[TA455HO]

Originally Posted by 2manyT/A'S

Just an FYI......a 4 track is a completely different animal than a cassette...

THey were the predecessor to the 8 track....with NO pinch roller in the cartridge.

It was in the actual player and had to be manually engaged...

I've got some here....will post pics if I can find them....

I've got the complete 1971 Delco Radio Service manual at home and pretty sure they call it a 4-track cassette player. See the Description here for the SAMS schematic (which I also have). I'm pretty sure that is what they refer to it as, too. Could be wrong. I'll check when I get home from work later. Obviously more than one item as you can tell by the model numbers in the ad. You must be getting at something I'm unaware of.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1971-1972-GM...item4d2c6a0c32

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[2manyT/A'S]

4 and 8 track are similar ...but different.....GM/Delco never offered a 4 track...AFAIK...

TA455HO is referring to the cassette player as a 4 track...

[2manyT/A'S]

I could be wrong,too.........

I don't recall ever seeing GM or Pontiac refer to it as a 4 track....

And Sams is just a jobber....so they can call it whatever they like....

[Norwood]

A traditional cassette tape does have 4 tracks on it.....just sayin

[TA455HO]

Originally Posted by 2manyT/A'S

4 and 8 track are similar ...but different.....GM/Delco never offered a 4 track...AFAIK...

TA455HO is referring to the cassette player as a 4 track...

You'll like this documentation, then. Give me a while. Got this job that gets in the way....

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[2manyT/A'S]

This is obviously a mid-60's deal........

Note the hole in the back of cartridge.....AND the little shifter on the right side of the deck....to manually engage the pinch roller....

Also note that tapes only had 2 channels...for stereo tape......2 tracks per channel gave you 4 tracks TOTAL....hence the name....Double that for an 8 track.

I guess the cassette DID use the same numbers....but needed to be turned over....prior to auto reverse...

This is Wikopedia's take....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereo-Pak

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Norwood

A traditional cassette tape does have 4 tracks on it.....just sayin

Left & right (stereo) played front & back (two directions). 4 tracks

[transam1972]

in the early 90's I toyed (actually bought the unit & harness at a swap meet) to install in my non originally equipped 1972 T/A..HOOKED IT UP...found some tapes (PINK FLOYD, NEIL DIAMOND, the greats of the 70's)..played like ****.....THEN WITH ALL THE CORRECTNESS I WAS SAVED ...and threw it & the tapes in the trash...one less dumb idea gone wrong...on E BAY however there is a nice cassette unit (never installed) for only $1,800..of course you need all the other parts...just sayin

[TA455HO]

Brother: (reading from Book of Armaments): And Saint Attila raised the hand grenade up on high, saying, 'O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that, with it, Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits in Thy mercy.' And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--

Brother Maynard: Skip a bit, Brother...

Brother: And the Lord spake, saying, "First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shalt be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three.

Five is right out.

Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thou foe, who being naughty in My sight, shall snuff it.

Brother Maynard: Amen.

King Arthur: Right.

[transam1972]

!!!!!!!

[2manyT/A'S]

Perhaps we DIGRESS?

Lets just give this one back to Roundport..........I'm sure if there is one out there in PY land.....he'll find it........

It WAS optional on MOST Pontiac models....so you might want to give the OTG guys a shot at it ....as well...

[roundportponchos]

I see the players, they must of, other than bird, got mounted in front, on a hard console. I need whole setup, on pedestal.
I wish, guy prior to james, didn't pirate from car.
If anyone can help, I really want to complete this car. Also, on tranny, starter too.. I have dug up a lot, from 1267 to nos block n crank.
Thanks..

[TA455HO]

That cassette deck is relisted waiting for you to buy it now. Do you need the new link?

[Bobalong]

And just when I thought I knew everything about car audio availability . . . . .

[bird72]

8 tracks were 3 3/4 inch per second while cassette were 1 3/8 IPS. 8 tracks actually had higher fidelity. (as reference, hi-fi reel to reel is 7 1/2 IPS, pro at 15 IPS). The 8 tracks mechanical issues were the downside. Don't you miss 8 tracks along highways with tape spooled out over the ground? Thrown out car windows when the tape inevitably jammed if played enough. Cassettes were horrible sounding in general. I get putting a vintage car back to original with something rare, but a cassette deck from 1971 or so, will undoubtably need refurbish to play. Belts do not last, 40+ year old grease turns to molasses. So you might figure 3-500 bucks of tech rebuild. And head wear is a concern on high use decks. This what people get into buying reel to reels, unless rebuilt well, it will need a shot of $$$ to play well or at all. So I would ask myself a couple things: how bad do I want to have it back in car, and if so, do I care if it plays, or looks only.... unsolicited advice from "Mr Analog".......

[2manyT/A'S]

Just a sidenote ...on cassette...vs 8 track....

The cassette format was actually released around the same time that the 8 track became popular.....1967-68....

BUT....as I recall...it was a proprietory SONY deal....and initially...it failed miserably because they wouldn't release the manufacturing rights to anybody else......same deal with Beta video tapes...20 some years later...

In the early 70's...they cut it loose......and GM/Delco jumped on the band wagon in the early 70's hoping to catch the "wave" that didn't really happen til 77-78....

Bird 72 is right....the 8 track tape had far superior sound quality if you had higher end equipment.....

Still have my Marrantz AND Akai 8-track recording decks from back in the day...

Back in the late 80's when CD's had become the rage.....I was recording "digital" 8 track tapes to play in my "winter beater" 70 T/A with the Delco console player....and they really sounded KICK_ASS.............

Here is my latest peversion......early 70's Mopar version....this one even came with a microphone and had an external jack for it on the face....

[Judge273]

Audio Quality and 455 HO are no a good mix. Fun to blast a decent stereo when parked, but not much else it's good for...

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by Judge273

Audio Quality and 455 HO are no a good mix. Fun to blast a decent stereo when parked, but not much else it's good for...

Personally....I prefer the sounds of M22.9 when I'm drivin MY HO..........

[Judge273]

That's, what I tried to say....Whine and go!

[TA455HO]

Eric, here's the latest link to that cassette player. Looks NOS from here. You can bend some sheetmetal for the pedestal - then all you'd need is the pedestal cover.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/161585697479...;3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Or send me yours and I'll restore it for you unless it is just totally wiped out. I have new tape heads, drive motors, power transistors. Just about everything needed to rebuild anything that could wear out.

I also dug out that M22 that is for a 1971 era car.

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