Forgive me for I have sinned....

[BuginU2]

Forgive me for I have sinned.

It has been a few years since I've willfully desecrated a VW for my own selfish needs.  Through the years, I've tried to repent of my youthful recklessness.  I have shown respect to those with all original or restored vehicles.  I no longer suggest that the guy with the sweet 51 Split Window should "Slam It".  Despite all this effort - I am still human and sometimes fail to use my better judgement.

I am not worthy to own an all original 77 Riviera. 

I was tempted by the promise of modern technology.  It arrived on my desk unsolicited at the end of the day.  Oh sure - it looked innocent enough, but it was a temptress waiting for me to make a fatal mistake.  Why oh why did I not leave it on my desk?  No - I took this evil box into my hands and headed home.

My wife sees the box and immediately recognizes the potential.  I point out how evil it is - it has both the Apple and Microsoft logos on it.  She won't listen to reason - it was meant to be.  I remove the contents of the box and start sizing up the situation.  It appears to be about the same size as the stock one.  So I head out to the garage and open the passenger door.

The original one still works.  With it's push button memory, mono speaker, AM AND FM bands it has held a place of honor for almost 35 years.... It is original equipment. Yes - ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT - and it works.

Curse you Dremel Company for producing tools that are designed for the type of modifications needed to fit a modern receiver in a vehicle from the 70s.  Oh yes - you would make short work of that all original uncut dash.  It won't take much - all that's needed is a little trim, right?  An eighth of an inch off the top, bottom and sides and it is smooth sailing.

Ah the simplicity of the 70s!  The faceplate was held on by two nuts.  The wires consisted of power, ground, antenna, and the pair going to the original speaker.  The wires were no match for the wire cutters.  Stupidity was in full control now.  The wires cut and original equipment was now sitting on the seat next to me. 

The mounting bracket was held up to the stock uncut dash opening.  It wouldn't take much trimming to get it in there. 

Is anyone or anything going to stop this madness?  A crime is about to be committed! 

The Dremel tool was retrieved from the tool box and the diamond cutoff wheel attached.  Wait!  What is this?  The diamond cutoff wheel is dull - it barely has enough cut to get through a piece of wood.  Where did I get this cutoff wheel from?  Harbor Freight!

As I look for a replacement cutoff wheel - the realization of what almost happened set in.  I hooked the original equipment back up and apologized for my stupidity.

So forgive me for being an idiot and understand that the person that left the receiver on my desk has earned a major butt kicking. 

[CatBox]

Be careful.....























.....that is a gateway modification......

[TotallyVW]

Harbor Freight saves the day!


Be strong Grasshopper.




(my aftermarket equipment is mounted under the dash with the factory non-working radio displayed proudly up top)











"Aftermarket" = Craig 8-track player

It's totally gnarly dude


 

[sdebaker]

Harbor Freight saves the day!


Be strong Grasshopper.




(my aftermarket equipment is mounted under the dash with the factory non-working radio displayed proudly up top)











"Aftermarket" = Craig 8-track player

It's totally gnarly dude


 

My real radio is in the glovebox. Original is still in the dash, decorative but inoperative. I just couldn't have a modern, techno-industrial, sterile-looking radio ruining the look of the classic dash.

[CatBox]

I didn't care as I have a late model and it is my daily transport....

...Oh wait I didn't have to cut my dash to put in the fancy new radio! 

 

[Kev]

Npw if that receiver ended up in my hands there would be no crime as the type 3 has no radio hole!

[BuginU2]

It's yours Kev.

[BuginU2]

So I've got the next two weekends that are going to be VW intensive... we're taking "Stella" (the bus) north for the weekend.  The final destination is several hours (and a ferry ride) away....

So we've gotta keep the kiddos entertained so they don't kill each other in the back. The first outing in the bus identified a lack of suitable place to rest the laptop for the kids to watch a movie on.  I'm out in the garage last night trying to figure out a way to mount the laptop securely.

This afternoon I finally figured it out... so simple really.  WWCBD?  What Would Catbox Do?  So I dug around in the garage and found a old piece of square steel (previously used as a poor man's traction bar).  A little more digging found a scrap piece of shelving material from some old cabinets.  I busted out the cutoff saw and welder and slapped together a frame that would slide into the original magazine holder and hold the piece of shelving material - and the result was a removable laptop table.

I will post pics in a bit.

[Kev]

Sweet! How much for the receiver?

[CatBox]

  WWCBD?  What Would Catbox Do? 

HAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahh!!!!

That is some funny poop right there!

But yeah.....I prolly woulda done something along those lines as well.

Although we have a dual screen DVD that hangs from the headrests. We have yet to test it out, but its got to be better than balancing a portable dvd on the console...

[BuginU2]

Third revision of the laptop stand.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RotorMan]

That is soo rad!!

[Kev]

Thems some hi tech bunji cords!  By the way how the heck do you spell bunji?????