Radio, USB, Aux, Ipod and no Butchery!

[Obsessive]

Following on from my introduction post (http://www.u-ukhbc.co.uk/vbb/showthread.php?t=3172) I decided that I really should put this in the right category.

I have found what I believe to be a good solution to a difficult stereo dilemma.

The Fusion MS-RA200 is a Marine stereo with full Ipod and USB input and is smaller that the usual DIN head units. Whilst it is not as tall as the original the width is pretty good. I plugged the space with a clock/volt meter and a custom made panel.
There was no cutting of the original dash (so the old stereo could go back if need be)

Pictures are on my Website (http://vehiclesecurity.co.nz/blog/the-obsessive-beat).

Here's a link to the Fusion website (http://www.fusioncaraudio.co.nz/australia/marine-audio-2/stereo-units-15/msra200-135-product.aspx) that includes the spec, dimensions etc.
:D

[steveinjapan]

It looks like a very nice setup. I am almost wishing that my Gathers unit will crap out again.

Steve

[Obsessive]

Thanks, I'm stoked with it. David has given me to go ahead for the same set-up in his. I've had to take my dash apart again to use as a template!

[Juzzy]

Nice set up,its the best I've seen, That Red Beat on Trade Me in Auckland has a real hack job for a stereo. I saw your one on Trade me and wondered who brought it.
My Gathers is still going fine if it craps out I'll know where to come.
I have a Z Beat with the 9 speaks and 6 cd changer in the boot.
I just run a 8 GB Creative Zen sitting in the ashtray pluged into one of those cassette adaptors. Ipods are to big and bulky the Creative is short and squat.
There are great back country roads up here in the Rangitikei if you ever want to come up exploring let me know.
Anyway if you need I have pdf of service manual, parts and wiring also had my cam belt done here in Marton so let me no if you have any questions.

Fun driven
Juzzy

[Obsessive]

Thanks Juzzy,

Your right, that hack job on Trade me was a shocker. The grey carpet covering the gaps made me chuckle!

Here's a link for anyone wishing to see some sick Beat headunit porn! http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Honda/Beat/auction-324095878.htm

I have an old creative Zen which I rate quite highly. The only reason I got the Ipod was because I could hook it up to the stereo in my other car, having said that I actually use a USB stick in it as it's faster! I'll try the Zen with the new fusion head unit and see if it works.

I shall let you know if I head up your way.

Cheers,
Julian

[Obsessive]

OK the beat is now back together after the re-spray. Whilst it was away I took care of some of the interior details. USB port in the pocket behind the passenger seat may be over-kill but I can now lock my ipod inside it.

[Beatman]

Ha, I strongly suspect I am the one who bought the hack job off trade me!
They (whoever the terrorist who installed the stereo was) oversized the hole they cut so they covered the excess with the same carpet that they filled the double DIN gap with. Trust me, this was the best part of the install!

The trim they fitted around the headunit actually stuck out proud of the centre console, so as you moved your leg to work the clutch you would catch the edge. So straight away I was like "Thats gotta go".

Next we have the metal frame that the air con and stereo bolt to. Now this was news to me but a normal head deck won't fit as it is to narrow back there, so what did they do? Cut the offending metal out!
Now this in itself is not a bad idea. The whole setup is still plenty strong the only problem was the head unit was not bolted to anything. It was just kind of wedged in a gap with no space to move, not exactly professional.

But if that wasn't enough the worst is yet to come! This is the, lets say "wiring" I found between the new head unit and factory loom, ( which they cut the plug off ).

http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/2308/001xw.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/802/001xw.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

As if that wasn't enough the right hand dash speaker has had its two woofers replaced by pioneer tweeters? Plus both dash speakers were wired to just one front channel. Which appears to have killed at least one of the front channels.

I don't know that the photo does justice to how bad the wiring was. All I can say is a little bit of knowledge is more dangerous then no knowledge at all!
If you "think" you know what you are doing stop. You probably don't! Get the job done by a pro. Everytime an amature has touched this car they have only reduced its reliability and quality. The alarm, the spotlights the stereo all very badly done and were electrical problems ready to stop the car in its tracks at any time!

Anyhow during this restoration I have uncovered some very unconventional factory wiring (which I will explain in another thread) which doesn't appear to have been covered yet which explains why such a simple task as wiring a stereo has confused so many Beat owners in the past.

[steveinjapan]

You might get some info from looking at 1992-95 Honda Prelude install information at www.installdr.com. The connections are almost the same as for the Beat except for the AVC on pin H, and not using the power antenna on pin C. If this were my mess, I'd cut it back to the original harness and solder in a new prewired factory connector (the one for the Prelude will work). That will also give you some badly-needed extra length. Then you can get adaptor cables for your DIN head unit. Sorting out the front and rear speakers is easy, but I never had the 120-watt original head unit, so I don't know how the subwoofer stuff gets hooked up.

