Dear fellow listers,
I crossed an exciting milestone today that I just have to share with the
group because I'm so excited by it. A few months ago, I purchased an old,
banged up Triumph radio -- a specific model that I was looking for and know
for a fact that they were dealer-installed as an option on early '67
Spitfires. They're fairly hard to come by.
As soon as I cleaned the spider's nest out of the dial, I shipped the radio
to Tayman Electronics in Florida. I saw their website on the Internet and
believed that they could give me exactly what I was looking for -- a way to
retain the stock look and operation of my old radio, but with new
electronics added to the inside that give the radio FM stereo and CD changer
capabilities. I'm very happy to report that Gary Tayman did excellent work
and his follow-up after the sale has been extraordinary. I highly recommend
his services and have received no special consideration for this
endorsement. I'm just flat-out impressed that he's able to take an old AM
radio, retain the use of all the stock controls, including the pushbutton
presets -- and allow me to fulfill my fantasy that is the whole point behind
my project: To create a virtual "time machine".
Elsewhere on the Internet, I was able to track down an hour-long aircheck of
my all-time favorite radio personality -- the very man who inspired me to
become one years later -- The Real Don Steele. Recorded in 1968, BOSS radio
KHJ with Steele at the helm brings great memories while driving that '67
Spitfire. I was just out driving around, trying out the installation, with
the biggest grin on my face. I was listening to songs that I remembered,
but you never hear anymore because they never charted that highly. I
enjoyed the Rocal Crown "Mad, Mad, Mad, Mac cola" commercials sung by Dino,
Desi and Billy (!), the Olympia beer commercials -- and of course the
electrifying Don Steele. The rest of the CD magazine is filled with late
'50's to late '60's music.
I can't wait to park my car at Triumphfest this fall, with the sounds of a
33-year-old radio station, in its' heyday, piping through the speakers.
Which brings me to my question for the list. The PO had some small speakers
with enclosures that were screwed into the rear cockpit panel. I'd like to
replace them. I was hoping to get some suggestions for great sounding
speakers and some creative places for mounting them. Oh, I suppose I could
go ahead and cut holes in the rear panel where he had the other boxes
attached, but not if I can't come up with a good speaker to put in them that
can handle 50 watts RMS without splattering all over the place. For now, I
have some old Bose 201 bookshelf speakers propped back there, but that's
just temporary.
The new "stealth" radio includes line outputs, which I may use in
conjunction with a small, powered subwoofer which I'll place in the boot.
The most important aspect of the speakers that I need to mount is that they
can handle the power. I've got some good sounding Polk speakers in my '87
Maxima which I'm considering "borrowing" for this project. But if anyone
else has already "been there, done that" insofar as installing quality sound
is concerned, I'm all ears.
BTW, details of this project are available for anyone interested at
www.ohms.com/spitfire/radio.shtml
Thanks!
Best wishes,
Jeff in San Diego
'67 RHD Spitfire Mk3 aka "Mrs. Jones"
Jeff's Classic '67 Spitfire Mk3 site
http://www.ohms.com/spitfire/spitfire.shtml
home of the NEW Totally Triumph Auction
"By Triumph enthusiasts, for Triumph enthusiasts"
http://www.ohms.com/cgi-bin/TRauction.cgi
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