. Here is a quick photoshop of my idea. Please lemme know what you think.

 

Their is nothing unfortunate about the tape deck dying. That shiznit was weak anyhow. You'd probably be like 1 of 10 people who still has a functioning tape deck, and even worse, you might feel compelled to keep the tape deck and try to fix it for the sake of restoration and nostalgia. The fact that your tape deck broke is a good thing.

Concerning the XM tuner, I think that would be a pretty smooth idea. Its not likely its just going to sit within that mount without some effort. I would first go to walmart, and check out the little kiosk in the electronics section where they have this thing open as a display model. Break out the measuring tape and start recording dimensions.
It would probably be better for you to build your own mount for this rather than relying on that 20 year old plastic to maintain it. just take advantage of the fact that their is already a precut hole in the console. Go grab some materials and get creative. Fab up a metal frame for it for starters, and then try your hand at fiberglass. I'd say it would be an interesting venture if nothing

 

Thanx so much for the feedback! I really like the idea about building a new housing. I have never done any metal or fiberglass fabrication. Can you suggest any good learning sources for beginners?

 

Easiset way out....

Get some sheetmetal from homedepot or lowes. Get the sheet metal scissors/cutter and go to town. Measure everything, draw a template on the sheetmetal and cut away. Bend over a straight edge and you are done my friend. 10mins. max. 20 if you wanna paint it.

 

If I was taking on this project, I'd overdo it like I always do in my quest for making things look as stock as possible.

What I would do is buy a portable XM piece that's got a totally flat front panel. I'd take it apart, and take the swivel radio apart. I'd mount the XM panel in place, and use bondo to smooth it into the stock swivel panel. After smoothing, paint and application of the silk-screened logos, you'd have a 100% stock looking XM swivel mount radio.

I've seen this done with ipod installs and the result is a perfectly seemless integration.

Another idea if you still wanted to retain the portability of the unit would be to smooth in the holder of the unit instead of the front panel of it, that way you could snap the unit into a stock looking piece on the swivel mount.

Know what I mean or did I just talk in circles?

 

I know what ya mean. I too really wanna keep everything looking as stock as possible, so this idea sounds really good. I'm going to look for another junked swivel stereo to experiment on, so I don't end up with a huge mess in my car during the process. Thanx for the ideas.

 

we might have one. i'll let you know.

 

That would be awesome! Thanx!

 

If theirs doesn't work out, I've got one I don't need too. I can't guarantee that it works, but you can at least use the housing for your project.

 

Thanx--I really appreciate it

 

Double post