•  

  Looking Better

  May 5, 2024

  I finally got the interior back together and things are looking pretty good.  A short test drive verified that the tilt steering column was the right choice - very comfortable and with a much improved view of the instruments.  And except for the radio, all the other items worked first time out.  Of course, there are the usual tweaks and adjustments to make but they're minor.  The GPS now sits where the cell phone mount was while the cell phone mount was relocated to a new bracket that attaches to the cup holder.  They all look good and work great in this arrangement. 

  Being paint-matched to the interior, the speakers look great and give me the look I was after.  Now that all of the speakers are completely installed and wired, it seems the big delay will be for the radio.  When I was researching radio solutions, the problem kept cropping up that because of a detail in the GTO dashboard bezel, a standard (Chevy, Olds, Buick) replacement radio would not fit without cutting the GTO dash.  I did find one maker that produces a model that was truely bolt-in without modification, but the price is a staggering $850 at the time of writing. 

  The only other option was to send the radio out to be converted.  I found a fellow in our home state of Pennsylvania, just west of Reading, who does this type of work.  He'll gut the original AM radio and keep only the tuning and pushbutton mechanisms, while replacing the balance of the guts with modern AM/FM and Bluetooth electronics.  What I find most appealing is that the radio is guaranteed to fit because it's the original.  Additionally, it will have all of the modern features but retain the stock look - something I always try to do with this car.  At $550, the price is also much better.  The bad part is that it will take 6 to 8 months.  In addition to current volume of work in his pipeline, people had just dropped off 35 radios at the spring Carlisle car show - and he does them in order.  I still think it'll be worth the wait.  We'll see.

Comments

• (no comments)