TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Aug 24, 2014 7:45 pm

Hi,
I have a 1971 Type 3 Square and I am currently restoring it. I was just wondering if some of you could post pictures of your dash boards with and without radios. I would also really appreciate it if those of you with radios would tell me what kind of radio you have and/or suggest and where you installed your speakers.
Thanks for the help everyone

Sun Aug 24, 2014 10:51 pm

Lots of photos of dashes so I won't add mine to the chorus.

I cut my package shelf back in the early 1980s to add a pair of Jensen TriAxial 6x9 speakers. Sacrilege but the deed is done. If I were doing it over I might look for either front inner fender panels or perhaps a "suitcase" style bluetooth box for the rear seat, since I rarely carry passengers.

My current efforts are aimed at wiring up a bluetooth system and hiding it, so those speaker grills are the only hints at something more powerful inside.

The stock radio mount should work with most DIN-standard radios.

Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:37 am

You are looking for this style plastic mount & a Sapphire XV. These came out of a wrecked '71 square. I sold the radio & mount for $150.

Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:31 pm

These may help.

Screws attach to the lower dash lip here. Stock, they are just sheet metal screws, easy to overtighten and strip the hole.

You install the plastic frame to the dash first, screwdriver aimed through these two access holes. Then you angle the radio in carefully, and loosely screw the thin front control stalk nuts and washers.

Finally, hook the little tab (maybe covered in rubber as here) between the two tabs on the fresh air housing, to hold up the rear of the radio.

It's flakey, but it works. Check your plastic bracket for cracks, since those two holes get stressed and bent over the years.

Wed Aug 27, 2014 1:34 pm

My '71 came with an aftermarket AM radio ('70s vintage) attached with a piece of sheet metal wired to a speaker that was screwed to the bottom of the glove box.

I just finished putting in a slightly more factory install. I say slightly because I bought the radio and mount separately here on the Samba, then learned that my radio (a Grundig Emden III E) didn't fit into the late model T3 radio mount. What I ended up doing was cutting a hole into the plastic and just shoving it in. It's not perfect, but it looks pretty good. I've also got a zip tie running from the back of the radio to the fresh air box to support it.

The other problem I encountered was installing the speaker. I got a modern 4x6 Kicker for the dash. There were no pre-drilled holes or mounting points in my dash, so I used some washers as clamps to suspend the speaker from the dash plate. Maybe it was my mount or maybe it was the size of a modern speaker, but the magnet protrudes into the space where the ash tray is supposed to go. I'm planning to fab something in plastic that'll go in there and hold the connector for an aux plug behind the ash tray cover, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Sun Aug 31, 2014 4:10 pm

I was just wondering if anyone knew what a ballpark estimate on the mount and radio would be worth

Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:09 pm

Ipuente wrote: I was just wondering if anyone knew what a ballpark estimate on the mount and radio would be worth

Whatever someone is willing to pay. My 65 has a chrome metal one, that was cut out for a CD player. I paid 10 bucks for it, and installed a CD player into my car. 8) My 71 Square has the plastic mount shown above, un-cut. Don't know what it's worth.

Sun Aug 31, 2014 5:21 pm

I am looking for one an I have found one for $75 w/ the radio I was wondering if that's a good price

Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:50 pm

We have 2 of those plastic mounts up for grabs. PM if interested.