Looking for advice on new head unit and replacing dashboard speakers

[BerlinettaBoy]

Hey, 

I am now the proud owner of a 1985 Manta Berlinetta 1.8s! Its a lovely car and in good condition for the age.

Its still got the original head unit, which I want to change to something a bit more useful in this modern age, something Like this

From my research the head units in Mantas need to be shallow depth, so that one should fit. Has anyone fitted one of these themselves?

If so what cable connectors did you need?

(Obviously I will be keeping the original stereo somewhere safe, for those who prefer the original features like this)

 

I also noticed the speakers in the dashboard are really not great, pretty sure the speaker on my phone is better. Has anyone got experience upgrading these? Can you do it from where you take the head unit out or does the dashboard need to come off?

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by BerlinettaBoy

[Rick-Manta]

You can fit larger/full DIN stereos, as Mantas were supplied with original cassette players. Yours, if original, should have a stereo extender on it and the unit would poke out further than the ashtray lid. Obviously those shallow ones are a much neater finish and give you all the modern connectivity and such.

The dash speakers is actually a single dash speaker, that I'm pretty sure is the same size/type as the two rear speakers. I'm no expert on such matters, but I'd expect a small pair of modern speakers could be adapted to fit on a custom bracket that's cut to be the same shape as the original, but the heater ducts would be in the way. Back in the 90s, a lot of people chopped up the door cards for speakers, but obviously avoid this on what's now an appreciating classic car.

As for wiring, you're not going to find a harness adapter for a manta these days, so will likely have to splice into whatever is supplied with your new stereo, which should be simple enough if you use a terminal block.

[Jessopia74]

1 hour ago, BerlinettaBoy said:

Hey, 

I am now the proud owner of a 1985 Manta Berlinetta 1.8s! Its a lovely car and in good condition for the age.

Its still got the original head unit, which I want to change to something a bit more useful in this modern age, something Like this

From my research the head units in Mantas need to be shallow depth, so that one should fit. Has anyone fitted one of these themselves?

If so what cable connectors did you need?

(Obviously I will be keeping the original stereo somewhere safe, for those who prefer the original features like this)

 

I also noticed the speakers in the dashboard are really not great, pretty sure the speaker on my phone is better. Has anyone got experience upgrading these? Can you do it from where you take the head unit out or does the dashboard need to come off?

 

That’s a decent unit tbh, and will fit fine. A Blaupunkt was something I saved for for when I was 18 for my Manta in the 90’s, it was like 3/4 depth of normal radios but a bit more money that the usual Panasonic. To be fair it was probably a better head unit, but it was just not quite as visually fancy lol. 

[BerlinettaBoy]

34 minutes ago, Rick-Manta said:

You can fit larger/full DIN stereos, as Mantas were supplied with original cassette players. Yours, if original, should have a stereo extender on it and the unit would poke out further than the ashtray lid. Obviously those shallow ones are a much neater finish and give you all the modern connectivity and such.

The dash speakers is actually a single dash speaker, that I'm pretty sure is the same size/type as the two rear speakers. I'm no expert on such matters, but I'd expect a small pair of modern speakers could be adapted to fit on a custom bracket that's cut to be the same shape as the original, but the heater ducts would be in the way. Back in the 90s, a lot of people chopped up the door cards for speakers, but obviously avoid this on what's now an appreciating classic car.

As for wiring, you're not going to find a harness adapter for a manta these days, so will likely have to splice into whatever is supplied with your new stereo, which should be simple enough if you use a terminal block.

Thanks for the advice Rick,

Ok I'll have a look to see how accessible the speakers are when I remove the stereo. Do you know if I would need to remove the dashboard? And if so are there any resources to show how, I've searched YouTube already but to no avail.

 

I might have to get that professionally fitted, I've no idea which wires would connect to which. Unless it's all colour coded??

I would like to do as much of the work I can myself, im pretty handy and it will save a lot.

 

Eventually I'm going to have to do the Renault clio sunroof install as the current roof has definitely leaked in the past and is non functional.

If I do that I'll replace the lining and run some speaker cables to the back underneath the lining. As far as I can see there are no other speakers fitted apart from those in the dash, or maybe I'm being stupid.

