I wanted to put a modern sound system in the Laurentian but didn't want a modern deck in the factory radio hole (the 8 track player is too cool to remove!). I thought about mounting a deck in the glovebox but that would be a pain as these cars are too wide to reach the glove box easily from the drivers seat. What I decided to do was modify an original 1960's GM tissue dispenser to hide my deck. 427Carl had one that needed TLC that he graciously gave to me. In case you haven't seen one before, these dispensers mount under the dash. They swing out to load a box of Kleenex. That wouldn't really work for me so here's what I did:
I removed the rivets that hold the chrome "face" to the housing and removed it and the "swing out" hardware. I stripped the grey paint (and rust) from the housing. I removed a metal trim piece above my ashtray which was in great shape and the same colour of my dash and steering column and took it to Carquest where it was scanned to create a custom spray can of "medium green".
The match is excellent and the paint laid on nicely:
Using a pair of inexpensive hinges, I drilled and mounted them to the housing and faceplate to achieve this result:
I lucked out as my deck came with a slide in metal mounting bracket that was a perfect fit inside the dispenser. I drilled two mounting holes in the dispenser and mounted the radio bracket and dispenser to the dash using two small headed nuts and bolts:
The radio slid into the front of the bracket and "locked" into place.
The faceplate of the dispenser only needs to be opened to adjust the radio. The radio has USB and SD slot. I have a 2gb SD card full of my favorite songs. The deck has a wireless remote. I'll attach Velcro tape to the back of it and to the inside of the faceplate. The remote will store nicely in there. There is also plenty of room inside the dispenser to run an IPOD cable to the aux jack. With the faceplate closed, you'd never know there is a radio behind it:
Although I don't think a tissue dispenser was available in '69, it still looks more "period correct" than a modern deck sticking out from the dash.
Well done Todd. I have several tissue boxes that I have picked up over the years squirreled away for exactly the same purpose. I think they may be reproducing these now, I sure hope so, the last one I saw at a swap meet was well north of $100 and was pretty beat up as well.
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Hillar
1970 LS4 (eventually an LS5) Laurentian 2dr hdtp -and a bunch of other muscle cars...
There's lots I can't do but I'm not afraid to try just about anything once! I figure the worse I can do is screw it up! I still can't get over how stupid I was when I was changing my camshaft and couldn't figure out why the damn old cam wouldn't come out. It took an astute member (Dave) to notice in one of the photo's I posted that I hadn't removed the fuel pump......
I have to check. I know I used to have one that was missing some of that. If you have it, don't throw it away. If I don't need it, I think I know someone who does.
Thanks.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Right on.... I haven't mounted my stereo in the tissue box yet, but thats exactly what I'm gonna do. By the way, what kind on hinges did you use? I have the same tissue dispenser, also..
1960 Pontiac Strato Chief Safari 1960 Laurentian Safari 1960 Laurentian 4door(scrapped) 2001 Grand Am Traded on a '96 Suburban 2WD 2002 Hyundai Accent(SOLD) 1968 Grand Parisienne Scrapped and SOLD