Double Din in an OBS pickup? Any thoughts helpful!

[RunItOver]

Anyone ever installed or have pics of an installation of a Double din or Din and a half aftermarket stereo in an 88-98 Chevy/GMC pickup? I know theres custom fab work involved and thats not a problem but i just want some opinions/pics if possible. Im thinking of relocating the Ac controls to where the lighter or ashtray is now and pulling out the stock cd player and making that whole panel fit a double din unit or fab a touchscreen into it. I know it'll take alot of work but like i said its not a problem. With my new truck, im going for looks that no one has, at least around here. Ive already painted it myself, a 3 stage Corvette Yellow, with custom pinstriping, and added HD chrome stock wheels from the 03's and above Chevys, took out all the old plastic dash panel and added custom woodgrain and painted the dash surround 3 stage ebony black. Im mainly concentrating on the interior first since we do most of our living in it, Ill get to the engine later...Any thoughts and opinions will be helpful and mighty appreciated.

 

 

 

Mike

[mmmikkke]

Mike, your '96 Silverado has the 1.5 din opening that started with the redesigned dash in the '95 models. That 1.5 din dash opening continued into the NBS trucks through the '02 model year. Starting in '03, GM went to 2-din.

 

I had a '95 truck and I put a Pioneer 1.5 din unit in the dash and everything fitted up great. But to put a 2-din unit in there would have required a lot of custom rework, as you have said.

 

My recollection of the particulars are that the heater controls are easy to remove, and they have a lot of circuitry on there, and some pretty complicated cables connecting into the dash wiring harness. Moving them a short distance might be possible but moving them a long distance will require splicing all those wires, I'd be afraid of the reliability of the wiring after doing something like that.

[bmhf]

i have a 98 sierra, and i want to do the same thing, double din touch screen, i was thinking of scrapping the little storage slot, lowering the heater/ ac controls into that spot and leaving ample room above to add the stereo, my only question which i have not had time to figure out is if there is enough room back there to move everything like that, if anyone knows??

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Hey I actually just did this project over the last couple weeks!

 

I took the factory dash piece for the tape player, I cut out a rectangle in that piece, inserted and attached a wooden frame for the double din sleeve at the angle I wanted. Then I wrapped it in fleece, applied fiberglass, and then filled it with bondo. I did have to take out the entire dash to cut away the heater vents though. this was a labor intensive task but it is doable. I simply cut off the venting and blocked it off. I should have pictures up within a week or too, I just finished the project so I don't have any final pics.

 

Here are a couple pics before it's all finished...It's not perfect but this is the first time I ever attempted fiberglass or bondo and I was working with limited time, limited tools, and poor weather.