Like I mentioned in an earlier thread, Lindsay (my wife) got me a stereo setup for the boat as part of my Christmas present (and thanks to Brian/BBG Marine, a new board sponsor, for pointing her in the right direction :D ).

I spent last weekend thinking about how exactly I wanted to install it. Since the boat spends its fair share of nights in motel parking lots, I wanted to keep the fact that there was a stereo somewhat hidden. I've had 3 different stereo setups pulled out of various cars I own, so that makes me a little leery with this one.

So, with that in mind, I got to looking where I could "hide" the speakers/radio/ipod adapter without it being overly obvious it was there. Luckily, Lindsay picked out some 6.5" speakers, so I didn't think getting enough sound out of them would be a problem, so I wasn't too worried about not being able to hear it.

After some looking and thinking, and then some more looking, I decided to put the speakers in the back panels of my rod box, pointed at the drivers/passengers seats. I figured there was enough open air down there to keep the sound from being muffled, and also keep them out of direct sight from anyone who might be looking for an easy set of speakers.

Lindsay also gave me an iPod docking station, and I figured I would install it in the box as well. When the iPod is hooked up, you cannot see any of the screen, so it wan't necessary to keep it in view. Instead, all of the menu functions are controlled through the radio itself.

That presented one more issue. I had to mount the radio so that it was easy to get to to control the iPod. I have seen a lot of people mount them in the rod box as well, but since I needed to be able to run the iPod from it, that was out of the question.

With a game plan in place, I grabbed my drill and sawsall and went to hacking away!

I had to remove the back part of my rod rack in order to get to the back wall of the rod box. The actual back wall is held in place by a metal bracket (like the ones that hold the rod rack in place) and also two screws that hold the top portion of the wall in place. I didn't know about those until I ripped them out...oops :? Luckily the carpet is plush enough that you can't notice the holes. So when I re-installed it, I just ran the screws 6 inches to the left of the original mounting holes.



Looking from inside the rod box with the wall removed (passenger side).



This is the "wall" with the hole for the iPod docking station cut. The carpet got a little frizzy on me, so I took a lighter and singed the edges down.



And the dock installed:



Before I cut another hole for the speaker, I wanted to test out the idea and make sure it was not going to be in the way. I figured if it wasn't going to work, I could use that hole as a starting place for my speaker mount. However, once everything was assembled, there was plenty of room!





After I got that figured out, I pulled out the "wall" again and noticed it needed a little more attention before I cut the hole for my speaker. Near where I was going to mount the speaker, some of the carpet was peeling off. I ran to AutoZone and got some spray adhesive and got that glued back down. While it was drying, I pull out the "wall" on the other side and got my speaker hole cut.





After getting it all installed back, I realized that where I had cut left some wood exposed. While it was in pretty good shape now, in a few years I could see there being some rotting issues. I pulled everything back out and painted the newly cut areas.

While I was waiting for those to dry, I ran my wires, and hooked up the main power for the radio to my dash power switch. That way the radio won't accidently be left "on"

I'm hoping that I can finish up with my wiring tonight and install the radio into my glove box. I have 99% of the wires run, and I am waiting on the glue to dry on a box I built to hold the radio. Once that dries, I'll probably have to do a bit of trimming to get it to fit correctly. Also, I need to run to AutoZone and get a small antenna for the radio. I'm not 100% sure where I want that yet either. I may stick it under the drivers side console (so a co-anglers rods/tackle won't get tangled up in it) or under the passenger side windshield, depending on how big it is. I also want to get a couple wired remotes (the radio supports up to 4) and place one on the bow panel so I can control it from the front and also one by the steering wheel.

Hopefully I can finish everything up except the antenna tonight and will snap a few more pictures. The only crappy thing is it is tough to work in the dark All in all though, I am very excited!