[JohnIL]

I've started a fun little fabrication project. In my last post, I included a picture that alluded to installing a double DIN touchscreen stereo in the dash. As the old military saying goes, "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy." In this case, the enemy is the windshield wiper motor. Now that I have the new stereo in-hand, it is obvious that there isn't enough space behind the dash for the stereo, without running directly into the wiper motor. In fact, I'm about 1 1/2" short. So, I set about fabricating a "bezel" to extend the center of the dash (where the original ash tray and AM radio were located) out 1 1/2".

I set a few requirements from the start. I want the bezel to blend into the dash as much as possible. That's going to be pretty tough considering the whole point is to make it stick out of the front of the dash, but there are some things I can do to help. Since the dash is entirely made of steel, I'm making the bezel out of steel too. I don't want to dismantle the entire interior so I can weld the bezel to the dash, so I'm opting for hidden bolts instead. And, I'm rounding off the corners of the bezel so it looks a little bit less like a steel box sticking out of the dash. One of the benefits to using steel is that I can integrate a pair of mounting brackets to hold the stereo securing into the bezel.

I started with a simple wire frame made of 5/16" round bar. This established the basic shape of the bezel and provided some additional material for the rounded edges and corners. Next, I welded flat panels on all for edges to close in the outside of the box. Then, I welded a large flat panel on the face of the box with an appropriately sized hole to receive the stereo. With the box closed in, I added a pair of brackets to the back side of the face to give the stereo something solid to mount to.

And, that's as far as I've gotten so far. You can follow along the process in the pictures below. In case it's not obvious, the bolts to mount the bezel to the dash are wrapped in blue tape in the pictures. They're 1/4"x20 bolts with the heads trimmed off. They protrude 3/4" out the back of the bezel. This should allow plenty of thread for washers and nuts behind the dash.

I'm out of town on business for about a week. When I get back to the garage, I'll drill the mounting holes in the dash, cut out the center of the dash for the stereo, and test fit everything in place. Once I'm happy with how everything fits, I'll tidy of the bezel with a skim coat of body filler and give it a coat of paint. More to come...