The 'E' Type Forum

Hi,
my husband has a 1974 E type and would like to fit a Dab/Am/FM stereo in it. I offered to find one for his birthday and I'm struggling. Can anyone offer any suggestions please?
Thank you in advance.

Hello Louberry, there are quite a few radios that will do the job, e.g. https://www.caraudiocentre.co.uk/produc ... -33241.htm
Can you say whether your husband will be happy to fit it or need to have done for him? Also a budget would help.
I've fitted a simple Pure DAB circa £70 bought from Halfords ( ) it does the job, BUT there's no way I'd ask them to fit it for me.
If you will need someone to fit it the cost will include their time and would your husband be happy to have just anyone pulling the centre section out to get to wiring?

Have a think of how you want to get the job done and maybe someone can recommend a local fitter.

Geoff

Thanks Geoff,

He has someone he trusts to fit it. He could probably do it himself though if needed. I don't really have a budget as I just want to make sure it's a good one and looks nice in the car. I think he wants one that looks more in keeping with the age of the car, I remember seeing someone at a stand on a car show we went to, I might just have to google them and also go and have a look in Halford's.

Thank you for your help,
Louise.

Louise, a quick search gave this: https://www.classiccarstereo.co.uk/

There are others around who deal in old car radios modernised to play DAB etc.
There have been comments on the forum, too.
Try a search here for "radio" and I'm sure you'll see some other ideas.

Good hunting

Geoff

Bear in mind you will need to fit a special DAB aerial as the conventional FM one will not work. They attach to the windscreen which may be an issue on the E-Type as the screen is so low. The driver will be looking straight at it!:

Thank you, I didn’t know about that issue. I’ll probably hacmve to speak to him about it before I spend over £300 on the one I’ve found!

You could try a converter: https://www.classiccarstereo.co.uk/dab/ ... er-module/

No idea how effective they are but worth a try for £20. I suspect it will worsen FM reception and will only pull in strong DAB signals. Make sure you buy a radio that is DAB+ not just DAB.

Just installed one of these FM/DAB - splitters and found it working fine.
FM-Reception was as good as before and DAB+ worked as it shall.
Thumb up from me.

Gfhug wrote: ↑

Mon May 14, 2018 12:15 pm

Louise, a quick search gave this: https://www.classiccarstereo.co.uk/

Geoff

Well, I have one of those in my E-type and despite much fiddling and fitting of the DAB adapter module, so far it is next to useless. I need to speak with them.

When first fitted (without adapter) it tuned FM fine but got no DAB from the rear mountes electric aerial.

The DAB adapter was fitted an I could tune in DAB stations at home but drive 15 mile down the road and get serious interference type output. On top of that it will not tune any FM stations.

Heuer wrote: ↑

Mon May 14, 2018 2:44 pm

No idea how effective they are but worth a try for £20. I suspect it will worsen FM reception and will only pull in strong DAB signals.

From my experience, I agree with David, not very effective. You need to use one of these, placed on the windscreen alongside your passenger A post.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pioneer-AN-D ... SwH~1agx1c

You can cover it with your redundant tax disc

Thanks for that John.

Have you used one of those?

Certainly looks more discrete than the equvalent offered by Classiccarstereo.co.uk.

Do you know - does the antenna part have to be horizontal or can it be vertical along side the A-post?

I contacted CCstereo this moorning and they are going to speak with the radio installer before coming back yo me.

I use a windscreen mounted with mine. It goes vertically. You get one in the box with many DAB+ radios these days. That one didn't have the greatest reception and I changed it and put in a ZEMEX DAB / DAB+ antenna which has been a big improvement. The best is always a body mounted aerial and a windshield mounted one will never be as good.

I've used the windscreen mounted antenna on two cars after trying and failing to get decent reception with the antenna adaptor types, in both cases sited vertically adjacent to the side windscreen pillar. Although it's not obvious until you get one, part of the adhesive film is an earth that has to be stuck to a metal frame.

Like Mark suggests, I get the best DAB reception in a car with a dedicated bee string antenna that cost around &70 with both FM and DAB amplifiers with individual outputs but it's not suitable styling wise for an E type in my view.

johnetype wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:05 pm

Like Mark suggests, I get the best DAB reception in a car with a dedicated bee string antenna that cost around &70 with both FM and DAB amplifiers with individual outputs but it's not suitable styling wise for an E type in my view.

Agreed

Thanks for advices, John & Mark.

Still waiting on feedback from Classiccarstereo. Not sure if we have their DAB separate antenna. But I will go for the ZEMEX one rather than the apparent Pioneer version which seems to be the same as many others on eBay...... assuming the Zemex will be better

Cheers

Have a look around on some of the forums. "good car DAB+ aerial" etc. etc. You should be able to get some recommendations for your exact requirements.

Hi...Auto radio manufacturers in the era all seemed to design their boards so they can be built out as single band or multi band. I have no faith that the Blaupukt ‘city’ name conveys any information at all, although Hamburgs of that generation tended to be AM only. Most Frankfurts for US delivery were AM/FM.

seo toronto

I dont know if the 74 has the same space problems as the Series One, but if it has, it is quite difficult to fit a standard sized radio in with more modern speakers.

I fitted a Retrosound radio, which has a much smaller body and therefore more room for the speakers, but still looks classic.






https://www.raysmith.co.uk/retro-car-au ... bble-black

Paul

paulsco wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:37 pm

I dont know if the 74 has the same space problems as the Series One, but if it has, it is quite difficult to fit a standard sized radio in with more modern speakers.

I fitted a Retrosound radio, which has a much smaller body and therefore more room for the speakers, but still looks classic.

https://www.raysmith.co.uk/retro-car-au ... bble-black

Paul

I have one of these as well. It does drain the battery if the car is left unused for long periods.

I have one of these as well. It does drain the battery if the car is left unused for long periods

Thanks Andrew, I didn't know that.

I like to isolate the battery when the car is not in use for a while, just in case.

It is a bit of a pain to reset the stations, but better than risking a possible fire.

I know this is unlikely, especially with new wiring, but I am paronoid with these old cars

Paul

Good morning, my ‘72 V12 2+2 has the speakers mounted low in the B pillar just behind the front seats. I expect this is also true for the roadster but not 100% sure.
Nick