240 head unit factory upgrade

Same stereo sub-harness either way on most 240s/reaches to both spots top/bottom.

If I keep an '86+ 240 any length of time I usually move it down low doing the inevitable heater fan if I'm not too much of a skin flint to come off a metal surround/adapter for the lower position/want to go to any thought/effort to move it.

As you say, if you no care about additional gauges, as long as it's dim up top, it's not so bad.
Maybe this is nostalgia-trap/my lawn kind of thinking; I just want digital/electronics to be my slaves, not the other way around & don't think that's unreasonable as a demand/constraint?

Kjets On a Plane said:

Same stereo sub-harness either way on most 240s/reaches to both spots top/bottom.

Click to expand...

Very interesting! Thanks.


Yeah I'm not sure what gauges I would really need. I have the big tach, the small clock, and a volt meter. I totally feel you on not being a slave to devices and media. That's actually why I want the radio up top. Because it's easier to operate and I can spend less time interfacing with it. That and the space would be wasted otherwise.

Tough break.
I remember driving with Dad in his '96 Legend and it just had a giant volume knob and 'Bose' branded lol premium sound.
Had a button to advance the track/CD & volume control on the steering wheel with a giant volume knob on the dash & dim screen.
Seemed pretty intuitive.
In the day; load the trunk CD changer, have the 6-hour stint worth of book-on-tape/music for a road trip.

Or around town, IDK, you're going such little distance/doing so many small jobs, I mostly just keep the stereo off & try to hit 6x supply houses/industrial places (machine shops/whatever in the day/before developers hollowed out inner-SE industrial & you could hit 6 places in 1 hour), but maybe I'm too easily distracted/don't use the automobile in the way many do?
Just trying to think about where I'm going/get there safely/remember everything on the giant checklist?

Never driven to commute really, or more than 15 minutes at a time in the car/hauled heavy sketchy stuff.
Only for pleasure/road trips/don't need to mess with the thing much/low location is fine.

CR814 w/240 upper face plate if you can find one is probably for you; old skool green LCD, period correct, works with Volvo/Alpine external amp of your choosing (mostly finding one of those that's got enough heat sink/temp stable takes some doing).
Or has the volume knob exposed/minimal lighting or face cover and only the volume/track advance/wonderbar for radio/emergency tuning?

Yeah I don't have to think about much on my commute to and from work. I just roll the windows down and blast some cocteau twins. It's a proven formula that's worked for quite a while now :^)

That CR-814 looks really interesting. Looks like a nice vacuum-fluorescent display. Can I not attach my normal face plate to this radio? Also what's up with the loud knob? Is this like a loudness compensation control (boosts low and high freq's) or is this a control for a speed-compensated volume adjustment? Cool head unit.

^That's broadly correct.
I *think* it has the EQ output if you're that much of a hopeless vintage alpine/volvo branded factory audio dork.
I have the 240 graphic EQ that goes in the upper cubby and the face somewhere for the CR814 to mount it low down (tho that's kinda backwards ergonomically like you say...EQ probably in the lower cubby, stereo up top )

Cleanflametrap had a good few observations fixing volvo tape decks/volume pots etc.

I'm not fanatical about keeping things vintage and volvo, but I also don't see a reason to go with something else if the volvo stuff works well.

I may be interested in that cr814 face for the lower cubby... Don't go turning your house upside down looking for it because I'm still leaning towards going headless.

Deoxit works wonders for resurrecting potentiometers. I had a doofus moment and actually disassembled the monster of a power/volume pot for no apparent reason. You can just apply the chemical through the windows and work the wiper back and forth in most cases. Luckily it went back together fine :^)

https://i.imgur.com/064QWhd.jpg