Re: KPack's 1954 Panama

Posted by BigKev On 2021/11/30 9:19:59
The radio and speaker are all a single unit about the size of a lunch box. It's held in place by the shaft nuts under the radio knobs and the single bracket at the bottom that connects it to the edge of the dash.

There should be pics in my blog.

But generally, I'd do it in the following order.

1) Disconnect Battery
2) Remove the two radio knobs
3) Remove the heater control knobs
4) Remove under dash bulb and its holder (it is right in the way, and unprotected, ask me how I know).
5) Remove the lower radio support bracket
6) If you have the optional rear radio fader switch on the dash, remove that from the dash board as it's pretty much hardwired into the radio so needs to come out with it.
7) Remove the radio knob shaft knobs.
8) The radio should now be free, but you'll have to work it down a bit around the Bowden cables. The antenna plugs in on the driver's side of the case, so as soon as you can see it disconnect to avoid damaging it. Also, the radio has an inline tube fuse holder that supplies power. Disconnect the power at that point by separating the fuse holder.
9) Now it's like giving birth, working pushing the cables to the left and right to work the radio between then and straight down. The heater/defroster plenum is right behind it all as well, so it's a tight squeeze. Another reason to remove the under dash light for clearance.

If there are any wire ties/tape/etc bundling the Bowden cables together, you make have to cut those to give you slack.

Installation is the reverse.

NOTE: Since I rewired everything and have had both the dash and radio in and out several times, one thing I have done is omit the bottom screws from the dash cluster. The top two screws and a dedicated aux ground wire between the cluster and the firewall structure provide all the support and grounding needed. I actually find the aux ground wire gave me brighter dash lights over just the OEM mounting screws.

But anyway, what this allows be to do is pull the cluster out at will in less than 3 mins without disconnecting anything. I can pull out the top two screws, and pull the cluster forward and lay it face down on a towel over the steering column. I do this as this gives me a great view behind the dash, the cluster, and also the side of the radio. It just makes dealing with anything being the dash, 10x easier vs being upsidedown under the dash. Now, I have a new harness in, so my wire is soft/flexible enough and I left enough slack to allow that cluster to be moved out easily. Even with the speedo cable still connected. Not sure if a stiff 60-year-old harness would be that forgiving.

The point of this is that I can easily disconnect the antenna and radio power before I try to drop it down. Also makes it easier to see/reach the left side heater controls.

The same can happen on the passenger side if you remove the glovebox.

This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=239115