Retro Looking Radios - Options?

[ChevyRacefan]

Originally Posted by Rich72C10

Well, they will not fit.

1. Driver side fresh air pull knob/bracket hits the top of the kick panel
2. Passenger side vacuum actuator also hits top of kick panel
3. Pretty sure the parking brake would not clear, even if I did not have the fresh air pull problem.

Called CustomAudio sound and they implied my truck was not stock and had been modified to have these vent things.

..Not mine, but it shows the opening for the vents

[Rich72C10]

Thank you for that photo.

That got me thinking, do a forum search! It seems I found two similar (same?) kick panels.

1. Seems members are mounting the Vent hardware on the kick panels?
2. Looks like at the very least the passenger side needs cutting/trimming near the firewall.
3. Yanking on the parking break to make it clear on... this one scares me.
4. no using the high beam or relocating it.


kick panel speakers ? (Post 15)
kick panel speakers ? (Post 16)
67-72 Kick Panel speakers
Parking Brake Clearance w/ kick panel speakers

So unless I am making my own, which I am not that good at crafting, I need to make these work.

So the question do I hack them up or try to mount the vent hardware. Then O'what to do about the parking break..... ugh.

[ChevyRacefan]

Originally Posted by Rich72C10

Thank you for that photo.

That got me thinking, do a forum search! It seems I found two similar (same?) kick panels.

1. Seems members are mounting the Vent hardware on the kick panels?
2. Looks like at the very least the passenger side needs cutting/trimming near the firewall.
3. Yanking on the parking break to make it clear on... this one scares me.
4. no using the high beam or relocating it.


kick panel speakers ? (Post 15)
kick panel speakers ? (Post 16)
67-72 Kick Panel speakers
Parking Brake Clearance w/ kick panel speakers

So unless I am making my own, which I am not that good at crafting, I need to make these work.

So the question do I hack them up or try to mount the vent hardware. Then O'what to do about the parking break..... ugh.

I did not do any fab work on the pass side, the kick clears the vent and the vacuum pod that controls it.
My drivers side, didn't have a pull connected to it, So you are on your own there. The parking brake is just a gas wrench and a few taps of a hammer.
It was not hard.

I would need to see the driver side vent and pull location and linkage to even think of what to do/change.
Again, mine didn't have anything connected to that side vent.

[ChevyRacefan]

Looking at this photo, you should be able to make a much smaller cut to clear the bracket and a slot to clear the pull rod.

[Rich72C10]

Thank you ChevyRacefan - you are give me some courage!

As for the brake pedal being a few taps away from clearing with "gas wrench and a few taps of a hammer". It is also a few taps away from me F**king it up LOL

I am going to noodle on this and see if/when I take the parking break out, would I actually be able to get it back in and more importantly working as before ;-)

[ChevyRacefan]

Originally Posted by Rich72C10

Thank you ChevyRacefan - you are give me some courage!

As for the brake pedal being a few taps away from clearing with "gas wrench and a few taps of a hammer". It is also a few taps away from me F**king it up LOL

I am going to noodle on this and see if/when I take the parking break out, would I actually be able to get it back in and more importantly working as before ;-)

Way I did it.
Put the kick panel in place but not installed, this will allow you to eyeball how much you have to move the parking brake pedal.
It has been years so I can't remember but for giggles, say you have to move it to the right 1/2 inch. remove the kick panel now measure the metal panel that will be behind the kick panel to the parking brake pedal. say for this example. the measurement is
10 inches, now add your 1/2 inch. and now the measurement from the metal panel to the pedal you need is 10.5 inches.
You said you have no gas wrench.So goto a shop and have them heat the pedal arm (remove the pedal rubber pad before heat),and hammer the pedal arm to the right till you have that 10.5 measurement. it doesn't take that hard of swings to bend it when 1" of the arm is turning cherry red.
Go home, spray bomb the pedal arm black again,put pedal rubber pad back on. , and you are good to go.
install kick panel.
wha la

[Rich72C10]

Well got my Dremel tool, 3M Dual Lock Reclosable Fastener, and Sound Insulation Deadener Mat in. Modified the kick panels so they clear the driver fresh are vent side pull lever and the Vacuum actuator. So they are installed and sounding as good as these little speakers can sound.

I also had to pull the radio, since Aux did not work. The supplied RCA to mini-phono was rubbish. When I pulled the RCAs out from the back of the radio the stingers stayed in the radio! Darn Chinese crap. Luckily I had a replacement to use of much better quality. I also re-connected the iPod pigtail and that is working properly too.

The only problem left, the parking break will not clear the speaker. My brother said remove the parking break and he'll un-tack it and make it adjustable like I saw Hotrod do in this thread RetroSound kickpanel speaker. Now I just got to figure out how to remove the parking break LOL!

Edit:
Just read up on removing the parking break - does not seem such a job! While there are only two nuts (firewall), one bolt (dash) it seems you have to loosen up the dash as a whole to get some play. Then I guess the wire is a pain too... so lovely. Nothing is ever easy :'(

[ChevyRacefan]

Oh it is easy. you just are choosing to take the harder route.
heat and a few taps of a hammer. boom done.