[Obsessive]

Let me guess, you have a red Beat that you got from Auckland.
That was on Trade Me for over a year!

Hell that wiring is shocking. If you need any wiring info then I'll do my best to help, I've done enough to my one now so have a reasonable idea (I install car security systems for a living). Good to see another Kiwi here :)

[Beatman]

Yep thats me.

I paid substantally less then asking price and scored a free Beat for parts. So all and all not a bad deal.
I bought it as a project car with the expectation that nearly everything will need replacing and a bunch of money would need to be thrown at it and my predictions so far have been bang on.

This is the attitude you need to have as a Beat owner. This is not the sought of car you buy unless you are prepared to throw money at it.
If you want a car thats low on maintanance costs buy a mainstream Honda. Of all the past owners of this car not one thought it might be a good idea to replace the fuel filter, even when its up to 150,000 kms?
Disgraceful! Cruelty to Beats!

I am proud to be able to rescue it before anyone did any more damage to it.
It will be restored to better then factory specs!

Thanks for the audio help. I am already halfway through fitting crimp connectors, I thought about using the loom from the other car for the factory plug but you need another harness to link Head to loom anyway so I thought I would cut out the extra and make the best of a bad situation.
Did you know a new standard size headunit weighs almost exactly half the weight of the factory double din unit? There is a 1.2 kg weight saving right off the bat!
The plug and wires that come with the new head unit are plenty long enough, my concerns were more around how the extra mystery wires worked so that I can use the factory audio wiring. I'm afraid if you dont have a AVC connection to the sub amp it might run at full or to low a volume?

While we are on the topic, this AVC wire must have a third connection back to something that tells it what revs the engine is doing?

[Obsessive]

The AVC wire is other wise known as a VSS wire (Vehicle Speed Sense) It simply increases the sound as the car goes faster (not rpm).

If you are not using the factory radio then be careful not to connect this wire up as it could damage the ECU.

My one (before I change the head unit) only had the front door speakers which would increase with the speed, I assume that the Sub (Which I don't have) would increase with the other speakers.

[Obsessive]

My marine stereo weighs even less then a normal din size unit as it has no CD mechanism :D

[Beatman]

Nice, I had a look at the marine audio side of things but it seemed a bit expensive, (bought my pioneer head unit for $200, 50Wx4) and seem to be a bit low on the power output even in comparison to a dated Beat unit, (30Wx4) I did like the idea of being it being water resistant but thats probably why they are only 16Wx4, to much heat being sealed?
We both have the right idea when it comes to music format though. I'm a old school CD kinda guy, but there aint no room in a beat for CDs! The new head unit is ipod/walkman compatable and I have a walkman mp3 player (very small), but your right I didn't need the CD player capability.
That AVS wire definately is used to control the sub amp as well cause I traced the wire to it.
So I assume it will work as normal ( using the volume of the door speakers to control its amplitude) and the AVS is an overide that won't make any difference unless its connected?

[Obsessive]

So I assume it will work as normal ( using the volume of the door speakers to control its amplitude) and the AVS is an overide that won't make any difference unless its connected?

Correct. Any after market stereo system will work fine without it

[TADO]

welcome to the board beatman :D
what an amazing amount of info for your first posts, can't wait to see your progress with the car. sounds like it's getting the love it deserves!

[Beatman]

Thanks very much, Hope I'm not ranting too much!

What can I say? The Beat is a special car and I want all the owners out there to have available to them the info needed to best look after them.

Once I unravel the evils perpetrated on my electrical system by previous owners I intend on getting the engine rebuilt and get to the bottom of why these motors run their course so quickly.

Part of the answer is sure to be the fact that because of the difficulty in getting to the engine they don't tend to get serviced as often or as throughly as they should.
The other part I suspect (as has been mentioned before) is to to with the health, heat and distribution of oil through the engine.
This may be a rare occasion where we can improve upon the factory Honda engineering.
For a start I'm looking at non stick coatings for the pistons, similar to what the Jazz uses on its pistons to reduce friction and reduce rotational losses.

I simply don't accept that we have to live with a smoky E07A. My DC2 has nearly 180kms on the clock, revs to 8500 has been driven by me like a terrorist for nearly 10 years and is completely smokeless!

Beatman tip #1 Change the oil and filter on used cars* at least every 5000km, This is common practice in the industry, and common sense on a car with a stratospheric rev limit.

*Used cars being defined as any car over 10 years old.