I 100% agree about trying to keep it as original as possible though, it's a balancing act between a more comfortable driving experience, and preserving the car as well as other factors.

Any modifications I make(if at all), like changing the head unit, or adding a couple speakers I would try to do in a way that won't impact the fabric of the car.

15 minutes ago, Jessopia74 said:

That’s a decent unit tbh, and will fit fine. A Blaupunkt was something I saved for for when I was 18 for my Manta in the 90’s, it was like 3/4 depth of normal radios but a bit more money that the usual Panasonic. To be fair it was probably a better head unit, but it was just not quite as visually fancy lol. 

Thanks, yeah I'm hoping it will fit well with the retro interior. Looking forward to getting it done

[Jessopia74]

If you take the leap with it, been Amazon at least you know it is easy to send back. But let us know what you think for sure 

[Vince]

To change the front speaker it's a dash out job. It's bolted the the dash via the heater vent bolt.

[Scott Boyd]

As per the picture above, I put a couple of smaller speakers on a bracket in place of that big oval speaker. Bracket is just that flat bar with elongated holes, easy to trim to size to hold both the speakers and attach to underside of the dash as per the original. Probably losing much of the stereo effect, having left and right right next to each other, but sounds okay 🙂 

My stereo is one of those cheap chinese retro looking units, very short (no CD), does radio, mp3 via usb or sd card, and bluetooth include phone answering. Cheerful enough wee unit, about £20 on ebay!

[cam.in.head]

as mentioned above there are various options depending on what you want ,how much you can do yourself or trust to someone else to fit. ( not any of the fast fit centres !)

as mentioned ,to replace the centre speaker correctly is a dash out job. this means removing the complete (2parts) lower section and then the instruments and then the upper section.

you MIGHT be able to physically access the speaker with just the lower section out but it will be very tricky because thedash vents will be in the way and as mentioned its secured with a centre bolt that goes behind a mounting anyway !.

on mine i replaced the centre single speaker with a pair of tweeters ,fitted a pair of mid range to the kick panels and the bass ones in the rear .( shelf on a saloon and on a baffle in the side sections of the parcel shelf on my hatch.) 

my head unit is a blaupunkt san diego radio casette with boot cd changer from a 90's carlton. i personally dont need usb or any other fancy modern connectivity so thats fine for me and sounds great. the original units and speakers were never very good to start with and used to suffer from cracked capstan wheels and not very good amps.

[Moonmonkey]

I got one of these and Bluetooth it to my iphone, so you get DAB and your music library off your phone

Obviously not as good as a new head unit, and you still have the original 3 speaker set up.

The tape deck mechanism whirrs a bit and you can’t charge it while it in the cassette deck but it’s cheap, and is ok if you turn the volume up 🙂. I think they do a wired one for about £5 as well

 

[®evo03]

Haven't tried it yet, buy I was going to keep original head unit in place, and fit a modern in glove box. Don't need glove storage 🤣.

I came across a few Fiat Puntos, in a breakers, basically new cars with engine issues. This was a few yes ago.

Speakers fitted rear housings perfectly, and fitted two upfront. 4x Blaupunkt speakers for £10. Plus all cables. 😎

 

[Mickfrad]

I only removed lower section of dash and pulled vent pipes off to get access. Bit fiddly but only one bolt holding the speaker in place. I fitted two smaller speakers mounted on wood in place of the original. Not a straightforward swop but an improvement over the knackered old one. 

you can see the original mounting bracket with the tangs and where it bolts up.

 

 

think these were 4” speakers and as cam in head says tweeters would work well.

I happened to have these as they came out of an mx5 headrest, So made them fit. 

[BerlinettaBoy]

3 hours ago, Mickfrad said:

I only removed lower section of dash and pulled vent pipes off to get access. Bit fiddly but only one bolt holding the speaker in place. I fitted two smaller speakers mounted on wood in place of the original. Not a straightforward swop but an improvement over the knackered old one. 

you can see the original mounting bracket with the tangs and where it bolts up.

 

 

think these were 4” speakers and as cam in head says tweeters would work well.

I happened to have these as they came out of an mx5 headrest, So made them fit. 

