I'll admit I'm somewhat old school. The first car I owned was a 1970 Chevy Malibu convertible with bucket seats and an AM radio. I've come a long way since then. One of the cars I'm driving now is a '92 Ford Taurus with countless dings and dents, but it gets me where I want to go. It came with its factory AM-FM radio and I thought I might upgrade it to play cassettes. That's right, cassettes. I've got hundreds of them, copied over the years from off the radio, from friends' vinyl LP's, and even some recorded live when I work with rock n' roll bands. Some think I'm hopelessly retro. But I also like to listen to new stuff too. It keeps this old soundman's ears fresh.
Well, I got Crutchfield to let me try out a CD-Cassette combo and report how it worked out. The Sanyo FXCD-550 is a single-box unit that contains AM and FM radio tuners, a CD player, and a cassette player. Best of all, it fits into the factory radio opening perfectly. Crutchfield's vehicle information as to what fits into which car was an essential starting point for this job. They didn't let me down.
Cassettes
Removing the old car stereo
Being fairly new to the car stereo field, for a successful installation I absolutely depended on Crutchfield's MasterSheet™ instructions and the kits and tools that came with the receiver. This included handles that snapped into place to remove the old radio. I have to admit this was somewhat of a struggle. Not because of my lack of skills but because time had seemed to glue the unwanted pieces together. But with perseverance and patience I got it out and even cleaned up the dash frame with some sandpaper and paint where I pried at it with a screwdriver. I was ready for the install.
Installing the FXCD-550
This part was a dream. Everything fell into place. Installation has 2 parts: wiring and the physical mounting of the new unit into the car. A supplied mounting sleeve holds the new receiver. After fitting it in the space, I only needed a screwdriver to bend a couple tabs to secure it. Wiring demanded another set of tools. Fortunately, the Crutchfield wiring harness adaptor comes with perfectly clear, well-illustrated and detailed custom instructions identifying every wire by color and function. They also tell you what tools you need to make the proper electrical connections. They recommend crimp connectors or soldering. Being skilled with a soldering iron, I opted for soldering and within just a few dozens of minutes the wiring was done and I plugged it all up. The new receiver was now integrated to the car's existing connections. I did not feel apprehensive in the least about shoving all the wires into the space behind the unit when I finally got it all positioned and snapped into place. And it powered-up and worked perfectly on the first try.
