[HO455]

With the radio in position I pealed the backing off the tape and carefully put the plate into position. Then install the factory nut baskets and the nuts to hold the plate down. Then I used a little roller to press the plate down around the edges. The tape method is certainly less messy but you have no second chance to reposition things. One one thing I did notice about using a plate to repair the hole is that I have no extra threads on the nuts that hold the front in place. As imagineered I would have used the second plate on the inside to sandwich the dash but GM did not give me enough threads to put the extra 1/16" plate on. Those cheap %$&@%#$! The other down side is the chrome knobs don't stick out enough from the plate. They don't rub but it makes them less user friendly. Using panel adhesive would have made the knobs stick out about 1/16" further as the tape is slightly thicker than that. One more thing I may change down the road.
Once all that was done I plugged it in and turned it on. Surprisingly good FM reception with no antenna and i was even able to get a couple of AM stations. It will take some time for me to get all the control sequences memorized. It sounds pretty good and I still have to put some speakers in the dash. Which will be tomorrows adventure. With the radio in place I can figure out how much real estate I have available under there and fabricate up something to mount them in the stock location. Now the gapping hole is gone the paint on the rest of the dash really shows its age. I may paint the ashtray black to clean it up.
Here is there link to Gary Tayman who come to think of it is in Florida and Irma is headed his way. I hope all goes well for them. Now I have to learn how to get my records and tapes on to some kind of USB storage drive so I can cruise commercial free.

http://www.garytayman.com

And to finish today projects I installed this little compass that I found at the April swap meet. Some more double sided tape and a shared screw with the mirror. I ran I wire for the light which I tried to photograph but it didn't come out very well. Now all I need is the flashlight on the steering column and my old man truck will be complete.