sounds great!

New year, new plan: I just know 2015 will be the year the '68 runs again! I've got mixed feelings about the decline in the number of posts I've been writing about this project in the latter three years: of course it's mainly due to "other things" taking priority, but I also think that my posting style has evolved such that I can cover more progress in each installment. There, that sounds much better!

The trend is down.

Even though I spent most of the Summer working on the shed and deck projects, I did find a few hours here and there to chip away at the car. One of the things I worked on was the audio system. When I got the car is was still equipped with the original am-only radio and the solitary center-dash peanut-sized speaker. Clearly this would not do.

Original water-stained maroon package tray

starting to look better...

Test-fitted the speakers

After cutting the speaker holes, I covered both sides of the modified package tray in thin foam which I attached with the 3M yellow weatherstrip adhesive. After that I wrapped the package tray in the special material I will be using for the interior accent pieces. I'll be keeping the exact design a secret for the time being. Later I installed the revamped package tray and speakers in the car.

I hand re-painted the original radio bezel and test fitted it with the radio unit I bought from Custom Autosound. I've not heard the unit play yet, so I can't review it, but I will say that I was very disappointed with  the company's customer service (both my emails remain unanswered) and with the lack of speaker wires included in the package.

Installation in the dash was pretty easy. I installed my custom speaker wires for the two rear speakers. I'll be installing custom control knobs for the radio in the future.

I'm using a "hide away" antenna which I can either hide in the glovebox or at the edge of the dash pad. I also made the connections for my cell phone and MP3 player which are straightforward with this package. I made sure I left plenty of extra cable so I don't have to keep the phone in the glovebox while it's charging.

Getting the glovebox door aligned correctly was a bit of a chore. It's been almost four  years since these parts were painted - they were actually done at the same time as the interior portion of the doors. I'll be installing tweeters in the door panels or at the kick panels later.

Lovely-jubbly