am/fm radio

Hey Bill, I am good friends with Ed. We discussed re-making the Am/Fm radios with the Panasonic chassis. He has enough materials to do a limited run. He felt the timimg might be good considering what his first run units were bringing on E-bay. However, family and other business considerations were keeping him from doing it. I am attempting to have him re-consider again. If Custom Auto Sounds gets their units into production before Ed, he might never see the full potential of his profits. Besides, his were quality units. Kevin

Where do you know Ed from? He lives about 10 miles from me. Yes, he is very busy with work and family I guess.

Latest news on AM-FM reproduction radio for 65-66. Radio is listed in the newest NPD catalog. Retail price listed is 329.95. says "exact repo, modern internals, 200 watts, CD controller, 4 speaker pre-outs, seperate bass and treble, fader, manual tune. Exact nosepiece, dial, buttons and knobs. From the outside it looks like an original. LCD lights up when turned on. Aux inputs for iPod, MP3, satelite, CD changer etc." Bad news is that there are none available yet. Supposed to have been ready on March 1 but now another four to six weeks. That usually means six weeks minimum I have found. Just wanted you all to know the status. Photo on page 20 in the new NPD (2006 Edition) catalog that arrived here today.

To follow up on the previous post - -Custom Auto sound Rep told me Friday that availability would now probably be May 1. Will keep you all posted on developments.

John - I talked with one of the radio conversion company owners on Friday. He is familiar with the proposed new offering and told me that the new radios would be in the neighborhood of $300 and that they would not be as good as having an original radio converted to AM / FM. Just my 2 cents, but I believe him. I am going to have mine converted.

Of course, it will be more money by $100 - 150 plus I will likely have to have the bezel rechromed too.

Anyone have any new info on the availibility of the new AM/FM reproduction radio?

It's in the NPD catalog now. Don't know if they've shipped them yet, but you can see the post above for price.

Edited by - round2K on 04/19/2006 15:46:19

Take a look at E-Bay Item #4632550171. Looks to be an AM radio ('65 Comet per part number) that was converted to AM/FM. Very interesting!

Edited by - SHELB66 on 04/20/2006 01:20:51

Just checked with NPD on the reproduction radio this morning. According to the sales guy I talked to, they will not be getting these in for another 2 to 3 months.

Jack

Just wanted to let all of you know that the AM/FM repro from Custom Auto Sound made it to my house. Have it installed, along with a set of Ken Harrison dash replacement speakers. The fit is nice, little skill is required to install it other than bending an included length of strap to serve as a rear mount much as the original radio had (the original will not work since the repro is a little bit shorter). Ran wires to the rear for a set of removeable speakers (this is a 65 fastback), and to the kick panel area if I ever want to incorporate the newer kick panels with the built in speakers. I have yet to try the input feature for the CD, the Ipod, or the XM but have no reason to think that feature would not work. The sound is not the greatest but not the worst either. there are jacks for an amp and a serious listener would want to invest in that and some higher quality speakers than I used. When installed it looks very much like the real thing. An informed and experienced judge or mustang nut would be hard pressed to tell this is a reproduction once it is installed! The reproduction radio does not have any pushbutton presets since the pushbuttons are used for CD functions if you add that feature. This is a disadvantage but I can live with it. So far I am happy with the looks and can live with the sound. Let it play all day today in the shop just to make sure that all was OK. It has been a year since I ordered this, may be a record for a back order? The AM original radio I had was very pretty but had only played for a total of about three minutes in the last 20 years, each time coming on loudly when I least expected it, causing me to nearly jump out of the window and than going back to sleep for five or six more years. I can finally listen to the oldies when I use this car.

Hi Guys,

I received my repro AM/FM radio and I can say I'm impressed. Other then the buttons being used for a CD changer, I can say I can live with that considering the originals are way too expensive. I can only bench test it cause the stang is still in 4000 pieces. It played very good and I tested my mini disc player with the AUX function and it sounded very good. The box contained the RCA cable to hook up an ipod, MD player or CD player. I may put it in the dash and take a picture for posting.

Dave V.

I just finished installing the Custom Autosound 66 replica AM/FM radio in my K. Very straight forward install and it does actually sound very good for what it is. I am using 6 x 9's in the rear and a Ken Harrison 2 speaker setup in the dash and I am overall very pleased - my Ipod actually sounds a bit better than the radio, is easy to plug in and is a nice feature to have. I am very happy with the appearance, very nice chrome and overall detail and looks nice in the dash. Overall, very pleased with the unit - now we will see how long everything works!

Jack