2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

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AEC
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2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by AEC »

Okay, this is a couple of years old now, but I thought it might be worth it.

Since the AM/FM/Tape 'unit' died, I thought 'something ' has to fill the void, so I fab'd a sheet of aluminum and mounted the FT8800 head to the top half of the spacer(one more head to mount later).
Then I took the radio and mounted it against the ducting inside, with holes drilled to allow air flow into that compartment.

Of course, the dual band Radiall/Larsen is roof mounted and cabling runs down the pass. side 'A' pillar.

Power feeds through grommets in the firewall, into a heavy duty filter and fused in both wires, with ground directly to chassis and engine, and B+ from the battery.

The plate fab and drilling the two holes for the mounting took about an hour as I had to trim about an inch with rounding corners and removing burrs.

I tried to give the panel a brushed appearance, but you really can't see this in the shot.

No other reason to post this but thought it may be worth a word or two should somebody else have a similar need.

http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/4378/098dc.jpg
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fineshot1
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by fineshot1 »

Excellent install. If you ever get any other pics please post them, especially if they are of the other
side of your custom bracket plate.
fineshot1
NJ USA
AEC
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by AEC »

I seem to be forgetful when it comes to posting pics, no reason to not do so, but I have a habit of taking pics of all my commercial installs, but hardly
the full install, only the final results are sought after, for my records, and proof to the customer once the job is completed and accepted.

I really do enjoy posting work pics, and if something I have done helps others overcome trouble areas, then so mucch the better.
AEC
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by AEC »

I almost forgot:

Thank you for the compliment!
kc8rsr
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by kc8rsr »

looks good.
would have painted the plate to blend in with the dash more, but thats just me.
AEC
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by AEC »

I looked into painting it, but the tiny touchup pens wouldn't cut it...take too many to cover, plus too many spots would dry too fast to look even horrible once covered.

Also considered using vinyl covering...again, can't match colors up properly.

But thanks for the 'flowers' about the install.
W6WAW
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by W6WAW »

If you are painting a panel, you would do much better with a spray can than a touch-up paint kit.

You could cover the panel with a scrap of vinyl first for texture, etc.

For an installation I did, I wanted the speaker to match the factory console. I had a custom spray can made up by http://www.vinylpro.com/ matched to a small piece of the console that could be spared for the week or so turn around. The match was very close. They use SEM paint and you should let them know exactly what you are painting so that they use the correct type.

I have no connection with vinylpro except as a satisfied customer.

Fred Bray
W6WAW
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by AEC »

Fred:

All the spray paints I tested fell far short of admisible when it came to cloe enough color matching, and vinyl here in the hill country is textured and patterened for other places-not vehicle related I am sad to say,

After looking at this for the past two years I have come to enjoy it I suppose.....A little odd, but that's me.

Once the weather turns nice again, I'll probably revisit this unfinished work and dream up a solution to it.

Maybe just paint it black once I remote mount my GTX head on it.
W6WAW
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by W6WAW »

I'm not sure that I explained the custom paint process fully. Here's what the company I referred to told me in an e-mail: "If you send us a swatch at least a 1/2 inch square, the computer program generates a formula for us...we make some up and spray it out and bring it back to the computer and it keeps correcting it till it gets as close as possible, which is usually very good." They do charge $25 for the matching plus about $14 for the spray can of paint. It is expensive, but for something you will be looking at every day for as long as you drive that car it may be worth it.

A real paint store -- one that mixes paint for body shops -- might also be able to do this. There are places on the web that will mix exterior paint to the vehicle's paint code and even adjust for any variations for a particular model based on the VIN.

The place I mentioned is apparently used by people who are restoring classic cars and need to match parts to the original interior that is otherwise intact. I am happy with the result I got.

Good luck on your project. It looks like you did a careful job.

73,

Fred
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Re: 2K Buick century, Yaesu FT8800

Post by AEC »

Thanks for the info. Fred.

Years ago I used to sell auto parts and was involved with mixing paints, and we used what was called a 'prophet' machine that does exactly as you stated....creates a mixture that matches the vehicle's colors.

The car is too old to waste real money on it, plus it has almost 300K on her as swell, so I work only to keep it running and stopping now.
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