Inside the cab, just a couple more small details. Had to figure out something for the parking brake mechanism. I didn't want to re-use the big clunky stock pedal mechanism. But I also didn't want a more modern pull-handle to be so easily visble - thought it might "stick out" visually. There wasn't enough space to mount it between the seat and the driver's door. This location works very well I think - mounted sideways in the seat riser under the driver's side of the bench seat. Cables pass through the floor under the seat to go back to the rear brakes.
Close-up view of the mechanism and mounting. This is a pretty standard aftermarket 'street rod hardware' type parking brake handle.
View from the front. The seat riser itself will be painted the deep red body color, and the parking brake handle will be painted to match. With the upholstered seat installed, you might not even notice that the handle is there unless you knew it was there, which is definitely the goal!
Was able to use the stock brackets on the frame for routing and supporting the parking brake cables. These brackets are so cool, I think - just had to keep them on the truck.
I really hemmed and hawed over speaker placement. Unfortunately, the rear-cab-corner speaker brackets I got from another forum member won't quite work for this build. I found out that the seat would not recline fully with them installed. I'm 6'4", so I'm going to need all the recline I can get in this cab. I know a lot of folks are pretty opposed to cutting cab sheet metal in order to mount speakers, and I definitely wrestled with that myself. Kinda limited for options though, especially because I didn't want to use free-standing kickpanel "pods" for the front speakers. So, the tweeter speakers will get mounted in the stock sheetmetal location shown here, while the 5.25" midrange speakers will get mounted up under the dash, pointed down and slightly forward. Small subwoofer will go behind the seat in a box.
These recessed cups were fabricated to house the tweeters. The inside of the cup is lined with some acoustic foam, and the cups are mounted with a gasket for seal against vibration and outside air/elements.
Here's the driver's side tweeter installed. The recessed nature of the cup will allow these small speakers to go mostly unnoticed, I hope, once the dark brown carpet is installed in this area.
And that's all for today. When it gets down to things like speaker mounting, its almost enough to allow myself to imagine driving Marvin again. Lots more to do before that, though, so I'd better keep my daydreaming in check. More updates soon!