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Mon Feb 27, 2006 5:12 pm

my aftermarket cd/radio seems to be to long to fit properly in the stock hole... the antenna comes straight out the back and has to bend upwards to fit because it hits something (heater, i think), causing the whole unit to (very slightly) tilt forward... this also means it never snaps into place like it did in my 71...

does anyone have any solutions for a new deck location so that i can still access it when i am driving?

or, does anyone know where i can find a 90 degree antenna plug?

Mon Feb 27, 2006 6:45 pm

If you take off the padded portion you can unscrew the internal radio bracket, it frees up a bit of space behind the whole affair.

Cheers,
james

Mon Feb 27, 2006 7:13 pm

thanks, but it wasnt in there when i started... so i put the radio bracket that came with the cd player in there, then took it out because of the size issue. the whole thing is just too long for the space if i have the antenna in, right now i only play cd's because it crimped my antenna cable coming out the back of the deck...

i wish i had a picture to describe what is happening... :|

i have never had this issue with installing a cd/tape player before... just looking for some creative installation ideas i suppose...

Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:48 pm

The antenna that came when I ordered the 'original' antenna from bus depot had the 90° on the end. It is a true joy to replace the antenna. make sure you put some string on the old one when you pull it out so you can pull the new one in.

The bracket is kind of deceptive. It is kind of an L shape the screws to the underside of the dash and then has a rubber plug that the screw wedges into from the old radio. Mine would not fully lock into position until I removed this part. If you look into the hole you should see this part. Once you remve it, then the next obstruction is the heaterbox. Personally, I found this out when I removed the dash to put on a newer black part to replace the cracking brown one.

Good Luck,
James

Tue Feb 28, 2006 11:01 am

Dogpilot wrote: The antenna that came when I ordered the 'original' antenna from bus depot had the 90° on the end. It is a true joy to replace the antenna. make sure you put some string on the old one when you pull it out so you can pull the new one in.

The bracket is kind of deceptive. It is kind of an L shape the screws to the underside of the dash and then has a rubber plug that the screw wedges into from the old radio. Mine would not fully lock into position until I removed this part. If you look into the hole you should see this part. Once you remve it, then the next obstruction is the heaterbox. Personally, I found this out when I removed the dash to put on a newer black part to replace the cracking brown one.

Good Luck,
James

I just replaced my antenna this past weekend. I didn't realize at first that you pull it from the outside :roll: behind the head light. My antenna (from Cip1) didn't come with that extension with the 90 deg. angle. luckily the old antenna had it and it was still good.

Tue Feb 28, 2006 2:37 pm

I bet that like radio shack would have the adapter. And yes I had to fight with my aftermarket Kenwood as well, I pushed REALLY hard to get it on there, if the clips on the cage ever failed, it would probably fly out of the dash :D

Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:11 pm

This is what the useless bracket that screws into the dash and keeps the radio from seating (at least in my case).

Tue Feb 28, 2006 7:25 pm

When i replaced the radio in my 86, i found that it was realy tight. almost didnt fit. When i looked everything over i noticed that it was a combination of the bracket dogpilot posted a picture of and that on my particular radio where the plugs go into the back they go in on the bottom of the back panel. Had they been tword the top of the back pannel it would have cleared much easier. I bent the bracket out of the way, and dented in the heaterbox in just a little where the plug on my radio was hitting it and it went in

Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:17 pm

i got a chance last night (in the freezing cold) to look in there and see what else i could do to make it work... after about 5 minutes of looking around, i noticed that i was getting scratched pretty badly by some dumb metal shards attached to the underside of my dash... i then realized that the sharp thing must be the remnants of the original radio bracket. they seem to be attached to the dashboard right behind the ash tray... looks like someone just bent it until it broke off, so now i have two very jagged things poking me every time i try to work on/ around my radio :?

does this match the location of the attachment points of said radio bracket? if so, they dont seem to be hindering my current radio in anyway... if not, where is my radio bracket? either way, i think denting the heaterbox, so long as it doesn't cause any damage to the unit :roll: would fit best into my budget of $0.

thanks-

Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:04 pm

Ken,

Thats probly the remmanants of the bracket. The screws go up through the metal of the dash, but under the padded part. To get it off you would really have to take the dash off to take off the padded part. The alternate way would be to use a large long screwdriver and a hammer to bend the pointy parts forward tword the nose and out of harms way. Third alternate is a dremal with a cutting wheel to grind off the screws and pull it out (wear goggles).

Cheers,
james

Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:34 pm

Cant you just pop the whole ashtray out and look down at the problem ?

Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:02 am

DrDarby wrote: Cant you just pop the whole ashtray out and look down at the problem ?

yep, thats what i have been doing.

dogpilot- i think i will try the dremal idea. good thinking.

Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:29 pm

ken mitchell wrote: my aftermarket cd/radio seems to be to long to fit properly in the stock hole... the antenna comes straight out the back and has to bend upwards to fit because it hits something (heater, i think), causing the whole unit to (very slightly) tilt forward... this also means it never snaps into place like it did in my 71...

does anyone have any solutions for a new deck location so that i can still access it when i am driving?

or, does anyone know where i can find a 90 degree antenna plug?

Curious, how deep is your cd radio? The part that fits behind the dash. I wonder what the "maximum" depth can be.

I just purchased a used VW Cassette radio from a 2001 Jetta and wonder if it will be too deep. Just curious what the maximum dept can be. My VW radio has an antenna connector on the back also.

Mine is about 6.5 inches from the faceplate to the end of the antenna connector. Is there enough space in the vanagon dash to handle this?

tj

Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:54 pm

i will try and find out. i will check this weekend.

Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:42 pm

The size of the radio is a standard thing. They're all about the same so long as they're Din sized and not the din and a half size used in GMs and some Chryslers or the double din size that seems to be used in later Ford stuff. The cable location is a likely problem. I think the real problem from the bracket in the back of the radio is that they all seem to have been bent out of the original position. On the factory unit from my '89 there was a rubber peg that screwed onto the back of the radio with a stud. This peg fit into the hole in the bracket. I even trasfered the peg to my aftermarket alpine. I had no touble with installation. I guess if the bracket has been altered you'd need to move/remove it. Otherwise, it helps hold the thing secure.

Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:08 pm

I purchased my CD player from crutchfield and they told me there was only one model that would fit my '89 vanagon because it was a little shorter than most head units. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-TOzFvYU1grG/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=300&I=130DEH2800

Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:47 pm

From what I have seen, the stock Vanagon radios were about 6" long. Other DIN radios are longer, like 6.5". The late 90s and early 2000s VW radio I got from a Jetta was 6.5". Too long. It would probably not fit as the antenna would not plug in at the bottom and the radio would tilt forward if it did.

tj