Rear Audio and Climate Control Upgrade

There’s this thing in the back of Aerostars that I don’t think I’ve seen in other vans. It gives the passengers the ability to totally control the built in stereo from the back: change the channel, adjust the speakers, etc. And this is where you can also adjust the heat and a/c.

Anyway, this feature is dead with the original stereo being swapped out, and the surrounding part that historically held an ashtray is also busted up. So, my plan was to replace it all and change the radio control to something more modern/usable.

Naturally eBay and had a completely new part available for purchase – which frankly, continues to amaze me.

The unfortunate news is that the radio control part is totally separate, and would actually require a ton of modification, utilizing skills that I simply don’t have. So, like any desperate person looking for a solution does, I turned to Amazon, and I found this little $10 gem.

And would you believe it fit perfectly into the old ashtray cutout?

I can’t begin to describe the amount of satisfaction my OCD brain received from this random and perfect pairing of old and new. Now to just connect a few wires…

And bam… while it’s not as exciting as I had hoped for, at least the kids riding in the back can use these ports to charge their cell phones. And that’s better than having an ashtray!