I got a couple of things done today.
Installed the rear window trim. The trim restoration was not bad considering the poor shape of the trim. There were 80 grit scratches on part of it and it was badly dented. I took about two hours taping the dents out and another 6 hours removing all of the scratches. I had to sand part of the trim with 400 grit, then 600, 1000 and 2000 before I could even buff it. With the buffing compounds I had on hand, 2000 grit scratches were hard to remove.
I resolved the tail light problem. The wires for brake and turn were reversed in the right hand tail light assembly. Rather than remove the bumper I just swapped the wires in the rear light harness connector. I'm not even sure if it's even feasible to swap the wires at the light socket.
I continued hooking up the electrical system. Connected the console wiring. Bumped the starter and yes the engine turned.
I found I don't have the strength to crimp 4 gauge connectors with an improper tool with one hand. It was hard to do even with two hands. I guess I will be looking for the proper crimp tool. I need to clean up and shorten some under hood wiring.
Retro sound radio.
I don't recommend the Retro Sound Radio if you care about sound quality. I continued to play with eq settings on the amp, and while I think I got really decent sound, it could be better. There may still be some improvement when I get the front amp hooked up. If I had it to do again I would use a different head unit.
I didn't find and bad reviews of the Retro unit. In retrospect, I think that most of the people who bought RetroSound did not buy the unit with sound quality as a major concern. I think most were probably more concerned with it fitting their dash rather than how well it sounded. It you were to hook this up to a typical 4x10 front speaker, I guess you would never know how bad it sounded. The roll off of bass could be intentional, small speakers don't handle bass very well.
When I was young, I helped my dad do performance measurements for the radio stations he owned. (Annual proof of performance test as required by the FCC). Back in the 60's we actually worked on equipment and repaired it. As a result of my training I am very sensitive to any distortion in my sound system. I'm the type of person who thinks a BOSE Car Radio is only mediocre.
I should sum this up. The internal amp on the RetroSound is not flat. It rolls the bass off and the sound is awful . It sounds like a cheap transistor radio of the 60's. It you use a quality external amp the sound will be OK.
BTW my girl friend heard the radio today and thinks it sounds great and she has a BOSE sound system in her car.