New Radio Location Idea

[noKYspider]

I'm thinking about getting a new radio and there are a few things I want to try to accomplish. First, I want to keep the look of the old radio and speaker as it fits with the vintage of the car and no one in their right mind would want to steal that old radio with nary even a tape deck! Second, I want the new radio hidden when I'm away from the car. Third, I want the new radio to be accessible while I'm driving and not in the glove box.

So, what I'm thinking is that I'll build a flap out of the aluminum panel that covers the original speaker and put the radio in the area under where the old radio is. I've got some sheet steel that I plan on using to back the aluminum plate so it's less likely to bend. I went out to the parts car tonight and pilfered the radio stack interior piece and started thinking about how to build everything. I thought about an old garage door type panel where it would fold up an into the cubby hole but I think it would hit the radio.

The picture below shows the current route I'm considering where the door would just flip down on a hinge at the bottom and lay in front of the shifter. Based on my quick test 5 minutes ago it doesn't seem like it will interfere with the shifter. I'll be working on this over the next little bit and will keep you updated as to how it goes. Wish me luck! Oh, and if someone has done this already please point me in that direction.

[azruss]

your problem will be the depth behind the upper console. there is barely enough room when the radio is at the top. the lower the radio, the less room you have. If you want to hide the knobs, that makes you set deeper yet. Do your homework on dimensions before you get in too deep.

[noKYspider]

Good points. I'm okay with cutting the back of the old radio off if I have to. Tonight was just the first phase in seeing if my idea will work. Lots more thinking before I really start building if I can even get to that phase.

[vandor]

A friend of mine put it under his seat, facing forward.

[Daniel]

you have a tough list to fill if your not willing to give up on a few of the requirements so I'll through a few ideals
at you maybe you have thought of these maybe not .

1 use a ipod or iphone connected to an amplifier in the trunk
2 use one of the few pioneer radios that have RF remote controls place in the glove compartment or under the dash
3 get a sirus radio unit and amp the antenna can rest on top of your dash

Placing a whole radio behind your factory unit maybe tough its a tight fit back their .

[GN78]

You could try a Secret Hidden Car Stereo

http://www.classiccarstereos.com/mm5/me ... tAudio-SST

They mount any place and you only have a small controller

[TX82FIAT]

$289 for the hidden car stereo seems like a lot. If you are willing to alter the original look of the car by going into the dash under the original radio then it might be best to simply by a new radio and camoflauge it. Even a standard CD headunit has some issues given the clearance behind the dash. You can pick ou a small mechless unit with a detachable face plate. From that, maybe create something to cover/clip on to the open face with a piece of wood grain formica/laminate when not driving down the street to retain the original look.

[Daniel]

for some reason i came across this maybe its a fit for you .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/USED-VINTAGE-PI ... 3a697d5e4d

[manoa matt]

Does that old radio work, and are you going to keep it? If the answers are yes and no, I'd be interested in buying it.

[noKYspider]

Does that old radio work, and are you going to keep it? If the answers are yes and no, I'd be interested in buying it.

It kind of works but there is something wrong with it. Sometimes when I go over a bump it makes this horrible pulsating sound and completely kills the radio feed. It can fix itself within a second or two or become completely useless for the rest of the drive. I'm planning on keeping it and leaving it installed as a dummy radio. My thought is a thief that sees that old radio with nary even a tape deck they'll move along to something more profitable. Maybe I'm wrong but that's the route I'm going to take for now.

[Razooli]

What are you going to do about speakers? If I'm a thief and I see an old mono radio in a car with stereo speakers, first thing I'm going to do is jimmy the glove compartment. That happened to me with an Alfa I had. They sliced the top to get into the locked car, pried open the glovebox where the new stereo was and, just for spite I guess, ripped the FM radio out of the console. Major damage. After that, I've always used decks with removable faceplates and left the car unlocked ... not that my Fiat doors lock anyhow.

[noKYspider]

What are you going to do about speakers?

My initial idea is to put them in the defrost vent holes in the dash. I haven't looked very far into that idea to see how feasible it is though. Honestly, with it being as hot as it's been, I haven't looked very far into the radio idea at all.

[Zippy]

A friend of mine put it under his seat, facing forward.

That's where I put my tape deck in my 69 coupe.

[Daniel]

if you try to place speakers in the vents they would need to be small the sound would be very limited to higher
frequencies resulting in a tiny highs. If you places tweeters there and mids on the doors or kick panels it
could sound pretty good if they are padded correctly. ( padding means using a resistor just in case )

[noKYspider]

Well, I finally ordered my radio and it got here yesterday. That prompted me to start looking more seriously at my project idea to put the radio in a custom space behind the speaker grille in the center console. I went out to the parts car and looked at the location with the radio stack removed and found a problem, the heater. My initial thought was to just remove the heater box and go from there with putting the new radio behind the speaker grille. After thinking about it for a while I decided that's not the best option since I might want to sell the car some day.

Now I'm leaning towards cutting out the back of the old radio and making it's faceplate and knobs a dummy plate that can flip down to reveal the new radio. Maybe it will work out, maybe it won't. Hopefully I'll find some time this weekend to work on everything. Just thought I'd give an update.