Brilliant! I think this is the way to go!

Thankyou so much for the information and pictures.

 

When you say the remove the lower dash, is this area around the stereo and clock?

I'm trying to upload pictures but for some reason it's not accepting the url(I'm using imgbb.com, maybe they are no good)

 

Anyway, I really appreciate your help

7 hours ago, Moonmonkey said:

I got one of these and Bluetooth it to my iphone, so you get DAB and your music library off your phone

Obviously not as good as a new head unit, and you still have the original 3 speaker set up.

The tape deck mechanism whirrs a bit and you can’t charge it while it in the cassette deck but it’s cheap, and is ok if you turn the volume up 🙂. I think they do a wired one for about £5 as well

 

I used to use these back in the day(albeit with a jack not a Bluetooth) and always found the cassette audio playback just not up to my liking. Didn't matter in a hyunadi pony, but the Manta deserves better 😅

8 hours ago, cam.in.head said:

as mentioned above there are various options depending on what you want ,how much you can do yourself or trust to someone else to fit. ( not any of the fast fit centres !)

as mentioned ,to replace the centre speaker correctly is a dash out job. this means removing the complete (2parts) lower section and then the instruments and then the upper section.

you MIGHT be able to physically access the speaker with just the lower section out but it will be very tricky because thedash vents will be in the way and as mentioned its secured with a centre bolt that goes behind a mounting anyway !.

on mine i replaced the centre single speaker with a pair of tweeters ,fitted a pair of mid range to the kick panels and the bass ones in the rear .( shelf on a saloon and on a baffle in the side sections of the parcel shelf on my hatch.) 

my head unit is a blaupunkt san diego radio casette with boot cd changer from a 90's carlton. i personally dont need usb or any other fancy modern connectivity so thats fine for me and sounds great. the original units and speakers were never very good to start with and used to suffer from cracked capstan wheels and not very good amps.

Ok, thanks for the info. I'm going to try doing it just by removing the lower section first. Would like to avoid removing the main dash incase I damage it in someway or get stuck putting it back on!

 

When removing the lower dash do you need to remove any bolts for that too? Where abouts would you pry it up from?

11 hours ago, Vince said:

To change the front speaker it's a dash out job. It's bolted the the dash via the heater vent bolt.

Great, thanks for showing that, that's going to give me a much better idea of what I'm working with 🙏

[Mickfrad]

It was a while ago I did mine, the more you can get out of the way the better. I definitely had the glove box off and the centre piece with the clock and radio in. The lower half of the dash is held in by screws. Just go steady as plastic can become brittle with age. 

[Jonathan Pounsett]

I had to take my dash out the other day and when trying to remove the centre fixing of the dash top I accidentally undid the vent bolt shown in @Vince’s photo and the speaker fell out! I’m sure you could get it back in without removing the dash top but it will be very fiddly. Tidy wiring would help - if it’s a mess it will give you kick ache but you’ll probably still manage to get it in.

[611]

Kept the old crap period stereo in mine and set it so it just lights up when the lights are on and fitted one of these in place of the cigarette light as don't really need that any more 🙂

https://www.theopelproject.com/period-radio-or-new/

 

Andy

[BerlinettaBoy]

12 minutes ago, 611 said:

Kept the old crap period stereo in mine and set it so it just lights up when the lights are on and fitted one of these in place of the cigarette light as don't really need that any more 🙂

https://www.theopelproject.com/period-radio-or-new/

 

Andy

Ohh, interesting. I don't seem to have a cigarette lighter in mine, hence wanting a unit with USB so I can charge my phone too.

2 hours ago, Mickfrad said:

It was a while ago I did mine, the more you can get out of the way the better. I definitely had the glove box off and the centre piece with the clock and radio in. The lower half of the dash is held in by screws. Just go steady as plastic can become brittle with age. 

I've just ordered a trim(and stereo) removal kit, got a sweet prime day deal! 

Trim removal kit

[BerlinettaBoy]

Does anyone know why I can't upload image from URL?

 

Everytime I put the URL in the insert image field it won't recognise it.

Tried various images, nothing seems to work. I am trying to post from my phone if that makes any difference.

