I am in the middle of adding the new 2din. How did those of you who did it find it the easiest to cut off the rivets holding on the radio bracket? I am having trouble getting it off.

 

either remove the whole cage from behind the dash then drill them out, if you have an automatic this really isnt a smart idea, in a 6spd its easier

or sawsall right down the side is the easy way

 

I only needed a couple inches clearance to lower my AC so I didnt remove the entire thing.. I just use a dremel with a 90* attachment and cut out the front of the bar. Here is a picture of what it looks like behind the AC now (sorry, I only have pics of it with the AC unit installed so I had to hold the camera back there and snap shots).





Not sure if that will work for you.. but it is just another idea.

 

bbentley and penta. 1st: thanks a million. You guys have been the ones really answering my questions and helping me along. Without you guys, Id still be lingering, trying to decide what to do. You both are a huge asset to this forum.

BBent: Is yours the double din with the bezel mod like we see on here so much? Nevermind, kind of dumb question. I will just have to play with mine to see what will fit my modded bezel. I dont think it will work like you did it. I think I have to lower my ac control unit also. Guess Ill find out soon enough!

 

Oh wait.. you need to remove the top bracket. I forgot about that one.. since I was just installing a monitor I didnt have to mess with it. The monitor had plenty of room in front of it.

The pictures above are the bracket that sits below the AC unit.. what I did will probably work for you on that one.. but removing the top one will be harder.

 

Hey swchopper,
Let me know how you go about getting that bad boy outa there, I gotta do the same thing, I removed all the bolts, at least i think i did to try and remove the whole cage so I could drill them out, but it didnt really want to come out, looks like theres more you gotta remove (trim,dash wise). And yeah its a 6spd.

Goodluck...

 

its a pain either way. we pulled the cage out, there are 3 bolts holding it in as well that is kinda behind the glove box. If you can you may want to pull the cage out adn drill the rivets, if you want to call them that, out. This way you wont destroy the bracket by cutting it.

 

When DPG and Pentavolvo did my install we removed the cage from the car. Like Pentavolvo said, this is not a very good idea on an automatic unless your very careful. If you choose to try on an automatic do not unbolt the shifter and lift up and or move around. The shifter cable has a plastic boot about 5-6 inches from where the cable connects to the shifter. The boot has a slot on it and is held in place via bracket you wont see. This cable is not flexible and will break. (88.00 at Chevy dealer). DPG and Pentavolvo will also confirm you can however squeeze the clips together which will allow you to pull up the shifter boot cover to unhook the shifter cable from the shifter to allow the cage to be taken out.
As far as the brackets go, once Greg got the dash apart he left the job to me to remove the brackets. With the cage in the car it is not fun to try and cut. So we had to get out the big guns.


Greg thought I was a little strange for attacking my car with this monster sawzall, but in a matter of minutes both brackets were out of the car.



It was then we tried to remove the cage to drill in some wholes to bold in a bracket. You might be able to angle screws into the bracket to mount to the cage, but just keep in mind that the cage itself is not that easy to drill into.

I have to give all the credit for the rest of the fitting and lining up to DPG and Pentavolvo, all I did was use the sawzall on the brackets.

Another little trick we found when Dave was putting it back together was using patches of Edead as shims since they will stick to the metal cage.

Good luck you will love the outcome and new sound. You are in good hands asking questions to DPG and Pentavolvo.

 

Thanks again for all the advice. It is well received and much needed. I had to leave town yesterday, and just got back. Probably will not get back to it for a day or two. Clayton1, I will report as soon as I can. I think I will first try to take the cage out. If it gives me fits... then?

C5bears, so what did you then use for a "bracket" to hold the stereo? (I havent even opened the stereo box yet. Maybe it has a bracket or two. Its been probably 11 yrs. since Ive messed with car audio!)

 

I got impatient and got permission from the boss to go out an play with the "rack." I couldnt have that hanging over my head. I originally started unbolting the rack to take the whole thing out. Once I got to the 2 bolts behind the dash, I didn't like that anymore.

So heres what I did: All done with a cordless drill, and completed with the rack mounted in the car.

#1: Took a 5/32 drill bit to start a pilot hole (any small size bit will work). I place bit on raised edge of "rivet". Holding the drill at a natural angle will put the bit at a 45 degree angle going into the "rivets". This is good cause it just right the middle of the shaft of the rivet.


#2: Go to a 5/16 drill bit and drill right into the rivet. Youll know when your done. The rack will loosen.


#3: I got a big set of 90 degree pliers (cant think of the technical name) to pry the racks back and forth until they came loose and came right off.
Finally, pull out the grinder and grind everything smooth.
I bent the 2 shelves a lil, but that just means theyll bend right back. Plus, I guess I only need one of them.

 

We used the old bracket, turned it upside down and drilled some new holes into the bracket and cage and it got mounted back into the car where it needed to go.

 

good work. Let us know how you attach the brackets back to the cage.

 

Im sure I will do it just like c5bears said. Just drill new holes and re-mount the racks with sheet metal screws. I will report and include pics when complete. Again, thanks for all the help.

 

I guess I should have read your post first.....my attempt didnt go so well.
I tried to pull the cage out, got it all the way out after breaking the top brackets of the trim, then there is that one goup of wires that goes down by the e-brake and under the carpet...So i finally found a drill (neighbours) I broke about 6 of his bits....took me hours, made a mess, snapped out a few times and finally got both brackets off. Then I put the cage back in because it was a mess in there and making me even more angry. I think im done with the drill for a while.

 

Sorry for the trouble you had. Kinda like what we ran into until Dennis and Greg went out to buy a saw-zall. Until the past couple of weeks, there hasn't been much info on modding the brackets, but a lot of info on modding the bezel. We were stumped as to how people were moving these things because there were no pictures or anything like that.