My Alfa Life: Entertainment Update
Lockdown Improvements
When I got my car back from the garage the head unit in it had stopped working correctly. Everything was plugged in and I could listen to the radio I just couldn't make any changes. Although, when driving along with the wind in the hair, its not an issue for a chunk of the time on longer journeys it does help. Something would need to be done.
One thing about running an older car is whether or not to keep it original. To me this depends on why you bought the car in the first place. Was it to preserve it for the future and try and make a profit or to drive it and have fun.
When I originally bought the car I wasn't sure which direction to go. It didn't have the original radio so that would have had to be sorted, but other than that it was fairly original. All that changed after two weeks and a valve drop in cylinder two. No more original engine so full steam ahead on making it work well and don't be held hostage to originality. That brings us nicely back to the head unit. It wasn't original and I want to use the car so I need something that's more fit for purpose.
On our trip down to Italy we were navigating partly using the paper map book and partly using the phone. We didn't have a phone holder so the passenger had to hold the phone and tilt it towards the driver to show turns. One good thing about the existing Sony head unit was that it did play audio over the USB which we found useful. So that gave me two things I needed for the replacement, a good holder and a head unit that would work with the phone.
The previous owner had originally had a Kenwood unit in with a bluetooth receiver and wired up a microphone to the driver's A pillar. Something else to consider. If possible handsfree using the existing mic would be good too.
I have Apple CarPlay on my daily driver and find that really useful. I wondered whether that was possible given that the Spider only takes a single DIN unit which is a little limiting when trying to fit a touchscreen. There are some single DIN units with a screen that comes out above the unit. I didn't think that it would work as it would block the the fog light controls and get in the way of the heater.
There are also ones that act as a holder for your phone in landscape mode. That would get in the way too so was discounted.
In the end I decided to go for an updated Sony unit. The advantage there would be that all of the wiring was already done so it should just be a case of plugging in. The one that I found also does Siri Eyes Free which gives the voice interaction of CarPlay without the screen. I decided to order one and fit it myself.
Next was a mount for the phone. I wanted to be able to plug the phone into the USB on the head unit, which is at the front, and not have wires trailing over the dash. That, and the fact that the 916 has a postage stamp for a windscreen, ruled out windscreen mounts. I didn't want to block the vents either so that restricted me even further. Then I remembered how I mounted the original iPod in my Alfa 156 back in 2002. Was Brodit still around?
A quick internet search showed that they were and I ordered the necessary parts to mount the phone at the side of console at an angle. Close to the head unit but out of the way of the passenger.
With all these new toys in place the Spider is up to date. The only problem was one that I'd had since I bought it no AM/FM reception. The reason for this was obvious the 916 has a powered aerial at the rear. Mine hadn't worked since I bought it. I had taken a quick look in the past and found it was unplugged. Plugging it in just generated a noise from the motor but no movement. I could try and repair it but instead went for a new unit. Thirty minutes later I have a working aerial and good reception.
Athough we've been a little restricted about where we can go, and another long European trip doesn't look on the cards this year, I'm glad I took advantage of the enforced break to sort out the entertainment in the car.
Post lockdown drive
Does anyone else have any tales of lock down improvements?
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