The previous owner of my 72 Cutlass 442 cut the dash to install an aftermarket radio. I have an original radio to install.The 72 has a woodgrain insert .Can I get a replacement for this insert,or do I have to replace most of the dash.Please help!

 

Hi Ron,
I'm guessing you have a 72 Cutlass Supreme? They were the ones mostly that had the woodgrain dash. But, it was an add on if you ordered it, or had the dealer install it too.

If the previous owner cut the dash, that's not good. Depends on how much damage he did. If your intention is to put the original radio back in, the damage caused by cutting could be a serious one. You can get a replacement dash insert for pretty decent prices nowadays, then just transfer the grounds from your old one to the replacement. There is a radio ground build onto the dash insert the previous owner may have trashed. Also another important thing, your GM factory radio must use 10 ohm speakers to work right. Make sure you take out the aftermarkets if you're going back to original.

About the insert? Yup you can get them from a number of sources: Fusick, http://www.fusick.com/catfile/Catalo...Layout%203.pdf page 72 (a little pricey) Parts Place http://www.thepartsplaceinc.com/ocat...&YearList=1972 decent pricing and metal backed *use keyword - DASH and you'll find the inserts at the bottom of page 1. I like H&H myself; their prices are good and they use metal backed inserts like the factory did http://www.hhclassicauto.com/H&H_Brochure.pdf Their web page address is at the bottom of the page.

Hope you find this information handy. I do have a spare dash insert somewhere in the garage, but would have to do some digging to find it. You might want to check out some of the guys on this site who dismantle cars. One that comes to mind right away is John Mead in Medford OR. Goes by 2blu442 on this site. He's a super guy and one of the fairest I've run into in a long time when it comes to pricing and shipping.

Good luck with your radio changeover.

 

Allan R Thanks for the helpful info. Now,if someone has an insert for my 72 Supreme ,please let me know. Is it a big job to replace this?

 

Ron, the insert is the same for 1970,71,72 f85, Cutlass, Cutlass S, Cutlass Supreme, and Vista Cruiser.

I don't know if it's a really big job, but I suspect that it's not a 2 hour 1 star special that you can do with a flatblade screwdriver.

I have a dash insert that is saddle in color. I'm kind of holding onto it for when I do the cruise switch on the left side of the dash insert. I want to have a back up part in case my drilling and cutting gets out of hand. Check with 2blu442 (John). He might have one for you. He's in Medford OR. If that's too far away, take a look on ebay and see if there's something closer.

Just doing a quick search I found the following:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/70-71-72-CUTLASS-...=item112bf9b76

http://cgi.ebay.ca/1972-cutlass-442-...item20b1609ccd

Those prices are pretty high and I wouldn't pay that much. The seond one does look really nice, but you're going to have to spend money to get the woodgrain overlay for it, and that's running about 140.00. I would suggest you be patient and watch for deals. Take advantage of the market instead of letting it take advantage of you.

Good luck with your project.