Wanted - factory Cd player
In search of a factory cd player for my triple white....this will complete my interior restoration! They are really hard to come by, even if someone could point me in the right direction..that would be GREAT!
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Since the radio wasn't in the car that I just purchased I thought I would "upgrade" my car to a factory CD player from what should be in there, an AM/FM/Cassette stereo.
I decided that the Mustang version CD player is probably RARE and PRICY so I looked for another alternative.
Since I know that the Ford Explorers in LATE 1993 and all of 1994 had these in them I set out to find an Explorer with one in it this week while I am on vacation. I have heard about F-150s having these stereos in them and I was sure other vehicles did too so I started to check every Ford and Mercury from 1993 to about 1996 or so. I struck out on the Ford Explorers, BUT, I found one in a 1994/1995 Mercury Tracer station wagon, of all things.
I purchased the radio (AM/FM/Single CD Stereo) for $25.00 and since the radio doesn't have the place to mount the little change compartment below it I also purchased the "blank-off" change compartment out of a 1994/1995 Mustang thinking it looked similar to the Fox Body Mustang change compartment.
I had to repair a couple of wires on the power plug to the stereo in my car, but after the repair I plugged the new radio in, slid it into place in the console and then slid the 1994/1995 Mustang change compartment in under the CD player.
It isn't O.E.M., but it works.
Here is something that many may not know about Ford AM/FM/Cassette stereos, similar to the ones that the 1992 Feature convertibles and the ones that the older Fox Body Mustangs have in them. Aerostars, Cougars, Thunderbirds and F150s have this same stereo in them. IF you have a bad radio in your Mustang you can get one of these out of another Ford product, "POP" the bottom cover off of the radio out of the other Ford product, then "POP" the bottom cover from your bad Mustang stereo onto the replacement. VIOLA, you now have a new stereo in your Mustang!
The reason why I know is I have done this already. I replaced a sun-bleached AM/FM/Cassette stereo in a 1989 GT convertible that I gave my daughter for her birthday with a nice shiny new-like looking stereo out of an Aerostar.
Until I find a 1993 AM/FM/Cassette stereo in a Mustang in a wrecking yard somewhere I won't know if the bottom covers are the same from the Ford Factory single CD player and the AM/FM/Cassette stereo. I hope they are but until then I will keep my stereo modification/upgrade in my car.
I decided to do some additional investigating on my stereo installation in my newest purchase.
As I looked at a few factory Fox Body stereos and the two factory Ford single CD stereos from other vehicles that I have I found a few things out that I didn't know before. I had a brain-fart and started to think about how Ford uses all kinds of parts across different product lines. I then found a ruined Fox Body AM/FM/Cassette stereo in the U-Pull-It yard and got it for $10.00. I planned to possibly use the change compartment and bracket on it for an experiment. For $10.00 if my idea bombed out I wasn't out much money. I bought it and brought it home.
In comparing the later CD stereos to the parts Cassette stereo I found that the later model 1994/1995 Tracer stereo had no way to install the Fox Body Mustang change compartment bracket onto it. I grabbed the late 1993/1994 Explorer AM/FM/CD Player and looked it over. The top AND bottom covers on this unit has 5 holes in the each cover. I did a further "stare-and-compare" with an AM/FM/Cassette stereo with the Mustang change compartment bracket on it and the bracket (which is riveted to the cassette stereo bottom cover) has 5 rivets in it and they are spaced about the same distance apart and pattern as the holes in the Explorer CD stereo.
I drilled out the rivets in the cassette stereo bottom cover, pushed them out and removed the change compartment bracket off of the AM/FM/Cassette stereo.
I laid the change compartment bracket over the holes in the Explorer CD stereo cover and the 5 holes lined up perfectly!
The next day or so I stopped at a local mom & pop hardware store with the CD Player cover and change compartment bracket and found some SHORT 1/4" #6-32 low-profile allen head screws and some flat spring-steel-like threaded nuts that fit the screws for a total of $2.15.
I brought everything home and went to work on my experiment. I mated the CD Stereo cover and change compartment bracket up and pushed the screws through the cover from the radio side of the cover and up through the change compartment bracket and threaded the spring-steel nuts onto the screws. I tightened everything up and then installed the Explorer cover back onto the Tracer stereo. I installed the change compartment onto the bracket and it mated right up to the CD player (with the squared-off corners on the CD Player face). To me the pair looked absolutely fabulous, but I am partial to my handy-work too I guess.
I took the pair down to the car and slid them into place. The stereo and change compartment fit perfectly into the hole in the console! I can say thank you Ford for using the same change compartment on the Cassette and CD stereos, and thank you Lord for the idea!