How much airspace around a head unit?

I'm building a custom enclosure for my head unit, and am curious how much ventilation it needs.  I'm not going to use the built-in amp, so there shouldn't be any heat from that.  The dash opening in my Charger is the old two-post type, and I'm losing that part of my dash anyway because I'm mounting some gauges there.  I'm planning on building a box for the head unit, covering it with vinyl, and mounting it under the dash, kind of like a CB radio.  How much clearance should I build in around the head unitSc

Scott Gardner

P.S. Have you ever tried to figure out where to put 12 gauges in a dash?  I think I'm going to end up with dash-top pods, kind of like the GTO in "XXX"!

Even though you’re not using the built in amp, the head unit will still generate a lot of heat. I would suggest you leave at least a 1/2 inch on the top and bottom and allow vents for it to breathe. You may want to consider leaving the back end opens so it can breathe. You can also build a fan into the enclosure. As far as the car goes what year is it? My father has an all original 68 R/T

bberman1 wrote:

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Even though you’re not using the built in amp, the head unit will still generate a lot of heat. I would suggest you leave at least a 1/2 inch on the top and bottom and allow vents for it to breathe. You may want to consider leaving the back end opens so it can breathe. You can also build a fan into the enclosure. As far as the car goes what year is it? My father has an all original 68 R/T

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It's a 1972, so it's the body style after your dad's.  It should be nice putting a system in it, because there's room for EVERYTHING.  I'm going to use a lot of sound deadening, though, since it's noisy.

Scott

INTENSECUSTOMS wrote:

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i dont think air space is a major ploblem,ive seen radios in such places you wouldnt think they would last a day but did ,in the glove ,dash center console ,ceilings,i mean everywhere you can think .The thing id worry about is moisture dirt dust (heat -vents)if anything.I f you want to fit that many guages in the dash  fiberglass the hole thing and make room ,get rid of whatever you dont need and customize the guages wherever you want.

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The fiberglas is an interesting idea.  How much does something like that cost, if I don't do it myself?  The reason I'm asking is that there are some severe cracks in the top of the dash, and I was going to send it to Just Dashes to have it recovered.  That will run about $500, so if I can have it duplicated in fiberglas for less, that might be an option.  There are a lot of openings in the factory dash that I'm not going to be re-using, like the A/C vents and the single speaker in the top of the dash.

When someone fiberglasses a dash, are they usually making an entirely new dash out of 'glas, or are they stripping the original dash down to the frame, covering it with fiberglas and sanding/cutting it to shape?

Scott