1985 Buick Regal install - any ideas? (with pics)

[kanabecsys]

Now that decent weather has descended upon the woods of Minnesota, it's finally time for me to get around to all those projects I've been putting off all winter. On top of my list this week: install a Maxtrac in my car.

Here is a picture of what the dash looks like right now (pardon my makeshift floormat - and yes, the glovebox is removed for a reason... read on):




The three things that immediately come to mind:

1) Under the stereo. Oh, wait - I don't really want to remove the ashtray. Strike that.
2) Under the dash, on the far left of the passanger's footspace. But that just doesn't seem like a good idea.
3) Extend the head cables and make it a trunk-mounter. Hey, now there's a concept!

So off I go the the bench, adding 12' of cable to the Maxtrac's head wiring. And much to my amazement, it works! I thought about putting the head on the ledge above the heating/cooling controls and below the vent, but figured that'd draw even more unwanted attention to the car (don't need a busted window over a cheap Maxtrac head!). Then it occured to me... mount it in the glovebox (seen here setting loose as a mockup):




Yeah, that's the ticket! I can shut the head and mic in the glovebox when I'm not using them, and I can connect the unused front factory speakers in the dash to the radio so I can hear calls with the glovebox shut. The radio gets mounted out-of-sight in the trunk, and the only visible hint a passerby would get is the quarterwave on the trunk. Sounds good to me.

But then I started looking for an acceptable way to run my control cable (four strands of CAT5 - yeah, I know...) and my seperate power cable to the trunk. Gawd, this is why I hate doing installs in cars! Run it under the trim along the headliner? No, that'd mean ripping everything (and I mean everything!) apart. Under the bottom trim? Um, no. On the outside of the car? Get serious; it's low enough to the ground already without having to worry about wires.

Back to the drawing board, now getting desparate for ideas. Under the seat? Nah, don't want that. Behind the dash? No room. On the firewall? Heck no - I'm really out of ideas!

Just to prove it to myself, I tried the Maxtrac under the dash:




But look what happens if I were to move my left foot around. Bad, bad, bad. Especially if the rider was a kid who can't sit still

Any ideas, guys? Or should I just shell out for one of those elusive HHCH Spectras (as if I can afford it)? I really don't want to go back to using an HT...


Keith

[jmr3865]

i have an 84 buick century with a cdm1250. I mounted in right in the middle on the hump there, I also mounted a switchbox and will mount a siren, if somebody has something to say, oh well! They make lock box's for them there. By the time they unscrew it or figure out how to unscrew it, they are caught!

[FFParamedic571]

The glove box is a good Idea if you want to be hidden. Over the years Ive mounted Micor heads, spectra heads.HHCH in a glove box. Is it Practical NO. If you want to ajust the volume, freq or use the mic you are reaching across the seat most times while driving. in 80's GM models its not that hard to run cables and mount radios. A few three letter agencys used them with a VHF1/4 wave in the back package shelf. My suggestion is to mount it on the hump under the ashtray. If you park somewhere questionable, throw a jacket over the hump. Its worked for years with my radios.

[007]

Put it on the hump, and keep a jacket handy....works in my boxy Caprice.