I have been reading many of these forums recently because the LCD screen on my 1996 HSE's radio cassette has given up the ghost.
I have subsequently read lots about swap outs to aftermarket units including all of the potential compromises, pitfalls (ohmage issues) and compatibility, loss of sterring wheel functionality etc and also, looked for original replacements or second ones on ebay but none of these were, as i am sure some of you will agree 'quite right'.
I then thought that i would give Clarion a quick call as the units were made by them. They were very helpful and told me they offer a refurb and full fix for £78.00 plus VAT !!! This has to be cheaper than a new unit with all of the conversion looms and most importantly means i will not losse the functionality at the steering wheel etc.
The most positive thing though was that whilst i had them on the phone i also asked about iPod/MP3 integration to these head units. Mainly whether an inline A/B switcher between the head unit and changer would work ?? We discussed this for a while and whilst possible, if you want to play around with the cabling for hours, they also suggested something else which they had been considering........
They have offered to, when i send my unit to them for repair, rework the headset so that we remove the tape functionality (who uses tape these days anyway) and modify the unit to include a 3.5mm Headphone or 2 x RCA output on the back in order that, upon 'tape' selection, a 3rd party device such as an iPOD could be selected. They have told me that this would be a 'guinea pig' mod but hey, as i said before, who uses tape anyway. The cost to do this as part of the units overhaul is nominal so i will post again and let you know how it works....
Hope this is of help.