Honda Car Forum

The tape deck in my 88 honda civic hatchback died. Tapes just run forward
and backwards, do not play. The radio does not work either.
I would like to replace with tape/CD combo..
Is there such a thing for my old car??

loretts wrote:
>
> The tape deck in my 88 honda civic hatchback died. Tapes just run forward
> and backwards, do not play. The radio does not work either.
> I would like to replace with tape/CD combo..
> Is there such a thing for my old car??

Go to http://www.crutchfield.com, then click on "What Fits my Car" under
the "Car & Marine" heading at the left of the screen. They have at least
one CD/ Cassette combo that fits the '88 civic (Sanyo FXCD-550,
$269.99). The prices at Crutchfield are good, but not rock bottom. They
include wiring harness and mounting hardware, and their tech support is
second to none.

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loretts wrote:
> The tape deck in my 88 honda civic hatchback died. Tapes just run forward
> and backwards, do not play. The radio does not work either.
> I would like to replace with tape/CD combo..
> Is there such a thing for my old car??
>
i went with a blaupunkt head unit w/ tape player, and 10 disc CD changer.

do you absolutely *need* a combo?

ive been (dont laugh!) ripping all my cassettes to my computer in MP3
format. doesnt take long, sounds better than tapes, since for some
reason the converting loses a bunch of potential hiss and lets me make
custom mix CDs and load up my MP3 player.

these days, id likely go with a cheapass headunit that doesnt look like
its worth stealing (OEM?)and rig an ipod or something to it.

loretts wrote:

> The tape deck in my 88 honda civic hatchback died. Tapes just run forward
> and backwards, do not play. The radio does not work either.
> I would like to replace with tape/CD combo..
> Is there such a thing for my old car??

Well the good news is, your "old" car, like almost all Japanese vehicles
made since the 70s, will fit a standard DIN-sized stereo unit. Which
means the vast majority of decks made in the last 35 years will fit as well.

The bad news is, I don't think you'll find anything that combines a tape
and CD into a single-DIN unit; there really isn't enough physical space
for both mechanisms. There have been several over the years that are a
1.5-DIN or double-DIN format (same width, one-and-a-half or twice the
height) but those won't fit your Civic.

Options are:
* A cassette head unit with CD-changer control, and a changer
mounted elsewhere in the car
* Tape or CD head unit with front-panel input jack, to plug in
a portable CD or Walkman
* CD unit only, then rip your tapes to the computer and record
them to CD
* CD unit only, and record your CDs to tape (not recommended,
unless you enjoy getting laughed at)

My wife's Caravan has an MP3 CD deck with rear AUX inputs, and I ran a
cable out that she can plug into her iPod Mini and play it through the
system. This works quite well.



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