65 alternative to full radio panel repair?

Dutchy · 02-27-2009

He guys,

I have posted one in Tech as well. I have been looking around to find reasonable solutions to install a USA66 into my dash, which has been slightly hacked (1inch either side from Dash and 2 new holes. Are there nice chrome coverplates on the market for cover up for this or should I shape one from a radio repair panel and chrome it?

If I do a full repair, I need to rip out the dash upholstery etc and its quite costly in my freshly restored gt350shelby clone.

Like your input.

Jake

soccer1061287 · 02-27-2009

National Parts Depot sells a repair plate, PN 04320-1A, for $17.95. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that is the only way to do the job right and it sounds like you have invested good time and money in the car. It makes no sense to not do it right. Some welding required. Seriously, you could have interior stripped and/or protected adequately to weld this in and back together in one day. Certainly no more than a weekend.

Dutchy · 02-27-2009

Thanks Mike. You are probably right. The car is worth it and looking at a all original dash is the best. Its just when I spoke with a specialist about it he recommended to rip out all upholstery below the dash and take the rest of the dash out (rpm gauge in centre etc) before painting. The interior is in great condition and I still wonder how it was never fixed while the previous owner evidently sank over 40k in the rest of the car. Do you have the original radio in your car?

soccer1061287 · 02-28-2009

Yes I do have the original radio and a part of my factory original restoration will be to get that radio working. It may work now, but the front speaker is not there. I think you would be happy that you did do the dash thing right and with some properly placed protection from weld splatter, you can leave the carpet in, but the seats, dash pad and instrument cluster would need to go. And if you pull the dash pad, take care of the area just forward of the speaker, it is very thin there.

19coupe66 · 03-01-2009

i repaired my hacked radio opening, check my posts if you want, i posted some pics of the work. not a fun job but i am glad i did it. make sure you test fit the radio to the repair panel BEFORE painting, as mine was tight, but a little massaging with a hammer and it fit perfect. luckily i tested the fit so i did not have to beat on fresh paint.

Dutchy · 03-07-2009

Well. This is what I ended up doing for the moment. eventually I will weld in this repair panel, but now I found a hybrid solution. Took the contour of the original usa-66 and cut an aluminum plate. It is not as elegant as the little front and two knobs sticking out, but it does the job, until I have enough courage to go for the big work.

Thanks again for your input. I will keep it in mind.

andrewmp6 · 03-07-2009

The plate you made looks factory most people won't know unless you tell them.I do like the Shelby pod made in to the dash pad.Have you thought about getting the 66 gauge cluster or going aftermarket.

Proarms · 03-11-2009

Good idea, I was trying to decide what to do about mine and I think this would the way to go, that panel looks really good.