[HO455]

Update on the radio. I installed two 3 x 6 speakers in the dash location. I tried to make an enclosure for them but with the stock radio and the speakers I had there just was not enough room. If if I had a radio that was 3/8" farther away from the bottom of the dash my enclosure (photo1) would have worked. On paper it worked, but in reality the dash has shape to it and there was no getting around that. So I ended up mounting them on a plate. Once again I got busy and forgot to get photos so none of the plate and speakers at this point. The other down side is I used three of the dash pad bolts to support the speaker plate and now I have three low spots in the dash pad.
As i mentioned previously when I mounted the radio with the adapter plate it caused the chrome part of the radio knobs to rub to the plate. My fix was to remove the chrome face of the radio and mill 1/16" off of the "C" shaped casting on each side where it contacts the back of the dash around the control shafts. (Photo2) This allows the radio's knobs to have clearance like they did from the factory. The last two photos do a poor job of showing the before and after milling clearance.
I am really digging the USB function and have about 250 songs at this point on it. I believe I have a bunch more to learn about the recording process as some of tracks didn't record with the same quality as the rest.
I have been driving the WMB daily now for several weeks and had a radio crisis two days ago. For the first time since the dash speakers were installed I used the windshield washer. And several minutes later I realized my leg was wet. Long story short. When I was floundering around under the dash with the speaker plate I partially disconnected one of the hoses from the pump and now it was spraying water under the dash. So just after I realized my leg was wet the radio quit playing and just made cracks and pops. Quickly I turned off and found a place to park and removed the fuse. After wiping everything down as best as possible and disconnecting the driver side defrost hose at the heater box I went for a cruise on the freeway for 90 minutes with the heater cranked and got everything nice and warm under the dash. I then reinstalled the fuse and turned the radio back on. It has worked flawlessly since. Wheeeww! Bullet dodged!