Was asked about a modern radio in an AD and went back through my pictures to see what we have done in the past. The first is the radio in a 51 GMC in which the hole in the dash was cut big enough to allow the small modern radio to be installed all from the front side. A piece of 16 gauge was pre-formed to fit the curve of the dash from just above the "GENERAL MOTORS TRUCK" emblem to about two or three inches from the windshield. The thicker 16g was used due to the large area removed and gives both support for the missing metal and bearing for the radio mounting. It was chromed and fastened to the dash with nice looking button head screws. The second shows what GM did to mount the radio in the 54 and 55.1. They made a drop on the bottom center of the dash for the radio. A junk 54/55.1 could be a donor or a drop could be fabbed up. The last picture shows a "frenched" mounting that keeps the radio face from sticking out very much. This is pretty easy to do by making an open sided box out of poster board,cutting a hole the box will just slip into, and then tracing around the box where it contacts the dash. By trimming about 1/2" from the traced line one can make a series of small cuts to the line and bend the metal back leaving it with mounting tabs . These tabs can then be roughed up with 24 grit and panel bond used between the tabs and the dash so no welding is needed which is good if the dash is painted.
Great job Evan! I specially like the frenched- n- one.(orange truk) BTW do you remember what seat you installed in your blue truck? I like the arm rest. Thanx Mike
Thanks, Evan! Is this cool, or what?! I want to do this very thing, and picture # 3 is the way I will go! (I need to have my tunes, but most importantly, I need to be able to crank the CHIEFS NETWORK ON GAME DAY!!!!) Throw the doors open on an AD and hear how the Chiefs are kicking some other teams' butt~ That's living the good life! (Especially when that AD is painted Red, White, and Yellow trim...)
You can also get a universal underdash radio mount from most install shops. It mounts under the dash and is like a pod for the radio to mount in. That is what I have now, but I will soon make a drop down panel so the radio stays hidden. Another idea is to jack an Ipod cable into an amplifier and not even have a head unit. There are many products out there to do this, some with volume controls, Bass and Treble controls built in. without the gas tank, I can fit a 12" subwoofer behind the seat. I made kick panels with a 6 1/2'" seperates set. My truck rocks with minimal extra B.S..
Mike, the front seat is out of a 74 Cadillac Sedan Deville that has been narrowed to fit. This is easy to do but in this case the center frame work is aluminum so a TIG (Heli-Arc) unit is needed.
I saw a post and am planning to use this idea in mine. I would prefer to not cut the dash for an aftermarket radio, or even spend the $150+ on a radio as I typically use my iPhone for music, even in my newer trucks. Note: this only works if you exclusively use a mp3 player. The skinny was that they used a 2 channel amp with RCA out jacks. buy a RCA to mp3 cord. Plug your speaker wire into the amp, mount the amp under or behind the seat or in another hidden place, run the mp3 cord through the middle and place your player next to you on the seat. I have all the components in a box waiting. A deal on a 2channel amp, speaker, and cord on ebay for under $40 all together. Best part, no one will ever even know that you have anything besides the music in your head, so no stereo to steal. Just make sure to wire the amp through the ignition otherwise it stays on all the time and may lead to battery drain. My two cents, but it may offer another option. Most mp3 players will let you adjust the volume from the unit, so set the amp to the volume that you want at the lowest setting, and go up from there.
