<font face="Georgia">...then I wouldn't have bothered fitting a CD player today.
It all looked really promising. I had the CD player I'd removed from my caravan when I fitted a remote control stereo to it last year, and there are four speakers already fitted to S.H.I.T. (my car's new comedy name, 'coz it's a bit like K.I.T.T. but BL built it!). And there were a whole heap of wires ready and waiting in the centre console: 4 lots of speaker wires, a red, a black, a blue and a yellow. Should be simple enough then...
But it appears that at some point in the past (a long time ago, I'd say, going by the ancient looking speakers presently fitted), Stevie Wonder got drunk and decided to add to the standard 'Lucas, Prince of Darkness' electrical system:
Red = constant live
Black = constant live
Blue = live feed to dipped beam!
Yellow = apparently nothing!
Now, I can rewire a house in my sleep, but 12v DC makes me squeamish, so I took both necessary lives direct from the battery, and sent the earth directly back there too. I know the stereo isn't 'ignition switched', so I've gotta remember to turn it off, but it's a faceoff stereo and the car's got an Edrose roof, so I really should be removing the stereo front when I leave it anyway, so it's not really an issue. No room for the surround bezel, but it looks OK for now (it's a very plain looking black Panasonic item - I don't like 'flashy' looking stereos) - it's not as if it looks out of place amongst the stunning BL build quality and design touches[:D]
I bought a new aerial too (one of those fixed black things with a little coil spring half way up), but ran out of time, so the existing power aerial is still there for now (I really dislike power aerials!),
Needless to say, I shortened the mystery wires and insulated their ends[^] There are a few other issues with the wiring in the centre console; the lighter element appears to be knackered, and the thing next to it (instrument dimmer?) has had the majority of its wires cut and their ends taped up, but they're still there! I wonder how much a new loom is, and how easy it is to install?
Dale
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'64 Austin A60 pickup
'81 Triumph TR7 FHC
'87 Yamaha SRX-6
'88 Yamaha SRX-6
'98 Kawasaki ZX-7R
'98 Ford Maverick SWB
'04 Fiat Idea