Old stereo, new use!

[aka Larry]

I had wanted to have a permanent stereo in the garage for awhile, but I’ve been using a clock radio. Recently I had the idea to use an old car stereo mounted into the workbench and finally decided to do it. Since I had the old Alpine I removed from my wife's car last year I wouldn’t need to buy one.

Here is what I did.


First I marked the bench with tape to show the area to be cut-out.

Next I used a sawzall to cut the opening. Note the tarp below. I put that there to keep all the saw dust off my stuff under the bench. Yes, I'm a lazy *******.

To keep the dust and metal shavings out, I bought a marine-type radio cover with a hinged lid and mounted it over the opening.

Of course I needed 12V power, so I bought a power supply (not shown) on Amazon for $16. I wired it all up and slid the radio into the case.

With the cover closed it is water-tight so it stays safe from most of the shop carnage.

For FM reception I bought a marine antenna (just a long wire really) and have it mounted beneath the workbench. I had two old Kenwood corner-type surround speakers that I decided to use. I made custom brackets and attached them to the rear of the speakers, then mounted them to the pegboard as seen here.

It actually sounds pretty good and with the unit’s 35Wx4 power it’s plenty loud as well.

 

[SeattleKent]

Nice solution. Small. Don't have to worry about dust. Good sound. Great.

 

[930dreamer]

That's a great set up for the garage.

 

[Plump]

Super good idea! In my past, I've gone through a few nice car stereos that could have been repurposed this way. My first speakers in the garage were car speakers as well! Nicely done!

 

[rquackenbush]

That's a great setup. I particularly dig the boat cover - very slick. I also like that it doesn't eat up any shelf / bench top space.

 

[Captain-Matt]

Had a set up like this for ages. Why bother having a premade one? Thats far to boring.
Really like that boat cover though, very nice.
This is ages ago. When the corner of my workbench was tidy. And had less stuff on it.

Thats a... er... I dunno what it was, but I cut a side off it made another shelf out of it, covered over the front and mounted the stereo.

Two house speakers mounted above the bench provide ample volume.

 

[Tech Guy]

Nice install

 

[kngkong]

Cool, that's a pretty slick idea.

 

[KCarGuy]

Nice Job on the install.
I really like the Marine Housing with the cover.

My setup is very much the same, except I used a 1957 Belair Dashboard That is mounted on the wall and I modified the dash to accept a newer style (although old) JVC car stereo.
I also build boxes to fit between 16" studs, and used PVC corners as Ports.
I mounted 6x9 Jensen speakers inside, added Stainless Steel grills and then rewired some old LED Subwoofer Grills that my son had left behind.
I also can plug my IPhone in or my Zune.

Its a great setup.

 

[nine4gmc]

aux input is a must, i blast pandora radio(iphone app) through mine all day.

 

[ghost68]

Looks good. I hadn't thought of that. I think I have stereo boxed up somewhere. Do you happen to have the part number of the converter you bought?

Ghost

 

[aka Larry]

Looks good. I hadn't thought of that. I think I have stereo boxed up somewhere. Do you happen to have the part number of the converter you bought?

Ghost

It was the PYRAMID PS7KX 5 Amp Power Supply, which is now listed for $39.98, but I only paid $16 because of a credit I had at the time.

 

[KCarGuy]

I stopped in at a Local Science Surplus store and picked one up.
I want to say it was about $13.

 

[csp]

I use an old computer power supply for mine.

I like the marine cover. I might have to add that to my setup. Originally I went this route because the stereo I have had an aux input so I could listen to Pandora in the garage.

 

[Captain-Matt]

My setup is very much the same, except I used a 1957 Belair Dashboard That is mounted on the wall

Now why the ****** hell didn't I think of that?! Might have to steal this idea if you don't mind?

 

[softailgarage]

Did the same thing years ago minus the cover. Now with a computer on the bench I dont need the stereo.I like the cover idea though.

 

[Toolman12]

Looking good smart choice on the marine cover it will prevent dust screwing up the mechanism if you remember to close it i would put a small spring on it so it will close automatically.Had roughly the same set up on my old bench and forgot on day while working on the bench stepped sideways and busted the cover off and there not cheap
IMHO

 

[kidney]

Nice. I remember when I was a teen I rigged one up in my parent's garage and used an old trickle charger for the power.

 

[Mmfh]

I used to have a similar setup with an old stereo, I used a small transformer out of a camper. The ones that you plug in the camper and it gives 12v to all the lights. This one is actually fairly large at 20 amps.

Mm

 

[bad_idea]

I did the same thing. Except mine is mounted in the lower dash panel from my 79 Camaro. Swapped in a 2 knob lower dash, so this lower dash panel was sitting on a shelf. Grabbed the power supply from a computer my brother had laying around. Made the dash panel into a drawer front under my workbench to give me easy access to the wiring.

 

[eugz]

great minds think alike!haha i did that in my shed.