OK, I am an official heretic. After many months of agonizing, I took the Cruiser to my cousin's auto accessories shop, and had him cut the dash and install a CD player.
My Studebaker advisor counseled me to "let the purists worry about the dash when you're dead and gone..." and so far, no remorse.
The dash looked sort of goofy with the holes for the padded surround showing, and some factory glue as well, so I got a buddy to cut the steel of the surround to go over the new device, and it's back in place. Not a perfect fit, but I can live with it.
Surprisingly, the Pioneer tuner is far superior to what I had with the Delco AM and the FM converter.
Hey, at least there's still a Stude mill under the hood!
Tunefully,
Dave Miller Sylvester, GA.