Guys - just wanted to let yall know about something Im working on. I took a non-working 68 AM radio and am making it into a 'commander' center. I've refurbished the outside, got the scratches out of the dial window, repainted etc etc. I've removed the electronics from it and repaired the internal mchanical workings. Here's where it gets good:
I took the power / volume switch apart and reworked it. It is now an On/On switch, which will not only turn on the AM radios light, but also turn on the CD player located elsewhere. In addition, when the AM radio is turned on, it will also activate a linear actuator that drops down the removable faceplate of the CD player from behind the dash. When the AM radio is turned in the normal 'off' position, it actually reverses the drop down face plate, and retracts it. So basically, turn on the AM radio, the CD player turns on, the AM appears to be on (light) and the CD players face plate becomes visible. Turn the AM radio 'off" and the CD player turns off, as well as the face plate retracts.
Here's the other part of the 'command center' - one of the push button presets will activate a modern on/off switch to act as the kill switch (havent decided which way I want to 'kill' it yet, neutral safety / coil etc. The other remaining buttons are still up in the air. May not use them, but they could be used for a momentary switch or push button on/off.
Anyway, I just wanted to share to get some feedback from yall. I've been thinking about it for quite a while and finally got the on/off switch modified to work correctly. The rest should be a breaze - now to just finish the dang bodywork.
I've got some pics of the work so far, if anyone's interested. The thought also occured to me that if/when this works out right, I might launch a little side business doing it. Kinda neat if you ask me.
I took the power / volume switch apart and reworked it. It is now an On/On switch, which will not only turn on the AM radios light, but also turn on the CD player located elsewhere. In addition, when the AM radio is turned on, it will also activate a linear actuator that drops down the removable faceplate of the CD player from behind the dash. When the AM radio is turned in the normal 'off' position, it actually reverses the drop down face plate, and retracts it. So basically, turn on the AM radio, the CD player turns on, the AM appears to be on (light) and the CD players face plate becomes visible. Turn the AM radio 'off" and the CD player turns off, as well as the face plate retracts.
Here's the other part of the 'command center' - one of the push button presets will activate a modern on/off switch to act as the kill switch (havent decided which way I want to 'kill' it yet, neutral safety / coil etc. The other remaining buttons are still up in the air. May not use them, but they could be used for a momentary switch or push button on/off.
Anyway, I just wanted to share to get some feedback from yall. I've been thinking about it for quite a while and finally got the on/off switch modified to work correctly. The rest should be a breaze - now to just finish the dang bodywork.
I've got some pics of the work so far, if anyone's interested. The thought also occured to me that if/when this works out right, I might launch a little side business doing it. Kinda neat if you ask me.
