Batboard

ok, i've built some speaker boxes and false floors and such, but this is my first attempt at a radio console. it will ultimately be covered in black cabinet carpet (the kind without a backing). it will hold 28" of faceplates. i'm using troy products (23" of them). i'll use some troy blanks down bottom to take up the slack, but up top i have to contour it to the dash. i have some textured abs plastic that's a spot-on match for the finish on the faceplates. same thickness too. i'll make the top filler plate out of that and contour it to the dash.

i'm using a cooper/bussman fuse panel that will be accessible on the passenger side up close to the dash area near the floor. there will also be two additional 12v power outlets up in that same area. you can barely notice it in the pic, but the whole thing is asymmetric, in that it is shifted over closer to the passenger side. this leaves room down the whole driver's side for the mics.

as you can see i completely removed the stock middle seat/console section. however i still wanted the armrest part, but that was a problem because it bolted to the stock seat bottom. so i layered up some plywood to bring the edges out to where they needed to be and thru-bolted the armrest in place with some 5/16" s/s hardware.

how am i doing so far?

Looking good so far i'd say!

I'm still in the planning phase of my '98 Explorer install. I'll probably be using wood construction of some kind, but i'm not sure what to do to make it look somewhat professional.

Keep us updated on your progress!

eboe wrote:ok, i've built some speaker boxes and false floors and such, but this is my first attempt at a radio console. it will ultimately be covered in black cabinet carpet (the kind without a backing). it will hold 28" of faceplates. i'm using troy products (23" of them). i'll use some troy blanks down bottom to take up the slack, but up top i have to contour it to the dash. i have some textured abs plastic that's a spot-on match for the finish on the faceplates. same thickness too. i'll make the top filler plate out of that and contour it to the dash.

Since you have already made wooden sides (which could be used as templates), there's a a Shop in Metuchen that has a laser cutting system that could fab them out of aluminum or steel. Neat thing about the laser is it can "drill" the holes to mount the Troy support rails, cut the holes for cigar lighter plugs & all the detail work as well. Does it all in one shot from an AutoCAD file. Owner does small projects all the time as busy work.

The other side of the coin is you could then use auto interior paint to match it to the trucks interior & not have to deal with carpet.

that's a neat idea, but i have too many things designed around the thickness of the wood and so forth. if i were thinking of producing these commercially, even on a small scale, i'd definately want to have something like that done. besides, i like the carpet! lol. ...gives it that half stock appearance where the carpet sides meet the faceplates.

I Like the look of of furniture grade plywood, properly finished, without carpeting..
I've used Birch or similar, sanded, with a couple coats of satin verathane, and brass or stainless screws.

My previous truck had a simple box sitting on the seat, with 2 spectra A7 and 1 x9000 head, and a wildcard DEK, with a bc760xlt scanner hanging off the front of the box/seat. A slot was cut on the right side with a roto-zip to feed the mic cables, and the mic clips were along the right side. A tail on the box tucked into the space beteen the seat and seatback. There was space in the box for 2 additional spectra heads (all A3/4/5/7), or drinks/etc.