Bluetooth Upgrade for Original Rover Radios

[balticretrofit]

Hi everyone,

I know many classic Rover owners prefer to keep the dashboard looking original, especially when the car still has its factory radio.

One option that works well is adding Bluetooth inside the original radio, so you can stream music from your phone without fitting a modern head unit or changing the look of the interior.

This can be done on many older factory radios, including Blaupunkt, Philips, Grundig, Radiomobile and other period units often found in classic British cars.

Curious what Rover owners think about this.

Would you rather keep the radio completely original, or is a hidden Bluetooth upgrade acceptable if nothing changes visually?

 

[DAK]

I did a complete conversion using an Aurora system for my old radio. The decision was easy as the old Blaupunkt radio did not work at all and I wanted to keep the original look.

 

[balticretrofit]

Fair enough, and I can see why you went that route. The important thing is keeping the interior looking right for the car.

 

[PeterZRH]

TBH modern blutooth speakers mean for me, I'm not bothering to add any audio to the interior

 

[Johnny The Fox]

I converted my own, using available parts from Amazon. Keeps the interior looking original.

 

[balticretrofit]

Latest project.. The biggest challenge was finding a way to make it work in true stereo, but we managed it.
Here's a video of the final testing with the top cover removed, so you can see how 1970s technology worked back in the day:

 

[Tor]

Before I properly arranged for BT streaming in my previous modern (a BMW E61), I had a BT-to-FM adapter that lived in the 12V "cigar" outlet, which the FM radio then picked up and played on the stereo. That way you won't have to modify anything. There must also be similar, wired units you can conceal so there's no modern gadget on the dashboard.

In my P6 I have a Pioneer DAB+ (Norway all but closed the FM band years ago) head unit that looks plausibly retro and crucially has optional green illumination that also dims with headlights turned on.

 

[Phil Robson]

My 1964 2000 has positive earth which I want to keep.

The radio in it had 2 channels that were almost clear enough to listen to: Radio 4 on LW & another talk show on a MW channel. The LW signal has just been switched off nationally, which leaves me with very little....

Can I somehow link my phone to a +ve earth car's radio?