Going Old School | FerrariChat
Buy

Going Old School

Discussion in 'Mondial' started by FamilyCar, Oct 16, 2015.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. FamilyCar

    FamilyCar Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 26, 2007
    787
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Peter Goodall
    #1 FamilyCar, Oct 16, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    My car has a tape deck, which has never worked since I purchased it. About a week ago, my younger son--the more technically oriented of them, decided we should fix it as an activity. We took it apart, and replaced the drive belt, working on the hunch that the drive belt is the weak link in pretty much anything. Two miracles; I found a replacement drive belt on-line, and now the thing works. Surprisingly, I even have about 300 cassettes in a box that I couldn't quite bear to toss even though I didn't have a way to listen to them.

    I don't know if this is the stereo the car was initially fit with, but it is very close in age to the car. The unit is an Alpine 7385, which I think was a pretty high-end one at the time. A friend had one when we were in college, and I recall him thinking it was really cool and this it also had trouble ejecting tapes. I think it exceeded the capacity of the tiny but very long drive belt when new, and time sure didn't help. To go full-on 80's glory, it is one where the entire unit pulls out so you can carry it around like a purse to keep it from being stolen and show people how you have the cool, high-end deck.

    I thought this was kind of fun. Anyone else have the (maybe) original stereo?
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. sidtx

    sidtx F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Feb 9, 2014
    4,454
    Frisco, Tx
    Full Name:
    Sid
    #2 sidtx, Oct 16, 2015
    I have an 85 Mondial QV.

    It has a very similar unit - Alpine 7146. I'm pretty sure that it's the original unit as the Alpine owners manual came with the car manuals.

    Also, handwritten on the actual unit is a note by a technician that the original Alpine was replaced on a date that is fairly close to the original delivery date for the car.

    I've currently got the radio pulled out, as I'm in the process of re-dyeing the interior of my car.

    Like yours, my tape deck doesn't work very well. I was going to have it professionally refurbed, but after reading your post, I think I may try to change the belts, and clean the tape heads myself.

    HAHA - we can start another "How often do you change the Belts" thread.

    Where did you find the drive belt?

    Sid
     
  3. sidtx

    sidtx F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Feb 9, 2014
    4,454
    Frisco, Tx
    Full Name:
    Sid
    #3 sidtx, Oct 16, 2015
  4. 123howie

    123howie F1 World Champ

    Jul 3, 2014
    16,017
    El Segundo CA
    Full Name:
    Howie
    #4 123howie, Oct 17, 2015
    When you said tape deck I thought you meant 8 track.
     
  5. MvT

    MvT F1 Rookie

    May 25, 2013
    4,261
    The Netherlands - NH
    Full Name:
    Tijn
    #5 MvT, Oct 17, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2015
    That's quite neat Peter! and.. tapes are better to listen at then a CD player feeling every bump in the road ;) I have a CD player that came with it when I bought the Mondial, but I never have it on for the reason I mentioned. I am looking for the (or similar) old Pioneer deck. and when I get it.. the ABBA tape goes in. I guess you know which song.
     
  6. PV Dirk

    PV Dirk F1 Veteran

    Jul 26, 2009
    5,401
    Ahwatukee, AZ
    #6 PV Dirk, Oct 17, 2015
    Nice work and a great way to spend time with your son.
     
  7. Rapalyea

    Rapalyea Formula 3

    Jun 18, 2013
    1,511
    Georgia Mountains US
    Full Name:
    David Rapalyea alias
    #7 Rapalyea, Oct 17, 2015
    For many years I used high quality tape decks for the purpose of recording my collection of 1/2 speed master audiophile vinyl and there was usually room for both sides of the vinyl on one side of the tape.

    Nothing matched the 1/2 speed masters till Super Audio CD format was developed, but it is a specialty niche to this day. For instance, I have "Thriller" on SACD and last time I checked it was selling for about $100. Back in the 1980's I bought a limitied edition of Original Master Recordings UHQR Sgt Peppers (number 5,000 total) for $50 as an investment. Last time I checked it was going unopened for about $1,000. But last time I checked my x-wife must have it.
     
  8. Todd308TR

    Todd308TR F1 World Champ

    Nov 25, 2010
    11,074
    LA
    Full Name:
    Todd
    #8 Todd308TR, Oct 17, 2015
    Nice.
     
  9. FamilyCar

    FamilyCar Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    Sep 26, 2007
    787
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Peter Goodall
    #9 FamilyCar, Oct 19, 2015
    Sid:

    This is where the belt came from: Electronic Parts for VCRs, Guitar Amplfiers, Cassette Decks.   Speaker Repair Kits, Vacuum Tubes, Tools and more!

    I just had to measure it and then locate the correct replacement. As it is a 16-17" inch long belt, I bought both lengths since I couldn't tell how much the old one had stretched.

    The one real surprise of the project was that before final assembly I put it in to test and it didn't work at all--the only function that worked was eject. Nothing else, no radio. It turned out on very careful examination that the handle acts on a cam that closes a contact inside the unit that allows the other functions to work when it is folded in. I suppose that protects the internal battery that maintains the pre-sets from draining.

    Still a fun project.

    For the record, the first tape played was Los Lobos "Will the Wolf Survive" since it was on top of the box. The next one I tried out was by Icehouse.
     
  10. porchnut

    porchnut Formula Junior

    Dec 2, 2014
    282
    Tucson, AZ
    Full Name:
    Andrew Bober
    #10 porchnut, Oct 19, 2015
    Turned my radio on the day I got the car, it worked, turned it off and haven't turned it back on in 8 months of ownership, just love to listen to the Ferrari engine as I go through the gears and running down the highway..............
     
  11. Todd308TR

    Todd308TR F1 World Champ

    Nov 25, 2010
    11,074
    LA
    Full Name:
    Todd
    #11 Todd308TR, Oct 20, 2015
    I have an Alpine tape deck but will probably install a modern Pioneer with blutooth so I can link my iphone to it as I need it to navigate to unknown places.
     
  12. gsfent

    gsfent Formula 3

    Nov 16, 2009
    1,101
    PB County, Florida
    Full Name:
    Jerry
    #12 gsfent, Oct 20, 2015
    Just download MapQuest on your iphone (free), better than any of the in car nav systems I have seen. Just keep it plugged in, it does use some juice when the program is on.

    Regards,
    Jerry
     
  13. Todd308TR

    Todd308TR F1 World Champ

    Nov 25, 2010
    11,074
    LA
    Full Name:
    Todd
    #13 Todd308TR, Oct 20, 2015
    That's what I said, and so far the Apple maps app has been perfect over here.
     

Share This Page