1972vettman

Was upgrading stereo system today and after getting it taken apart and 3/4 of the way put back together had to call it a day! What a pain it is to take apart the parking brake console, center console, and gauge bezel. Got me to thinking, and I'm sure I'm not the first to explore making a custom console that is much easier to remove/access for repairs and upgrades. My question is this, has anyone done it? If so, do you have pictures/recommendations? I've got a couple of ideas but am interested in seeing what is already out there!

7t9l82

the later ones aren't any easier, when i changed out my stereo i swore next time i would pull the engine and cut through the firewall. i am convinced it would be easier. getting the old one out is the worst , the new one sounds 10x better and is half the size

91turbo2

I plan on doing a custom dash myself but not sure how to go about it. My vette currently does not have a dash at is mostly why I'm doing mine. Interested to see some responses.

augiedoggy

I I'm in the process of reinstalling my interior on my 74 and picked up one of those "retro sound" stereos that are in the for sale section.... only I bought one from eBay for about $50 less... They even had refurbs as well for 135 bucks which I passed on for the brighter display and higher wattage unit. They fit great! The unit is very small and has plenty of room around it.. I don't think the console is tough to deal with at all.... Ive installed a lot of xar audio and many vehicles are much worse..

marshal135

Wilcox has a how to on his site for dash/console removal.
I had mine apart once. Plan on spending several hours and be patient.
Parts are old and real fragile at this point.
Right dash pad was removed and gauge console came out without damaging same.
Then I removed the radio.
The shifter area(4spd) and E-brake console remained and were not in the way.
Gauge console has two nuts holding the bottom to a center console mount. Tough to get to but must be removed before you start yanking on it.
I reinstalled mine, no rattles or issues w/o nuts on threaded studs.
Just left them off, theres enough shet metal screws holding it in trust me.
Hope this helps.
Marshal

calwldlife

loosening, removing the console allows gage cluster to move downward.

the cluster is like a wedge, farther down it goes the more width to
pull it outward.

1972vettman

That is what I installed, you are absolutely right, great fit easy to install, just a pain to remove everything to get old unit out!

0Willcox Corvette

They can be a pain with original parts or new parts. Here's the link for the help page, just click on supporting document.

Corvette Center Gauge Bezel Install 68-76

augiedoggy

The only complaint I have about the retro sound unit is that the yellow memory power pin was in the wrong position in the wiring harness so I just got gibberish on the display and when I called the company I ordered it from the guy said it was likely a bad ground in my car dispite me bench testing it on a 12v power supply and having the same results... he then said he gets about two calls a week about the same gibberish and its often poor connections in the harness and fuse area.... These radios are cool but you can tell they are inexpensively made In china and are likely sold with 10-20 times the markup over mmanufacturing costs. I think mine weighs like 8 ozs..... I plan on running external amps after testing the sound quality of the build in amps as they are rated at 50watts RMS per channel with 1% distortion which is very audible... most quality stuff is rated at around .05% THD. And I'm sure the RMS power well be more like 15-20 watts. Which won't power my aftermarket speakers very well.

Bigt232

what size were the two nuts holding the bottom of the center console?

Gunfighter13

Mooser

The studs are #10-24TPI (iirc) but this is a 6 year old thread

BTW, consider using coupling nuts
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ubstitute.html

M

kansas123

I do have that bracket in place, just did not put the stupid nuts on.

Corvettedave02

Ok thank you. I’ll clean them up And repaint them tomorrow

Corvettedave02

Mistaken post deleted