Vintage Radio... iPod? (with tutorial!)

[taylooooor]

I saw Cereallad's wonderful radio backpack and knew I had to do something similar. I wasn't feeling the giant boombox thing for myself-- I tend to be a little more subdued-- so when I went thrift storing today, I kept my eyes open for something smaller.

This is what I started with-- a beautiful old portable radio. $2.49. Little  did she know she'd soon be stuffed with an iPod Mini...



Opened 'er up-- it was easy, only three Phillips head screws.



The guts had to go. Four screws later:



I hooked the speaker up to the ipod, and it worked great! No amplification needed; the ipod drove the tiny speaker plenty loud enough. Unfortunately, leaving the speaker in didn't leave enough room for my ipod (a shuffle would've fit perfectly), so it had to go too. It was a little more difficult-- a screw and some nasty epoxy. A little force with a thin piece  of metal quickly took care of that. I then removed-- with my trusty needle nose pliers-- all the pieces of plastic that were in my way:



Next, I put down some foam. This is the one-side-sticky kind with a peel-off paper back. I had it left over from my new air conditioner, but I'm sure you can find it somewhere. Or, break out the hot glue gun...



Here's my iPod mini. Julia Darling commented on how scratched it is-- while this photo doesn't show it very well, I've actually sanded all the paint off my mini and given it a brushed metal surface. It is in a bit of a need of a cleaning... poor dear... But it fits perfectly! The remote is plugged into the ipod, the cable is wrapped around to keep it short, and the remote goes through the battery compartment.




It's a perfect fit, the battery door closes and nothing jiggles! The case is held together by little plastic tabs. I didn't know this when I bought it, so I picked up some tiny hinges and a latch. If the tabs should prove to be too weak, I'll use those-- but, so far, it's been very secure.



So here it is! neo-retro-vintagism strikes again! I hope you all enjoyed this brief tutorial/show-off!

[candycanechild]

Awesome!! I love how you were inspired by that 80s boombox iBook case!

[worthwhilegirl]

What a brilliant idea! That is the very best ipod case I have ever seen! I never thought I wanted an ipod (personally I don't like the look- way too sleek for me) but with your retro case I could see myself with one!

Well done!!

[EmilyFlew]

Beautiful! I love it.

[DTchick]

This is so forking awesome. I am going to try this over the summer when I have time. Except...maybe a bit bigger. I do't have an iPod yet.

[JuliaDarling]

i know you're just posting this so you'll get lots of replies like "omg i wanna have your babies" and such,
because those are the type of replies guys get on craftster (cos who doesn't loooove a crafty boy)
so
omg i wanna have your babies!!!111111

haha good job taylor

[cowgirl]

thats so awesome! i need to do this so my ipod can have a retro home!!!!!!!!!

[RachOfTheJungle]

yeah def. a good theft control device... I hear people are starting to have problems getting robbed b/c theives look for the white earbuds... maybe some hugeass DJ headphones are in order :-P

[taylooooor]

Julia knows me too well...

as for the headphones? my cans are huuuge. nice added benefit, the theft control thing. If any of you guys actually do it, be sure to post pics!

[Puppy_girl]

that's  really cool!