music in car? Or more guages??

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superdart

superdart

Shade Tree Tinker Gnome.....
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Ok..my little dilemma.. I love music..and would really like to put a stereo in my Dart when it's on the street. But that means wiring, speakers, blah,blah,blah...Not to mention that tape decks don't survive in Texas, so it would most certainly mean a CD player (cutting dash to fit).

But, I would also prefer to cut the radio area out, and mount a dash plate for my VDO oil, volt and Air/fuel guages. I think they would look much better IN the dash than under the dash....

What say you???
 
That sounds like a good idea putting the gauges in the radio hole. I might have to try that seeing I have no radio in my Duster and I don't want to spend money on putting a cd player and speakers in it. I probably wouldn't listen to music anyways seeing as my exhaust will be loud with Flowmasters.
 
Ah yes I remember this dilema also.So I compromized and did both... Bought a cheap cd player with 4 KLH speakers and stuffed all new gauges in the dash . Actually the sound of my car is my music But I figured the cd player would come in handy when I'm sitting on the side of the road waiting for the cop to finish writing up my tickets ...LOL
 
mine was easy to decide....it's louder than a radio would be comfortable to listen over, so no radio here.....

but since I modified my stock dash for all aftermarket gauges where the originals went, i have nothing to put where the radio is SUPPOSED to go.....i'll get creative though

if your car isn't loud, i'd go with a radio.....you can make the gauges look ok under the dash...just don't use the regular ol bracket they mount in....make your own.....I made a panel to go under the dash in my 68 mustang, and it has speakers on the sides, gauges in the front, and flows down from the dash to the floor pretty well....painted it to match....

i had a bronco that i made one for, and it was wide enought to mount a CD player into the front of it, as well as the front speakers on the sides and some gauges under the player in front
 
I'm going with no tunes.... As a former musician this might sound weird, but with the 2 chamber Flowmasters I'd need in excess of 600watts to hear anything.....and my hearing is shot from those heavy-metal days on stage doing demolition work. :shaking2: Huh? You say sumthin? WHAT!?!?! :drunken:

Go with the gauges. :thumrigh:
 
I removed my ash try and mounted my guages there. They fit perfect.

newdash3small.jpg
 
I'd have to say tunes :thumrigh: I also have 3" exhaust
and Flo Masters.
But I also Have the CD player, 2= 300w poweamps, And
subwoofer.
:shock: Hey no wonder I haven't hit 12's yet :scratch:
! :thumrigh: The tunes always add to the ride.
Just another opinion :salut:
 
you can do what alot of people do and mount the radio in the glove box it'll be a little far to reach to change cd's but wth a remote you can change stations and adjust volume with ease. you gotta have music at the car it's the only time i listen to music if not while driving at least you have music when parked and thats usually more important anyways.
:supz: :supz: :supz: :supz: :supz:
 
AdamR said:
I removed my ash try and mounted my guages there. They fit perfect.

newdash3small.jpg
Click to expand...
So where's the radio?

My Demon still has the AM radio in the dash. Can't really do anything with it as there's no speakers and the radio sits directly behind the cage.
 
Ok,

I measured my dash area: 2 3/8" x 16" plate would allow me to mount 3 guages (oil, Volts, and Air/Fuel) AND a radio.

Need to take the dash panel off to be sure. If so, it would also solve the cheesy looking add on guage pod under the dash (although the ash tray thing is a GREAT idea).

Yeah..and my car is loud....Comp headers and dual Edelbrock RPM Mufflers.
 
thats pretty cool adam, I dont have the ash tray and wanted to get some gauges, they look pretty cool there. You gotta have a radio though, it can get boring without one unless its not your daily driver. Im gonna replace my am/fm/tape radio with an am/fm/cd/mp3 unit pretty soon.
 
I second the glove box solution. Not only have I never met anyone who actually uses it to store gloves, how many folks acutlly use it for anything. You could mount the unit under the dash plate or mabe a swing-out solution on the door. If you really want to get fancy you can even make a little clip to hold the registration for the nice police officer. Please keep us posted as to your solution.

-LY
 
My cd player is already in the glovebox. It does get a little difficult to change the cd while driving, but you never have to worry about cutting an original dash. I got the speaker tray in the rear and unless you know the car you cant tell theres an aftermarket stereo in it.
 
You might consider "Secret Audio" that allows you to mount under the seat, or anywhere else that's inconspicuous. It has two types of remote controls, one is line-of-sight IR (infra-red), the other is RF (radio frequency) and doesn't have to "see" the transmitter.

Do a web search. Several places sell it.

Jerry
 
Well, i'm not too worried about cutting on an original dash, not much else is original. i'm thinking the new dash plate is the way to go. Still need to take some measurements to make sure everything will fit.
 
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