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The photo on the left shows the locking connector used for the six-stack CD player connection. (with the
ribbon cable removed) The brown coloured part of this connector slides left or right to locked/unlocked
positions respectively. Move this to the unlocked position before withdrawing the cable, and make certain
it’s in the fully unlocked position when reconnecting the ribbon cable during reassembly.
(Please ignore the additional PCB shown mounted in this photo. It is of an earlier prototype.)
Now we need to attach the auxiliary socket to the head unit. Incidentally, both this socket and the mating
pins mount in what is normally void space. The upshot is that a non-modified head unit can fit into a
modified cradle, conversely a non-modified cradle will accept a modified head unit.
Use a small piece of fairly coarse grit sandpaper (say 80-100 grade) to roughen and “key up” the top
surface of the existing black connector body. Brush off the sanding residue and preferably give the surface
a wipe with some solvent such as acetone or lacquer thinner. Don’t go crazy with the solvent though, you
might start dissolving the connector body! Just a slightly moistened clean cloth to remove surface
contamination is all that’s required. Naptha (lighter fluid) is another excellent solvent, which in fact won’t
attack the plastic body and evaporates completely. Also give the bottom surface of the auxiliary connector a
wipe with the solvent. (avoid using paper towel/tissue, as this can leave small fibres behind which may
interfere with the bond)
Mix a small amount of epoxy adhesive – make sure you mix it thoroughly – and apply a little to the bottom
surface of the auxiliary socket and to the roughened area on top of the black connector body. Don’t use so
much that it oozes out and runs all over everything, but apply it to both surfaces otherwise there may be
voids in the final bond which will adversely affect the strength. Align the edges of the auxiliary socket
mounting plate with the edges of the main connector body and press it down fairly firmly to squeeze the air
bubbles out. Make certain too that the socket is sitting flat down against the black connector body. If you