[Rich72C10]

Not disagreeing with you (going a harder route) but I just haven't the resources here for that. I am also a bit negative just putting a torch on the arm and banging on it while its in the cab.

I just sourced a parking brake assy form Leon (LocDoc) and it will be dropped off at my brothers to do the thing that Hart_Rod did by moving the pedal over. Granted that means I need to remove mine / install this new modded one - which removing/installing the parking brake assy is not the easiest of chores.

[ChevyRacefan]

Originally Posted by Rich72C10

Not disagreeing with you (going a harder route) but I just haven't the resources here for that. I am also a bit negative just putting a torch on the arm and banging on it while its in the cab.

I just sourced a parking brake assy form Leon (LocDoc) and it will be dropped off at my brothers to do the thing that Hart_Rod did by moving the pedal over. Granted that means I need to remove mine / install this new modded one - which removing/installing the parking brake assy is not the easiest of chores.

Whatever works for you. no worries.
I used a small torch tip, and it took all of a minute to get dark cherry red ,and a few taps. and it was done, I wrapped the pedal with a wet rag/towel to cool it, faster than just air. mostly so I didn't have to wait as long to get back to working.
There isn't a right or wrong way. I know I had no interest in trying to remove the unit from the cab. so, heat and tap tap it was.

[spmtamu11]

Originally Posted by Rich72C10

Sooo, I have flipped again to getting a modern radio and not retrofitting the AC Delco. It's a Custom Audiosound Slidebar Radio. Which I am getting from TAYMAN ELECTRICAL LLC. Over the weekend I had great email correspondence with Gary Tayman. Which I had started with talking to him about the Aurora Design Products to convert my AC Delco Radio. He has been doing classic radios for like 20 years. During the emails and visiting his site, I discovered he sold the USA-740, thus I dropped my plan to retrofit to Aurora. He resales Custom Autosound and has been since their beginnings.

Then I flipped from the USA-740 to the Slider late last night. I like the aesthetics of the black knobs and black buttons (it looks more like the AC Delco). The features between Aurora Design and the Slider (or 740) are the same but I'll get a lot more room with the modern radio, which after working under the dash has become important to me (I can now upgrade the dash speaker). I also like how the Bluetooth is a module for the Slider, since that does open the door to upgrading it (if there is ever a upgrade). I have actually had this happen with a Mazda where the OEM BT Module was replaced because of complaints of its operation.

Lastly, this morning to firm things up I had a 30+ minute call with Gary, mostly about me flipping from the 740 to the Slidebar Radio and the Kick Panels they sale for our 67-72 C10s.

Below is some interesting quotes from Gary's emails to me.

Gary Tayman:

Gary Tayman:

What I ended up buying:

• Slidebar Radio 1967-72 Chevy Truck $299.95
• DVC-4005-A 4x10 Speaker with Mounting Bracket. $49.95
• BLUKIT Bluetooth Adapter $109.00
• PIO-KCHT-67/2 Kick Panels with 6.5" Pioneer upgrade speakers $189.00

Why did you decide to go with the slidebar instead of the 740 that came with bluetooth already? Was it just the potential to need to upgrade the bluetooth component in the future? Or was there another determining factor?

TIA

[Rich72C10]

Originally Posted by spmtamu11

Why did you decide to go with the slidebar instead of the 740 that came with bluetooth already? Was it just the potential to need to upgrade the bluetooth component in the future? Or was there another determining factor?

TIA

1. I like the idea of the slide bar looking more "stock" and also the push buttons are back (vs chrome). And to be clear it is just a look, it has no functions. I think I read is could help with thief but to be honest, if someone can pull it out of the dash the deserve to have it LOL
2. And perhaps they'll have a BT Module upgrade.

So those two combined took me to it over the 740. Now that I got it all working I am happy with the head unit. Only if I had larger/higher end speakers with an amp would I know if the head unit is lacking (in sound). The features are great. I have had a few calls via BT and compared to some stock cars it is better, though I think that is more to do with the mic and its placement. The best sound is when I am in iPod mode but there isn't any hands free with that. The manual says only up to iPhone 4s but my iPhone 12 Max Pro is working perfectly in that mode. Aux is also working as a fall back but I don't see it being used much, if at all.

One thing I did not expect is getting FM Station Text from the FM stations that support it. Heck only once I started getting very new cars with very high end stock radios did that start to happen (2016).

[darguy]

Cool that we're seeing some approaches in this thread!

I'm still waiting on my retrofitted radio, but I've received the speakers. Got a killer 40% off boxing day sale:

Hertz 300 Watt 2 Ohms D Class Mono Car Amplifier (DPOWER1)
Hertz Cento 4" Two-Way 40 Watts RMS 4 Ohms Coaxial Speakers - Pair (CX1005)
Hertz Cento 5" Two-Way 50 Watts RMS 4 Ohms Coaxial Speakers - Pair (CX130)
Hertz Cento CS 250 S4 10" 300 watts at 4 Ohms Subwoofer (CS250S4)

The 4" speakers will go under the dash in the original speaker location, the 5" speakers under the seat facing forward, and the sub under the seat facing up. The subwoofer amp will be behind the seat where the gas tank was, along with some other electrical outposts.