This is a major step away from a restoration project, but I think that all of us just have to have a good stereo!
What I did isn't for the faint of heart and requires that you are good at fabricating. I like to think of this page as something to give ideas on what can be done. You will not find the local stereo shop wanting to spend the time unless you pay them real well. (I don't know of any stereo shop that does steel fabrication!!)
I'm sorry if this takes a long time to load (due to the photos). Most of the photos are click-able to an even larger version. You will have to use your "back" button to return.
General comments and notes; (things to be said up front)
If you have a "stock" dash assembly and don't want to cut it up, the easiest thing would be to get one of the stereos from Custom Autosound Mfg. They make ones to fit the stock dash and can even control a CD changer (theirs only). They also make a "swing down" unit that they market under the name "secretaudio".
If you farm out the work that I did, it will cost a lot of money! I enjoy fabricating stuff and have the equipment to do it, so it was no problem for me. It did take a lot of time cutting, fitting, and welding!! If you are not equipped to do this sort of thing, make friends with somebody that can help.
History on my installation;
Some time back, I made a custom dash for my 64 2 door wagon and I didn't leave room for a stereo to be mounted. The truth is that it was a mistake. That meant that I had to mount a stereo someplace else. The glove box was the simple solution, but there were other problems unique to my car!
I had previously installed a Vintage Air unit and it sits under the dashboard and takes up a lot of space. When you get the kit, it comes with a new glove box that is more shallow than the original. Thus "depth" in the glove box area was going to be an issue. It was such a problem that even after setting the stereo in as deep as I could, I had to "notch back" the inside face of the glove box door.
Another problem is that there is a bank of relays and a fuse box mounted just below the lip of the glove box hinge. Everything was out of the way, but there would have to be access to the fuses if one should blow. (The relays are for the power windows and door locks)
What I was after, and what I felt that I didn't need;
I wanted a off-the-shelf "in-dash" type CD player from a major manufacturer. For reasons noted below, it had to have a infrared remote control.
I needed to be able to work the unit while the glove box door was closed, when you couldn't see the unit.
It had to have a front to rear fader (it's a station wagon)!
What I didn't really feel the need for would be power amps or a CD changer, however the unit that I picked has these options and I could add them if I wanted.
I picked up an Alpine CDA-7840 at Circuit City. It's has a standard "DIN" mount and removable (although there is no reason to in this installation) face plate.
I also wanted to have a "power port" (cigarette lighter) available. (I guess I qualify as a yuppie due to having a cell phone)
Fabricating the Glove Box;
Due to having to have fuse access at the lower surface of the glove box, the stereo would have to "float" above the lower surface. The photo showing the box "upside down" shows the opening.
I started with the metal "DIN" mount and started fabricating the shape that I was after for the "floating" section, or "stereo assembly". You have to keep in mind openings for all the electrical hook-ups, the antenna, and also the screw at the rear that prevents a thief from removing your unit. (It would take me about half an hour to remove the thing, and that's will all my tools present and knowing how to do it.) Also think about air holes for cooling the stereo.
I then made up the simple "glove box assembly" taking into account all the mounting points around the lip of the door.
Believe me when I say that it's easiest to worry about the two shapes one at a time!
Then, I cut away areas from the "glove box assembly" to fit the "stereo assembly" where it needed to be. After that, the two assemblies were welded together.
I used bondo to smooth out the inner curves of the box and then painted it with a "fake rock" paint that I got at Home Depot. (it's hard to believe, but the painted surface looks like it belongs)
I now had a stereo unit that I could mount.
This shows the assembly from the rear and what should be noted is the screw with the wire attached to it. This goes into the body of the stereo and prevents it's removal!
This is the front view (I've since fixed that paint booger on the left).
This view is with the assembly placed upside down. The only reason I'm showing this is so that you can see the opening for the fuse block. What you can't see is that there are "air" holes in the metal just below where the stereo is installed. (those "slots" are just part of the metal DIN bracket)
Mistakes;
Installing the unit is a major pain that hopefully you only have to do once.
Being human, the first time I put it in, I forgot to plug in the antenna. It has to be plugged in before final mounting due to there being no access from below (that Vintage Air unit was in the way).
In spite of mounting the stereo as deep within the opening as I could, the glove box door hit on the face of the unit! The solution was to section back the inside face of the door. That meant that I lost two of the "cup holder" indentations. (Does anybody really place a cup of hot coffee there??)
The infrared link;
What makes this page worth typing is that I can control the unit with the glove box door closed (it's really obnoxious if you are sitting in the passengers side and have to have the door hitting your knees!)
Keep in mind that with the infrared link set-up, I could have mounted the stereo anywhere in the car!
