This is a LONG way down the road, but eventually I'm going to pull the double DIN Clarion out of my truck and replace it with a VIC NaviSurfer (literally a double DIN PC). When I do that I'd like to install the Clarion in my Duster if there's any good way to do it. Looking at the dash though, nothing aside from some custom sheet metal work (which could be pretty cool if done right) comes to me as a way to mount it.

Anyone tried this? Like I said, it's a long way down the road, but my curiosity is piqued.

_________________
'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

Rather than cut up the dash, I would recommend building a fiberglass and wood enclosure below the dash or an overhead console above the front windshield.

_________________
Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I did it in my '64, but it was difficult. I had to modify the plastic mounting tabs on the radio, and bond mounting studs to the back of the dash with epoxy. It also filled up the area behind the dash and left little room to route AC ducts around the wiper hardware. You can see it in this article:

http://www.slantsix.org/articles/vintag ... ge_Air.htm

I recently removed the Mopar radio and installed an aftermarket Sony in its place. It was part of a complete dash/console redesign, and though I hated to lose the Mopar unit, the Sony fits much better.

That would work, or even one made of sheet metal, you can shop around and see if someone has a generic under dash pod you can mount there.

The one item that might plug this, is the heater box outlet in the 67-76 A-body is right over the tranny hump...if doing cold weather driving and you have the heat cranked the stereo in this spot can "overheat" and go out on thermal (had that happen in the Beater Valiant with a Pioneer CD/Mp3 a few years back...)

FYI,

-D.Idiot

Good call on that. I'd also want it mounted in a way that I could easily see the screen, since it's all touch screen controls. If the heater controls weren't right above the factory stereo location, it'd be an easy task to fit something in place to hold the unit.

_________________
'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

Too bad you don't have a tin bending buddy...Given that the heater controls are just a set of levers that move a wire in a captured sleeve....making a box or bracket to mount the heater controls under the dash might be a good switch...then mount the stereo in the heater control hole....(I might have to try this idea...)

Good brain scratching exercise!

-D.idiot

Usually the Tidewater Mopar Club puts a stock radio back into our giveaway cars, but we put a new single-DIN AM/FM/CD into our giveaway 1965 Baracuda. The orig. metal radio opening had been crudely whacked out and the stock radio removed long before, so our club prez Bill welded new steel in, finished and painted the dash and then gave it to me.

I trimmed the opening back to the exact size to accept the DIN mounting sleeve that came with the new radio, and then installed the sleeve according to its instructions. I then fabricated a metal bracket to for the back of of the radio to help hold it rigid and properly support the weight. The new radio then easily slipped into its bracket and looked quite good. The whole dash assembly was removed from the car at the time, so working on it much easier than if it had still been in the car.

The underdash speaker was a 6x8" and the new one fit w/o trouble in the stock location, then I mounted the mate an unused defroster hole in the back deck - it and its cover fit perfectly w/o any cutting or drilling at all and appeared almost factory (the stock rear defroster was missing anyway).

I was quite pleased on how nice the the finish job appeared.

My advice is to remove the whole dash assembly from the car before you begin, and to take into account the curvature of the dash before you begin cutting - for a single-DIN it wasn't a problem, but it may be for a double-DIN.

You realize that removing the dash on an A body requires removal of the windshield too right? What vehicle did you do this on? I had the understanding that all A bodies had a 4"x 6" speaker the dash and a 6" x 9" in the rear... could be wrong.

~RDE~

_________________
1984 D100 Shorty Custom
Certified Auto Appraiser - RevItUp Classic Appraisals
President - Cherry City Bombers CC
Part of Tyrde-Browne Racing

The Tidewater Mopar Club usually take our cars pretty much totally apart, so it's quite possible the windshield had been removed before the dash on our '65 Barracuda - I can't say for sure because I wasn't there when it was pulled. Our club prez Bill leading the project just gave me the whole dash which I worked on at home. It would have been much more difficult to have done my work with the dash still in the car.

It looked like that '65 was built with a single-speaker AM radio - there was no wiring there for any kind of rear speaker when I got to it and the remains of single speaker were still under the dash. The original radio was long gone.

It's been a few years, but I remember that I was pleasantly surprised that the dash speaker was a very easy to find size - the other Mopars we've done used other hard to find sizes. The holes in the new speaker lined up perfectly with the studs in the dash - so it may have been either 6x9" or 6x8". I was told that the big hole on the passenger side in the back was for a defroster we didn't have, and it looked just like a speaker hole to me. The speaker and one of the covers the pair came with fit perfectly, so that's where I put it. Since they both fit and worked well I didn't worry about beyond that. I do definitely remember that the speakers were a pair.

The factory wiring harness was in fairly good unmolested shape and so I just repaired it as needed. The radio was jumpered to work with the ignition off for shows and our club VP Tim made a custom CD to play period music and tell the story the of the car.

I took the liberty of adding a hazard flasher for safety (illuminated SPST switch + 4 diodes + flasher) and we converted the underhood harness to factory-style electronic ignition and put in a direct-replacement electronic voltage regulator from J.C.Whitney that worked fine. The original 318 poly was replaced with a 340 4bbl w/ dual exhaust, and every system was rebuilt or replaced. I handled most electrical work including the instrument cluster.

The paint (a Corvette color) and stripes are club prez Bill's idea:
http://www.tidewatermoparclub.com/Image ... racuda.jpg
We are very proud of the work we did on that car and that car really grew on me.