hey jim, i know you flush mounted a kenwood in you bird....i read the tech article about it, got some questions. i have heard that it is necessary to cut or melt/bend the heater duct.....is that right??does that mean no more heater down there??? and i have heard that when you cut or remove some metal brace back there it makes the console loose or crappy...what you think of that???

seems you are the authority on this.

and do have any more pics??

 

There's no heat duct that interferes with the radio in the firebird. The backside of the console has a bolt-in piece that does interfere. I had to cut that, and reposition the "L" shaped bracket at the back of it. I also had to pound on the transmission tunnel to get a little bit more clearance. I found no comprimise in the strength of the console. If you do, it means that you removed WAY too much material.

 

awesome....but you had to pund the transmission tunnel!!! wow, you've got bigger ***** than I. did you just use a plain old ball peen hammer?? bout how much damage we talkin there?

 

I'm not sure it even moved the metal. It probably just squished the carpet a little and made me think it moved the tunnel. It was still a super-tight fit, but my Kenwood deck is deeper than hell too.

 

i was lookin around behind my deck today...seems that one thing that sits dead center behind the deck will have to be moved<---is that what you are calling the "L-shaped" brace?? other than that, i don't really see what else can be moved or cut to make room.

JiM...ya got any pics of the process that might help?? or any pics for that matter??

i saw a kenwood in the store that was like 9 15/16" or something like that. is that what yours is?? it looked like most brands were around 10" and it looked like pioneer was like 8 3/4" deep. hmmm maybe i should consider the depth when picking a deck.

 

I don't have any pics of the firebird install.

The "L" shaped bracket is just that. It's hard to describe it another way. It's a metal bracket that's bolted to the floor. It's what holds the center console in place. That needs to be relocated.

You also need to cut some of the plastic that the bracket is mounted to. That piece is a separate piece from the rest of the console and can be removed in order to modify it.