i want to mount my radio in the glove box. i have a new cardboard box and am wondering how people mounted their radios in the box. thanks for you help. dick r.

 

I made a frame out of metal, covered it with felt and put a brace on the back of CD player, no problems so far 12 years.. without the brace the CD will not be stable.

 

Any audiophiles out there? What I'd like is an amp or head unit that ONLY plays MP3's from a memory stick or iPod-like device. I don't want anything fancy, just something that can be under the seat or in the glove box and be operated easily by a remote or pad. Seems to me something like that would be really compact.

 

I installed mine in the dash so that I don't have to open and close the glove box door everytime I want to change channels or drive around with the door open. I would recommend if your going that way to get a radio or headunit with a remote so you don't have to lean over and crash your truck in the process. I've seen some install the unit under the dash or made a console from the dash to the floorboard for ease of install. I did purchase a Sirius Satellite unit that I use in my daily driver and my truck. I mounted the bracket to the glove box and it comes with a remote control to switch channels (I usually keep it one channel and don't need to flip channels around). Runs me $6.99 per month, but I get all the sounds I need, plus I can switch it over easily to my other vehicles. Just a thought. As for the dash, the PO already cut a hole for a stereo, so I didn't have much options.

 

I mounted mine there in my 48 but I am thinking about removing it and installing a glove box. I don't seem to use the radio often enough.

I used some 1/2 inch flat bar and made a frame for it which I attached to the holes where the glove box normally does. I put the antenna over the passenger side door under the cardboard headliner so there is no outward appearance of a radio. The truck did not have a glove box when I bought it...

 

I'm with Ross on this one; I'm contemplating mounting a radio receiver under or behind seat, then use satellite radio or MP3 or other device to play through it. I don't listen to AM/FM radio much so this setup should be fairly tidy to install , likely in the radio grill cover.

Tom

 

Hi Guys,

Doing this conversion is pretty easy! The ones I've seen have a piece of 1/4 inch plywood or masonite on the bottom of the glove box that is screwed into the lower lip of the dash using the same screws that hold in the stock liner. Use the brackets that come with the stereo to affix it to the plywood. In the back, you can support the plywood by taking a 3/4 inch wide metal strip and bending it under the plyywood (and holding it on with a #10 machine screw) then up to the firewall or defroster duct screws - someplace you don't have to drill a new hole.

I have mine in a wood deck above the windshield and it works great.

I have a Sony CDX-GT6201P which has a built in cable for MP3/iPOD, and a hand remote. It can also be played withthe MP3 players you stick into your cigarette lighter. It has great sound and different programming options for different cruising configurations (you know - for when the old bomb is up at freeway speed and making lots of noise).
I paid $135 for it - easy install and wire.
J!

 

The neatest hidden radio install I've seen in a '48-50 Ford was in a COE flatbed. The guy mounted the radio behind the radio speaker cover. He had a piece of sheet metal with the same contour as the dash, hinged at the bottom with the grill screwed to it. He used a retractable key chain to pull it back into position. Looked all stock and was easy to reach.

 

Ross,
Check out Crutchfield.com.

 

There's some AM/FM/CD MP3 decks at Canadian Tire that have slots for USB or SD (or both), but those are normal-sized head units.

Omnifi sold a neat car MP3 player called the DMP1 that used a small display/controller about the size of a candy bar, with the brain and removable USB hard drive in a module that could be stashed under a seat someplace. It even supported WiFi for loading more music remotely. Those were discontinued and liquidated a couple of years ago through sites like Woot.com, and they continue to show up on eBay. The hard drives can be upgraded, and a user community has developed alternative software for the player.

A slightly warped option is to buy a broken or obsolete 8-track or radio, gut it, and splice wires from the controls into some MP3 player. The iPod may be a good choice since there's all kinds of 3rd party remote controls for them that should be hackable.

 

That's just what I had in mind! I'll keep my eyes open for one!

Edit: found this: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rockford-Fosgate...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Seems to me all that would take is an iPod, a cable with a stereo mini headphone plug at one end and Left and Right outputs at the the other, plugged into a passive volume control, feeding a power amp and speakers.

If you're after better sound quality than MP3s, there are ways of installing a Mac Mini computer in a vehicle, so you can use iTunes software to play all of your music files, including WAV files.

"in dash" "mac mini" - Google Search

Dave
Roadsters.com

 

Seems like I could use my Sansa (like iPod) to pre-amp, and feed its output into a power amp, and be done with it. I could control it from the Sansa. Is there a flaw in my plan??

 

This is what my CD in the glove box look like. Push the door once power CD, twice radio, third time off however, not planned that way.

 

I plan on using somthing like this. Poly-Planar Marine MP3 Kit Includes MA-4055 5" 2-way marine speakers, ME-50 marine amplifier and IC-3.5PM MP3 adapter at Crutchfield.com
If you have a mp3 player like a sansa you have fm radio too.