[Jessopia74]

2 hours ago, BerlinettaBoy said:

Does anyone know why I can't upload image from URL?

 

Everytime I put the URL in the insert image field it won't recognise it.

Tried various images, nothing seems to work. I am trying to post from my phone if that makes any difference.

It’s for club members adding images 

[BerlinettaBoy]

8 hours ago, Jessopia74 said:

It’s for club members adding images 

Ahh I see, that will be why then!

[611]

12 hours ago, BerlinettaBoy said:

Ohh, interesting. I don't seem to have a cigarette lighter in mine, hence wanting a unit with USB so I can charge my phone too.

I've just ordered a trim(and stereo) removal kit, got a sweet prime day deal! 

Trim removal kit

I have a little USB socket in the glovebox that i can plug the phone in to charge up and it also shows the voltage which is handy to check if the battery is getting low.

[brockie1986]

 

If you upgrade the speakers front and back. Run them of a amplifier under the seat. Then have a rca jack of that to your phone.

Keeping the original stereo. Just for looks.

 

[cam.in.head]

the section with the fusecover pulls off then you can see a screw in the top of the aperture .and another one lower right bottom edge. right hand side of lower dash is now free to remove.its a bit fiddly around the fuses !

rest is all one piece. screw lower left bottom edge,a couple in glovebox at front top edge,one above clock,one above radio ,one below ashtray and one on a bracket type piece on the right.(this is why you removed other half of dash first.

this will all come out now with wires for clock ,cigarette lighter and radio .

ive never tried to acess the speaker from here but it seems that you can which makes it a hell of a lot easier.

[mepbowles]

I have a cheap Chinese "retro" looking one off eBay but it's quite shocking so I have an amp ready to go under one seat and an underseat subwoofer (a Kenwood KSC-SW11), ready to go under the other.

I'm not sure if this is a common thing and it could probably be removed with some ferrite noise reduction coils but if I'm charging my phone whilst playing through the headphone jack, you can hear the effect of the voltage fluctuations due to engine speed in the audio. Bluetooth is fine though 

[BerlinettaBoy]

On 13/07/2023 at 20:15, cam.in.head said:

the section with the fusecover pulls off then you can see a screw in the top of the aperture .and another one lower right bottom edge. right hand side of lower dash is now free to remove.its a bit fiddly around the fuses !

rest is all one piece. screw lower left bottom edge,a couple in glovebox at front top edge,one above clock,one above radio ,one below ashtray and one on a bracket type piece on the right.(this is why you removed other half of dash first.

this will all come out now with wires for clock ,cigarette lighter and radio .

ive never tried to acess the speaker from here but it seems that you can which makes it a hell of a lot easier.

Wow thanks cam, thats going to be really helpful when I come to do the job, I'm a lot more confident now, I have a walk through! And some great ideas!

 

I think I'm going to sign up for the club membership, I will likely have a few questions in the coming months and this community seems very active and helpful 👌

21 hours ago, mepbowles said:

I have a cheap Chinese "retro" looking one off eBay but it's quite shocking so I have an amp ready to go under one seat and an underseat subwoofer (a Kenwood KSC-SW11), ready to go under the other.

I'm not sure if this is a common thing and it could probably be removed with some ferrite noise reduction coils but if I'm charging my phone whilst playing through the headphone jack, you can hear the effect of the voltage fluctuations due to engine speed in the audio. Bluetooth is fine though 

Ooh sorry to hear that, I'm hoping the Blaupunkt one I've ordered will be all I need to run the speakers, the unit costs enough!

 

Thats super weird about audio interface, I've never heard of something like that 

[Jonathan Pounsett]

10 hours ago, BerlinettaBoy said:

Wow thanks cam, thats going to be really helpful when I come to do the job, I'm a lot more confident now, I have a walk through! And some great ideas!

 

I think I'm going to sign up for the club membership, I will likely have a few questions in the coming months and this community seems very active and helpful 👌

Ooh sorry to hear that, I'm hoping the Blaupunkt one I've ordered will be all I need to run the speakers, the unit costs enough!

 

Thats super weird about audio interface, I've never heard of something like that 

Definitely sign up. We need more members down south.