DS Radio install / dash insert

[nwocart]

Do they make anything that would fit inside my passenger side glove box to put a single din head unit in? I was just getting ready to find some material to put one in, figured I might as well ask here first. Could be something that I Could trim to fit, I think I should be able to put the radio on the left side of the passenger glove compartment and still have plenty of room for some space to the right side of the glove compartment. I have all my speaker wires and electrical ran, just waiting on my head unit to show up right now.


Thinking I may end up doing it from scratch with some plywood and maybe some thick plastic for the front? not sure yet. NOT looking for an entire dash insert as of right now

[Mooncarter]

I made mine from 1/4" plastic. The aftermarket ones come with the radio opening already cut, which I did not want.

They are very tricky to cut to fit. Start with cardboard and get it to fit the way you want.

You can see mine here in the "Design Center." "57 Chevy on DS." See page 9.

The material is readily available on eBay, I don't think we have any sponsors who sell the material.

[nwocart]

So following Mooncarters advice I cut cardboard for the "dash" until I had a perfect size, then cut a piece of 5/16 plywood. Over that I used a thick tractor mudflap that was smooth on the back side to cover the wood and make it look better. I wanted to be able to use part of my glove box if needed on the passenger side, so I cut a piece of that fits in the glovebox to seat off the rear part of the radio (as shown in pictures).

Used rubber mud flap because I had a extra thick one, its flexible enough to squeeze into place, but sturdy enough it wont just bend and fall over. I was actually going to put wood behind it on the side, but decided it won't be necessary, its not really supporting any weight like the front is supporting the head unit.

Bundled up all my wires behind the face of the dash, and can slide the side cover in perfectly to where most wouldn't know its not factory without knowledge/looking close. If I need to get into the actual dash behind the steering column, the pieces will easily pop out/ slide over so I can get to the screws to pop the factory dash piece off around the steering column. Overall very please with how it turned out better than I thought it would.


I have attached some pics of my installation and my speaker box, just ran the power to the fuse panel in the dash which kills power when key is off so I don't kill my battery on accident, and ran the speaker wires in loom along the frame to the speaker box.

in the last picture my divider piece looks like it has a texture to it, because it does. That was the "tire side" of the mudflap, and I accidentally cut it to fit that way instead of the smooth side out. It is not the same dimensions to flip it, so I said screw it. But a little dish soap and plastic brush and i got all the dirt off of it and it is completely black now. Should have taken a second picture afterwards.

I posted this in here because I forgot I made this thread. Someone might be more likely to run across this in the DS forum, but I did post it in the custom radio install thread in the design center too. Though those radios are insane compared to this simple job.

[CP241]

I used one of these and it worked great. And I kept 95% of the glove compartment still usable.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AJZ61G8..._QgafDbJN6GJM8

[Mooncarter]

very nice nwocart! I like the idea of having some space to throw things in and not sealing off all of it.

Nice job!

[CP241]

This is how mind turned out. I put one speaker in the bottom of the pocket. And the other speaker was on the side of the drivers side pocket. Didnt take up any useable space and sounded great

[Mooncarter]

I did both sides on this one.

[Lenny5160]

Originally Posted by CP241

This is how mind turned out. I put one speaker in the bottom of the pocket. And the other speaker was on the side of the drivers side pocket. Didnt take up any useable space and sounded great

That's really nice!

When I bought my cart, which is a racetrack pit vehicle, I had the place put a dash in with stereo and speakers. When I went to pick it up, there were no cup holders, no place to put a tire gauge, or anything. Too late!

[Mooncarter]

Originally Posted by CP241

This is how mind turned out. I put one speaker in the bottom of the pocket. And the other speaker was on the side of the drivers side pocket. Didnt take up any useable space and sounded great

[nwocart]

Originally Posted by CP241

This is how mind turned out. I put one speaker in the bottom of the pocket. And the other speaker was on the side of the drivers side pocket. Didnt take up any useable space and sounded great

stupid question, don't your speakers get splashed on when the grounds wet or are they protected pretty good. seems like when I was installing wiring through my glove boxes like there wasn't anything protecting it from the elements, like an inner fender on a car would do for example