On this page you will see some of the alterations of the dash and the radio I decided to replace.
original radio 04 and dash
original radio 03
original radio 02
In the pictures above you can see the radio that came with the truck. After the electric wiper conversion and the added air conditioning there was not going to be enough room for a full size radio. The radio was over 7 inches deep.
I had the option of a fabricated bezel with approximately 1/2 of the radio hanging out of the dash.
Bezel for old radio
After the radio was removed it was discovered the new radio (being a different size) would not fit properly and the location was slightly off. The 1951 radio location was not an option due to the blending of the Monte Carlo dash to the stock 1951 Chevy dash as can be seen in the picture below.
Original 51 radio location
This is a picture of the under side of the dash where the Monte Carlo dash was welded on to the 1951, I wish the 1951 dash was still intact. You can see where the original radio should have been mounted . Also notice the rough cut outs that were made and never patched.
Below is the opening that will be closed up with the appropriate sheet metal.
original opening for old after market radio
There is quite a bit of prep work that gets done before weld inside the cab.
prep for dash weld
The radio and template for locating the correct location of the “Retro Radio”.
retro radio – template material
Radio Template side view
radio template 03
Radio and dash in progress
Radio dry fit
You can see in the picture above that the retro radio is mounted higher in the dash than the after market radio that had previously installed. This is closer to where the 1951 radio would have been but the location had to be shifted to the right due to the dash alterations.
primed radio cut out
paint prep radio
paint test on interior of glove box lid
Radio mounted front view.
Front view of radio mounted.
A view from the passenger side.
A view from the passenger side
end for now
to be continued