Classic Alfa Forums

Hope this may be of interest to some of you.
Now I know we like to hear the sound of our boxer buzzing away up front, but when restoring my car, I knew I would need some sort of stereo.
The consul had been butchered in the past so I didn't feel guilty about cutting it about.
I had the stereo out of my old 156 and decided to use that as I feel it has a retro look to it.
You may know that the 156 stereo is not exactly rectangular, so I sourced the centre consul from the dash of 156 off ebay.
The section which holds the stereo was cut off and measured to line up with the ti original.

Once the hole was made, I tacked the infill in place with super glue to check all lined up.
When happy with the fit, I bonded it in place with glass fibre.
Once set, the repair area was blended with stopper (a fine filler) to hid the imperfections.
The new consul was then prepped and sprayed black to complete the overall look.

Once dry, a photo to show how it looks, along with the final installation in the car.
A wire loom was made up so that the standard 156 unit still operated as designed.
I also have an auto changer in the boot, which runs through this head unit.
Hope you like it, I think it fits in well without shouting "aftermarket" too much.

That looks really nice mate, nice and accurate which I like to see good job

suits the car nicely mate, great bit of work to get it to look like it was always supposed to be there too, well done

Thanks guys, I am glad you liked it.
I achieved the look I wanted, as I didn't want anything looking too modern, after all, it has a tape deck.
Funny thing is, I hardy use it !!

Great work chap, looks the part

Nice work!

What type of paint did you use to get the textured finish? I am planning to do something similar with my centre console and tunnel mouldings.

After fitting a Group 2 rally-spec engine in my first Firenza (Big Orange) I gave up on stereos. Top Banana didn't have one, and the Baccaruda had an original mono radio/tape unit that was only there for show. Green Machine doesn't have any room for one!

Lauren

Hi Lauren, sorry it is a bit tame compared to your handy work.
The paint I used was normal two pack black with a 60/40 matting agent (60 % Matt), but the consul did have most of its texture still visible.
Once a solid coat had been applied I "spat" a dry, low pressure coat over the whole lot. It then melts into the first coat but not completely. The first coat has to be almost touch dry so that it keys in.
So far the surface seems very durable.

Thanks Keith.

Wow. That sounds like a very complex process, I'm guessing not the kind of stuff you can get in an aerosol then

What a great job Keith, well done


another mod that the "others" might not like i'm sure, but excellent in my opinion, spot on and a fabulous method and result too.

me likee a lottee

Cheers Shrew,
The judge didn't mention it, but then he didn't mention my S3 door cards either!!