retrosound stereo
 

hi guys

I am installing a retrosound stereo in a 68 bird. just got it yesterday. interesting setup.....small head unit with metal extension angles that you mount the 'infinity' posts to which are then adjusted to factory spacing. looks like decent unit, but it is 'infinitely' adjustable to fit different cars, so of course it does not exactly fit any. Issues:

1. I want to use my original radio faceplate. the provided plastic face plate is ok but not a very good match for burlwood. the radio opening in the factory faceplate is about 3/4" wider than the retrosound radio. I am thinking of attaching some sort of black flashing to the original faceplate to close the gap.

2. the original radio(which was missing from car when I bought it) has a screw on each side which attaches the radio unit to the metal dash face. the extension angles that come with the retrosound kit do not extend wide enough to reach the dash metal. I am thinking of attaching a small piece of sheet metal to the exterior edge of both extension angles in order to reach over far enough to secure the radio to the metal dash face with screws.

hoping this all works. got Bluetooth unit and retrosound hidden antenna.

anyone have experience with retrosound and solved similar issues?

there should be a black plastic piece in the retrosound kit you can use to fill the gap you have in the radio opening. it will fit snug over the top of the retrosound faceplate. Is that not enough to work?
My bird didn't have a radio or original faceplate when I got it so I'm not sure what size gap you are dealing with.

I had the same issue with the screws that you have, but the knobs seem to hold everything in pretty well.
I was using the new faseplate though and that was a nice tight fit which also helped to support the unit.

I put one in my 68. Once you have everything together it doesnt look half bad. see picture. My unit had terrible interference with the MSD ignition. After trying noise suppressors and other tricks, they finally sent me an extension cable to mount the head unit under my drivers seat. The only thing mounted in the dash is the thin faceplate. That took care of the problem. It was popping and changing volume randomly.

thanks for replies.
the plastic (rubber) flashing that fits snug around the unit is not wide enough to close the gap....would have worked great if it was bigger. I will find some black rigid material and attach to the back side of the original face plate and that should work.

the unit looks good in your dash Steve.

did you guys use a support strap at the rear of the unit? the kit says to use the one provided with my stereo but it was not included. I am thinking if I can get the extension angles securely attached to the metal dash face I might not need the rear support strap since radio is so small and light.

I had a similar problem on another vehicle. I ended up buying a black, plastic 5 gallon bucket lid from Lowes & cutting out an opening for the face to fit through. Then it was just a matter of trimming the outside edges to the size I wanted to fill the gap.
If the plastic is too shiny, just hit it with some sandpaper & spray it with some flat Krylon.

thanks speargun

black plastic lid sounds like perfect material to use. I will drop by Lowes tonite!