Why not buy a 3.5mm male to 2 rca male cable and just cut the cable right at
the connector and patch in your plug? Rather than make a cable.
Or, Why not just throw a few extra adaptors in there and not wire anything?
(I know, quality loss).

I have a 3.5mm male on about a 4ft cable coming out from one of the vents
infront of the shifter. Its long enough for me to put the ipod on the dash
if i wish, and if not, it just dangles between the seats and I never notice
it.

-Craig

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 2:15 PM, Roland <syncronicity1@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello folks,
>
> Got the rear speakers in, front speakers in, new headunit in, but .... no
> AUX yet.
>
> I could use some help on cabling the headunit AUX to a 3.5MM jack.  The
> headunit is the old variety that had a multi-pin port to control one of
> those (now old fashioned) multi-CD changers that people put in the trunk.
> There is an adapter cable that converts this port into RCA inputs so when I
> select AUX on the headunit I can connect my Android/iPod.  This is the
> cable
> I bought:
> http://www.crutchfield.com/S-GkesNsq9Xrm/popups/accessory.asp?i=113CAC1AX
>
> My wish is to mount a 3.5mm jack on the dashboard, so I need to connect the
> 2 female RCA connectors to a 3 conductor 3.5mm jack.  I found 3.5mm jacks
> at
> Radio Shack, really small and flimsy.  I'll cut an RCA cable I have in the
> garage with 2 male connectors to plug into the AUX/adaptor cable, and to
> get
> access to the wires to connect to the jack.
>
> Evidently these are the pinouts for the 3.5mm jack:
> http://pinouts.ru/Home/Tele35s_pinout.shtml
> 1-left signal
> 2-right signal
> 3-ground
>
> Evidently these are the pinouts for the RCA jacks:
> http://pinouts.ru/Home/rca_connector.shtml
> Red center:  right signal
> Red outside: ground
> White center:  left signal
> White outside:  ground
>
> So the connections look somewhat obvious, my question is about the ground.
> Do I connect both the ground for the red RCA plug and the white RCA plug to
> the single ground circuit of the 3.5 mm jack?
>
> Side note:  of course this is easy by buying a cable that provides a 3.5mm
> plug to 2 male RCA connectors, plenty available, but that means having a
> 3.5mm plug dangling out from some crack in the dashboard -- I am just
> wishing a cleaner installation with a 3.5 mm jack on the dashboard.  Some
> people route this cable to the glove box so the iPod is tucked away but I
> can't reach the glove box from the driver's seat.
>
> Thanks!
> Roland
>
> ======================================
> Other details in case people are interested:
> '89 GL with airconditiong, power windows, power door locks
> Headunit:  Kenwood KDC-516S
> Front speakers:  Alpine SPS-500:  5", just barely touch the dashboard,
> mounted on the panel, my measurements were not accurate enough :(
> Rear speakers: Boston Acoustics S45 4"
> No power AMP, luckily it plays plenty clean and loud without it, even
> though
> I know it would sound better with an amp.
> Sound is terrific.  (what ancient stuff was there before?  5" Jensens with
> warped paper cones, 4" Sonys with decayed foam speaker surround).
>
> Lessons learned:
> - The 4 wires going to the rear speakers on these later Vanagons are
> adequate (minimal loss, no need to run new cables that I can determine).
> - Do solder/heat shrink tubing all connections ( the previous headunit
> wiring harness had some funky combination of butt/crimp connectors, black
> electrical tape, and wirenuts!).  A lighter works fine to shrink the
> tubing,
> no need to buy another plug-in appliance.  Use cable ties to keep things
> neat.
> - Do cut out the old steel mounting bracket for the OEM radio to make room
> for headunits that otherwise would not fit.
> - Do debug the reason why the drivers side power door look won't fully work
> while the panel is off.
> - Do not wonder why the power windows don't work anymore when all is
> reassembled!  Typical, I must have messed something up!
> - Do connect the "auto dim" feature of the headunit (dims the display when
> the van lights are on).  There is a blue/grey wire running right under the
> headunit that is power to the cigarette lighter light.
> - Other upgrade, I think I'd like to rewire the power to the key-in power
> method mentioned here and others places:
> http://www.vanagonauts.com/Radio-Power-From-Key-in-Circuit222.htm.
>  Problem
> is I can't stand working behind the fuse panel, fat fingers, I admire all
> of
> you who can do this.
> - Do install FAATMAT or your favorite sound proofing stuff while the door
> panels are off.  Oddly I found some sound proofing inside the front doors
> already, some kind of black stuff, kinda like roofing shingles without the
> stones.  I was wondering if that was OEM or not, but I added some patches
> of
> FAATMAT also, and will do the side door and all the other side panels in
> back in the coming weeks.  One of the reasons I chose FAATMAT is that
> GoWesty offers this one, but of course is much much cheaper on ebay.
> - Do look forward to next Christmas when you can wish for a small subwoofer
> with embedded amp.
>