Published: December 04, 2005 12:00 am            

Getting wired

Installing factory conveniences in driving environment

By Randall Turk

Transcript Business Editor

Eric Schroeder was just 22 when his electronics talent became the inventory for a new business.

Today, 25 years later, Schroeder still owns and operates Automotive Audio & Accessories in Norman. Dealers on the Mile of Cars know and admire his work. Car fanciers rely on his up-to-date skills in audio and video systems and electronic automotive devices.

“For dealers, I do custom installation work with the factory look,” Schroeder said. “I can save customers a lot of money.”

He installs upgraded sound equipment, power windows and door locks, and keyless entry and remote starting systems in new and used vehicles. Normally, customers must pay for a more expensive trim package for cars and trucks equipped with such electronic conveniences, Schroeder said.

Most of his work involves changing out radios and installing cruise control and power windows and locks. “I’ve done more than 5,000 cruise controls, probably more than anyone else in the state,” he said.

Schroeder, who still works alone, must constantly update his knowledge of electronic systems that can change radically with every model year. Some of these changes benefit the manufacturer more than the consumer. “The new electronic ‘drive by wire’ systems [replacing cable throttle systems] are great now, but maybe not in 10 years when expensive servos will need replacement,” he said.

Computer systems in cars have complicated the task of upgrading electronic equipment, Schroeder said. He said there is a communications link between door locks, radios and a car’s computer system that can fail when equipment is installed or replaced. “Radios, for instance, have an embedded serial number. If the number is different [when another radio is substituted], a car’s computer system locks up. I used to switch radios all the time. But now I sell more factory radios than custom ones.”

Today’s vehicle electronics are much easier to work on, but are much more complex, he said. “You can do so much damage to a vehicle now by doing something wrong.

“Every year when the new cars come out, I have to learn what to pull and what to push.”

Schroeder began his electronics career in 1976, right after graduating from John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City. He went to work installing car radios and 8-track tape systems for an Edmond company and took engineering courses at OSU. Later, while attending Central State College, he worked days installing radios and other equipment for Al Salyer Chevrolet in Norman.

He says his most unusual job was installing a radio and four speakers in the 1940s vintage forestry tower Salyer had traded a car for and installed at his dealership. “It took me many trips up and down the tower to get the job done,” Schroeder said. The tower still stands in back of what is now the Bob Moore Cadillac dealership.

Schroeder started his own business in 1979, incorporating in 1980. “I used to do everything mobile,” he said. That changed in 1992, when his home near the Trails golf course and three cars were destroyed by fire. He opened a small shop on Bart Conner Drive and has remained there since.

Among the major milestones, Schroeder met and married one of his first customers. He and his wife Diane are the parents of a 12-year-old daughter Stephanie.

At home, Schroeder has restored several “muscle cars” and a wooden 1952 Chris Craft boat. He rebuilt a 1969 Hurst Olds, one of only five Hurst ordered for executives and suppliers. He also redid a 1972 Hurst Olds convertible, one of only 130 such models. “I don’t know how I found the time,” he said.

Among trends Schroeder foresees is the prospect of auto manufacturers switching to 36-volt electrical systems. “That will eliminate relays and allow them to bring in more electronic technology,” he said.

Another tendency in automotive electronics is not as pretty. “It’s tough getting things repaired,” he said. “Everything’s getting disposable. Delco will hardly sell parts for their radios anymore.” He said usually it is much less expensive to replace a car radio with one taken out of a new car than getting a radio repaired.

As electronics change, Schroeder said, his challenge will remain to upgrade car electronic systems “so they will last and look just like factory equipment.”

Doing the job right is another longstanding goal of his. “You can do a job two ways,” he said: “Do it the right way, or the second time the right way.”

Randall Turk

366-3547

rturk@normantranscript.com

        

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