TheSamba.com :: View topic - Should I cut the dash for a radio? Champagne Edition...

Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:59 pm

Bajatacoma wrote: On the downside, my dash was near perfect fine until some kids decided to steal my stereo and tried to pry it out. Those are screwdriver marks around it.

There is the downside for sure. Mine has never been messed with in the glovebox. I say cut it, then my uncut dash will be that much more rare. :wink:

Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:52 pm

Dont do it man... You said that all you had to do is cut the metal, not the padding. The metal is what counts. You want the metal to stay factory size and not cut. If worst comes to worst, you can take the padding off of the dash and paint the metal underneath like they did in Europe until 1979. The metal needs to keep its integrity and form... Dont cut a 35 yarl old dash a $150.00 disposible stereo. Here is my earlier dash with the padding off, but the metal around the radio is intact

Here was my stock '73 dash that the PO hacked the metal so that he could put in a modern radio. I wanted to put the stock radio back in the dash for looks but couldnt due to teh hole being too big. I eventually had to put in an earlier year dash that had intact metal around the radio... Here is the pic before with the busted metal.

Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:38 pm

cut it
but with caution

i cut the corners then bent the metal back to fit a radio

years later......... now i want to put a original stereo in
all ill have to do is bend metal back
i could even tach weld the cut corners back

Thu Apr 16, 2009 11:24 pm

I bet reaching for the glove box is safer than reaching for the radio under the passenger's seat in my bug... :shock:

Relax. I wait until I'm at a red light. Nothing like the funny looks I get after I've leaned down to mess with it and one of my buddies is in the passenger seat, though. :lol:

Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:25 am

Don't cut the dash! Find a CD Changer from a BMW or Mercedes in a wrecking yard. Look on Ebay or Craigslist too, They are out there. The changer will be black and look very unobtursive. Mount it in the back out of the say. Load that baby up with your favorites and roll!

Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:17 am

calebmelvin wrote:
There is the downside for sure. Mine has never been messed with in the glovebox. I say cut it, then my uncut dash will be that much more rare. :wink:

Probably my favorite response!

Well, for now I've chickened out. I have it set up so "turning on" the old radio that is in the hole makes it come on, which I think makes it kinda "retro-cool."

I figure I can always cut it later, but can't ever un-cut it. And I have always liked the fact that it is well-hidden in the glove box. We'll see how the remote does as far as reaching things goes.

Fri Apr 17, 2009 6:41 am

Its No big Deal. Try to enjoy yourself and the radio and the bus.

Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:03 am

[quote="vwwestyman"] busmania24 wrote: ...I was thinking maybe I could at least rig it so that turning the dial on it made the hidden cd player come on. Then it wouldn't have to be tied to the ignition switch, but would be simple to turn on and off. ...
Are you suggesting connecting the controls from an old radio to those of the new deck? Now that would be very cool. I have an original old VW radio (actually, I shouldn't hack that up, either, but this is just hypothetical here)... wouldn't it be neat to use its controls, reconfigured to operate the controls on the remote unit? Fun idea!

Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:30 am

jtauxe wrote:
Are you suggesting connecting the controls from an old radio to those of the new deck? Now that would be very cool. I have an original old VW radio (actually, I shouldn't hack that up, either, but this is just hypothetical here)... wouldn't it be neat to use its controls, reconfigured to operate the controls on the remote unit? Fun idea!

Sort of, the only thing that is controlled by the old radio is the on/off.

The old radio had some kind of 12v out wire when it is turned on (presumably to control an auto antenna or something like that).

Because I discovered that the voltage kinda faded (as opposed to being off immediately) from that wire when the old radio was switched off, I used that power out wire to control a relay. The wire that is normally attached to the ignition switch on the new radio is attached to the other side of the relay.

So:
You turn the on dial of the old radio. This causes power to come to the 12v out, which turns on the relay, which allows the new cd player in the glovebox to come on.

Seems to work great, and that means I won't have to turn the key on to listen to the radio, and it is quick and easy to turn it off (instead of having to hold the off button for a couple seconds which would be required if it were hotwired).

Fri Apr 17, 2009 11:43 am

You guys are still hauling CDs around? C'mon, get with the times :P .. I vote to not cut and find a radio (just a radio) with an ipod jack that fits in the hole. Or even if its still in the glovebox, the ipod cord will easily reach the driver..

Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:40 pm

kevin77westy wrote: You guys are still hauling CDs around? C'mon, get with the times :P .. I vote to not cut and find a radio (just a radio) with an ipod jack that fits in the hole. Or even if its still in the glovebox, the ipod cord will easily reach the driver..

LOL, that was another reason I chose to not cut it. I've got XM radio, and the controller sits on the Plug N Chug cupholder easily enough, so that is usually what I'm messing with most of the time.

Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:03 pm

do it. It is just a plastic dash anyway...

Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:15 pm

surf4321 wrote: do it. It is just a plastic dash anyway...

The metal is what needs to be cut, not much of the plastic...

Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:20 pm

melville wrote: You need only take about 3mm max off all the way around to fit a modern radio. I did this one in less than an hour with a Dremel tool, using the cut-off wheel:

I'm pretty sure if I really wanted to put an OG Sapphire in that spot it would go right in and look just fine. I KNOW I really don't want to, though.

I have been watching this thread because I need to install my new deck. I think I'm going to use a Dremel with a barrel bit and slowly grind the hole out until the cage fits in. I don't think I will go ape $h1t and cut the metal and fold it back. That's too extreme for me. I like the idea of having modern audio in my bus. My Audiovox 8 track sucks monkey balls. Don't get me wrong, I love the 8 tracks but this one sucks. Time to hook up my ipod and sat radio.

Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:36 pm

Probably the first time one of my threads has been resurrected. At least that I've noticed.

Weird to read through it 4 years later.

I ended up refining the system awhile back, shortly before disabling the bus to swap in a TDI motor.

I removed the relay I had mentioned earlier, to clean up the wiring and found that the system seems to work fine without it.

Also I bought a marine radio mount, and cut it up to match the contours of the inside of the glove box. This offers a little protection, as well as makes it look better.

So I have no plans to cut the dash at any time.

Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:41 pm

melville wrote: You need only take about 3mm max off all the way around to fit a modern radio. I did this one in less than an hour with a Dremel tool, using the cut-off wheel:

I'm pretty sure if I really wanted to put an OG Sapphire in that spot it would go right in and look just fine. I KNOW I really don't want to, though.

Did the same to mine. Took off just 3 mm off the stereo port to install the Stereo cage. It went in well.

Thu Aug 08, 2013 3:10 am

don't cut :shock: :shock: :shock:

with the pad, it will be impossible to fix it ...

I really doesn't like moderns radio on busses :?

i put a stéréo blaupunkt which fit well in the original hole
I add an i-pod on the auxiliary socket...

sound is very good, and no one was molested... :wink:

in the westy:

in the deluxe (mono blaupunkt):

:wink: