The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay The Radio Bench 1954 and first series 1955 radio plate...

Here is the gmc version can’t wait to put it in ,waiting for my speakers they got lost or most likely in my area the truck went in the ditch so had to re order speakers .

Finally a little bit warmer and the snow has tapered off but still damp that goes through you but had some time and thought I would get this radio ready to be installed .Made a cardboard template then once I was satisfied that it will fit I found some metal but it was a chore to cut as it was leftover and a little on the thick side .

Nice work! Sound test next up, or not yet quite there?

Not quite there yet, need to hook up the wires that won’t take long but need to check the wiring work I did before I hook up hopefully 🤞

That looks great! What would be the price of getting a copy of your template? You said the thickness is a little much; what would be your suggestion? Also, where did you get your speakers from and part #, please?

S2

I can take some measurements for the speaker template for you .I used what I think was 16 gauge metal that I could barely cut with tin snips and my air nibbler struggled with and ended with a jigsaw with I thought was a metal blade lol.The speakers and hidden antenna are from Amazon .l have not tried any of them yet but the speakers are marine speakers and are water resistant .I think they said they were 4 inch but with the mounting lip they were bigger so if you look at my picture they were sliced down two sides on one side so they are closer together and fit so they point out of the dash grill area of about 8 inches .the bottom of the speaker frame has two holes that lined up with two holes that were already in the bottom of the dash that I used to fasten it to .I will take some template measurements and post them later .The template I made is simular to the one posted by another member on here so credit to his template and his may be better depending on the speakers used .

Here is a shout out to 55 first series for the idea of the radio speaker bracket that I made

Thanks, KEVINSKI. I appreciate it!

S2

DANG IT!!! I SCREWED UP AGAIN!!!!! Sorry, KEVINSKI!! I was going to ask 55 1 Series way back in Sept about his work up, but forgot. So when I saw yours, I thought I'd ask now or I'd forget again. Again, sorry.

S2

Okay here goes started off with a piece of I think 16 gauge metal but I thought I had a piece of aluminum but I could only find this so whatever you think is okay should work .The piece was cut to 16 by 11 1/2 ,from there I measured 11 1/4 on the 16 inch side with equal amounts on each end .From there I drew a angle to the corners(bottom).I cut the two triangle slices off .The bottom was measured in to 2 3/8 and the bottom corners need to be cut out so you can bend the bottom over ,now the bottom is not square so I just guessed by looking at the angle and left a bit when I cut the metal(shown by the dotted white ) so I could fold that over and spot weld At this point I bent it and the cardboard ended up getting in the way of the choke cable so I notched the end off ,the pice that was taken off measured 2 1/2 by 5 inch ,this was in the way of the choke cable. I suggest making this out of cardboard first so that you can test fit and make changes before you cut the metal ..Once I got this far and it fits in then I held it under the dash and scribed were the delete plate is open for the holes .The speaker holes are incorrect on the template as they were cut before I placed under the dash to test so when you have the test cardboard under the dash you can center were the speakers go and depending on the speakers you use you can cut the proper size holes .The speakers I used like I said above the trim needed to be cut to position the speakers closer together and keep the speaker close to the ash tray side as the speaker bracket goes right next to the brace for the ash tray.

Here are a few more pictures and the 16 inch measurement for the start piece was probably a little longer as they were cut angle shown would indicate about 2 inches longer tad it was cut off at the bottom so if you start with cardboard 18 inches long it will work out with the angle and you won’t need a longer piece of metal .I also welded little wedges were the piece was cut out for the choke for strength .Hope you can understand my jibberish let me know if you need me to ramble more Kevin

Here are the speakers and I was going to try this antenna on the back of my mirror to see how it works.Good idea to check with 55 first series as his may be easier with the speakers he used.

Here are a couple pics of the speaker mount I made. I used 1/8" steel to construct the plate. By using 1/8" steel the holes for attaching the speakers and attaching the plate to the bottom of the dash could be drilled and tapped. The plate is at a 70 degree angle leaning towards the front of the dash.