69-70 Owners...Need Feedback: Center Bezel Made for CD Player

bnickel said:

got any pics?

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I have one crappy picture that does not show it all-will try to get another later this week. I took my car completely apart over 2 years ago for the restoration. So, it will require some digging to find the pieces get some decent pictures.

I plan on taking my original instrumentation apart and replacing the stock guages with Autometer guages. I have a Shelby style console guage pod, so I would have full instrumentation when done. Not going to wait for JME or shell out the big bucks--I have seen it done already as I plan, so that is the direction I am going.

I dug out the stereo and the bezel and set it all together in the dash. The fiberglass on the bezel is not great in finish work, but my excuse is I did this during December and I lived in Nebraska at the time--so it was bitter cold. Once it was all together, you couldn't tell. For today's standards, it will be redone before it goes back in as it isn't good enough. But, I will reuse this piece once I have "fixed" it. The only other modification I had to do other than glassing the bezel and sanding out the hole to fit the stereo was minor clearancing on the side trim pieces as they had to have the inner edge shaved back to allow for the stereo can. Once it is all together it looks fine. There are three pictures. One in the car when the dash actually was in my car--a bad shot, but it shows it all fits together even with Air Conditioning. The other two I took last night with the dash sitting on my workbench.

One more--sorry about the quality. I need to figure out how to resize without screwing them up. If anyone wants originals emailed let me know at david.knapp@akzonobel.com This is a picture of the "can" that stays in the car when the stereo is removed.

No need to fab. National Parts Depot part number 18842-2f.

Retails for 99.95

in that picture does the cd player go in the top or bottom

69 Rustang said:

Back in the late 80's when my '69 was my daily driver, my parents bought me a Kenwood pull out stereo. So, I made my own faceplate using an old stock radio faceplate. After measuring, I started by sanding the sides of the stock faceplate and fiberglassing the sides. Once I had sufficient material on the sides, I used my dremel tool to sand away all the plastic from inside until the pull out can would fit inside. When complete, I painted it black. I did not use my deluxe/woodgrain bezel as I could not justify modifying that piece. This part has held up well and looks awesome with the Stereo installed. When my car goes back together, the old Kenwood (with a tape deck) may go back in or I may get a CD version to replace it with. All in all, it was simple to do, just took a little work.

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Doesn't a CD deck stick out from the bezel too far? I've heard that they don't look like they really fit. I'd love to see a new head unit mounted in a '69 if anyone has any pics.

RGS0907 said:

Doesn't a CD deck stick out from the bezel too far? I've heard that they don't look like they really fit. I'd love to see a new head unit mounted in a '69 if anyone has any pics.

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I am not sure why everyone thinks it will stick out.

While mine currently has a tape deck, it is a pull out stereo and has the large "can" left in the opening. The can for the pull out is very deep--at least 1 1/2" deeper than the stereo and fits easily into the opening even with an A/C blower motor/fan. When the dash is fully assembled in the car and the stereo is inserted in the can it fits nice and looks like it belongs there. While I have not shopped for a CD stereo to replace my old Kenwood (so I have not measured yet), the CD stereos I looked at a few years ago were no bigger than what I currently have. All I can say is what I have fits and I think a CD player will fit just as easily.