What I found is a unit that is marketed for home entertainment centers where you have the cable box, VCR, etc. hidden in a cabinet. But hey, the infrared signal wouldn't know if it's going down the freeway or not.
It's manufactured by a company called Xantech (I'll add a link to their site latter), however they seem to have no interest in the automotive market. (they happen to be close to where I live and I've had to go by several times)
I ordered the parts through one of the local stereo shops and they had them listed in one of the "distributors" books. The cost was about 2/3 of what the Xantech web site quotes, and was around 100 bucks as I recall.
The parts you will need are; 282M mouse emitter, 490-00 infrared receiver, and CB12 connecting block. There are instructions with the parts.
On the left is the "emitter". Although it looks like a solid black unit, it's really just a dark plastic. In the middle is the connector block. On the right is the receiver unit. (that's my two cents, for scale)
The way that this works is that your remote control (from Alpine) sends an infrared signal to the Xantech receiver, it then sends the signal over the wire to it's emitter. The Xantech emitter then sends an infrared signal to the face of the stereo. What is cool is that the emitter can be mounted at an angle away from the face of the stereo, just as long as the standard remote control will work at that angle. It's a function of the stereo unit and you should verify it prior to buying the stereo. Another thing that has to be said is that you should also verify where on the face of the stereo, it's receiver is located. Infrared works by "line of sight" and if the Xantech emitter can't "see" the stereo's receiver, it will not work.
Be real careful if you use a unit from another manufacturer! Some of them require that the emitter be attached to the face of the stereo!!!!! If it has to be attached, you can't remove the stereo face without first disconnecting the emitter wire.
I made up a bracket that would mount the emitter just above the upper lip of the glove box. I also made up a bracket to mount the receiver down under the dash where it can be pointed at by the remote control, but not be seen. Nothing is in view unless you are crawling on the floor!
This photo didn't scan well, but what it shows is the bracket that holds the emitter. I made it so that the wire loops around and is held in place with a tie-wrap. That way I wouldn't have to worry about it getting pulled loose. The black square object is a nut plate for attaching the bracket. Simple sheet metal with a couple bends in it!
This is the bracket I made to mount the receiver. Just a piece of angle iron I had around the garage.
More errors and the solutions;
The Xantech unit works off twelve volts (in a house installation, you would have to buy a transformer). I called their tech department (before buying it!) and asked about wiring it in a car and was told that it would be OK, but may lock up at any voltage over 14 volts. (this is pushing it on a car with a good alternator!)
The first one only lasted about two weeks! They replaced it with no problem and said that some just go bad. I once again made it clear that it was going in a car.
The second one also lasted only about two weeks! This time, we had a more lengthy discussion about it and it was agreed that the problem may be "spikes" in the cars electrical system. They replaced it and came up with a simple circuit to solve the problem. (I've had no further problems and have resisted writing this until I felt that the unit would reliably work)
The solution cost about 2 dollars at Sandy's Electronics! You need a 12 volt Zener diode (part number 1N5242B) and a 100 ohm 1 watt resistor.
I'm not going to go into how the circuit works due to the fact that I'd just get a ton of e-mail telling me how I'm wrong, or how it could be made better. Let's just say that it works and keeps out those nasty "spikes" that were killing the receiver!
This is one diagram that if you decide to build this, you will have to print the "large" version. The "large" version is rotated so that it will print correctly.
One thing that you have to know (if you don't do this sort of thing on a regular basis) is that the zener diode has to be wired in the correct way!!!! If you look at the diagram, you will notice that the symbol for the diode has a line with two little wings on it (real non-technical terms!). Once you buy the diode, you will notice that there is a line printed on it at one end. This is the same line as shown in the diagram. It has to be wired in this direction!
Here are the parts, including the wire for the power line and also some (red) heat shrink tubing. The diode is that little guy below the resistor.
I "built" the circuit into the power supply line that goes to the "CB12" block and then put heat shrink tubing over it. This power line should go to only the Xantech unit.
The final photos;
Keep in mind that you wouldn't normally look at the stereo from this low of an angle. It does show a bunch of stuff however.
On the upper lip of the glove box opening, you will see a bolt head (above the knob on the stereo). This is the attachment of the emitter! You can't see it, even at this angle, but it's above and behind the bolt head.
If you look below the stereo, you can see some yellow stuff. That's the fuse heads. Not easy to get at, but do-able with needle nose pliers (the bent type).
The last thing to note is how I had to modify the inside surface of the glove box door. It's been repainted and you hardly notice it. (it's only the inside surface that was modified)
If you lay on the floor, you would see this view of the receiver. It's the round circular item in the center of the photo. The bracket was painted black and I used a black felt marker to darken the brass bezel of the unit.
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