Radio Removal

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attack tiger

attack tiger

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I did a quick search and came up with bupkis. Can someone tell me how to get my stock AM Radio out of the dash so I can install one of them new-fangled radio-thingys?

I have a 74 Duster AC car with the underdash vents. If I remove those vents, is the rest of it kinda cut-and-dry? How hard is it to get those vents out?

Sorry guys. I just like to know what I'm getting into before I dive in. I hate breaking 45-year-old plastic playing guessing games.

Thanks!
 
yeah the vents come out pretty easy, 3 or 4 screws, flex tubes, sometimes nuts and screws through the lower lip (going inward) . For the radio, that is easy too.
Pull the knobs off the front (they should just pull straight off) then there are thin nuts under the knobs and a support bracket in the back. wire plug,antenna and ground IIRC.
(only carnage might be the original clamps on the flex tubes and the tubes might be dryrotted). This is what I remember from the 75 valiant I had 'bout 4 years ago
 
omahamoparguy said:
yeah the vents come out pretty easy, 3 or 4 screws, flex tubes, sometimes nuts and screws through the lower lip (going inward) . For the radio, that is easy too.
Pull the knobs off the front (they should just pull straight off) then there are thin nuts under the knobs and a support bracket in the back. wire plug,antenna and ground IIRC.
(only carnage might be the original clamps on the flex tubes and the tubes might be dryrotted). This is what I remember from the 75 valiant I had 'bout 4 years ago
Click to expand...

Great. On a side note, will I be able to access my climate controls? My slide selector doesn't work anymore, and I'd like to be able to turn my vents on. Thank God it's stuck on defrost, though!
 
If you have the three narrow vent setup, there should be 2 holes that pass through the vent housing. 1/2 inch nuts holding the vent housing on. Pop thos off and the vent slides right out. It has a box that fits over the blower housing at the back, this is normally not secured in at all.

Remove the bracket at the back right (as facing it) and then take out the ashtray box. Pop the knobs off, take off the two retaining bolts around the shafts and push it back and downards and then it drops out.

I just did some of this this past weekend installing gauges in the ashtray location, and it was easier to pull the radio out.

To get to the climate controls, it might be best to take the bezel off if you have one. There are tiny *** retainer bolts to take off, and a allen screw holding the slider control "knob" on. It's easier to pull this stuff out with the instrument bezel and the glove box out.

Wish i would have taken pictures this past weekend, but I will be snapping a few of the finished project up later this week in my resto thread.
 
I recently put an original radio back in my dash and all I did was remove the glovebox liner and finagled it over behind the dash. Took some time and monuvering(sp) but eventually got it where I needed it probably not the best way but it worked.
 
Two additional thoughts.

After you take the plastic vent housing off, there will be to studs sticking out of the bottom of the dash. If you unscrew them then you won't end up poking youself in the hand, arm, or face later on.:sad1:

Before removing the ashtray, disconnect the battery or pull the fuse for the lighter. Its pretty easy to short out that connection to the dash frame when moving things around.
 
What year model / dash are we working on ? Pics ?
 
It's a 1974 Duster A/C car. I ended up building a housing for my stereo and mounting it beneath my vents, leaving my original AM job intact. I don't have any pics yet, but I'll try to get a couple tonight.

I still want to fix my vent controls, but I don't know where to start. Can anyone tell me how they work? Are they vacuum controlled, or cable-controlled? Are there common issues related to this problem?

Here is a pic of the kind of controls I have. I pulled it from the classifieds, but it's identical to my setup.

attachment.php
 
Air direction is vacuum controlled. The WARMER slide is a cable operated door. Here's a tip... lack of vacuum results in default door position ( defrost ). Without the vacuum reservoir the air direction would switch to defrost under hard throttle. That's why it's needed. Hope this helps
 
RedFish said:
Air direction is vacuum controlled. The WARMER slide is a cable operated door. Here's a tip... lack of vacuum results in default door position ( defrost ). Without the vacuum reservoir the air direction would switch to defrost under hard throttle. That's why it's needed. Hope this helps
Click to expand...

You wouldn't happen to have a vacuum diagram, would you? It's okay if you don't. Now that I know what I'm looking for, I can start to diagnose it.

Thanks!
 
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