Stereo theft

May I first offer my condolences. Those bastards should be beaten. Odds are it was some drug crazed tweaker that was out of his mind. Not that this excuses them but it does explain the behavior.

If it were mine, I'd straighten it out as best as possible by the hammer and dolly method then use "kitty Hair" or Marinetex epoxy to fill in the remaining damage. After that it will take a lot of careful grinding and sanding get it back to shape.

Tony

OUCH.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune.

Looks like some very careful welding is in order. (high risk of heat warping )

It's just metal, sure it can be fixed :)

Jan

It looks horrible, but should be fairly easy to fix. Use a grinder to cut out the bent metal, find another dash. cut out the metal you need (oversize). Rivet it in.

bondo the edges, paint it.

DONT LEAVE YOUR STEREO IN YOUR VEHICLE.

In SanFrancisco, the crack heads will rip out an 8 track if they can see it. Detachable face plates do you no good. These bastards will steal a stereo without the face.

You could remote the stereo...

And pop an oldie AM radio in its place to make it look original.

Sorry to hear about the break-in, man. That sucks..

Dude - that sucks !!

I guess most of us know how you feel from experience !

If it was mine I would get it nearly straight and put a frame / bezel around the stereo for now.

Also I would put an old VW radio in - the ones that no one would want to steel. For music - these days MP3 players are sooooo cheap I would go for one of them. You can plug it in to your car amp thats hidden away somewhere, and keep it in your pocket when you leave the car.

Rich

I think I'd just satraighten it out close and put the dash pad back on it at this point. Section in a replacement dash later at major body work re-paint time if you want a metal dash again...

I like your idea, I'll try with the hammer and dolly.

Thanks to all

That is why I keep the clips to remove the stereo on the car on a place the theft can see. Usually the damage they make are larger then the price of a new stereo. Also if they speed less time in the car trying to steal me, probably I have less changes of catch and kill them and ruin my life.

Joao

72 Super 1302

I just make sure to enable the row of tasers built into my car seats.

500,000 volts for as much juice as a car battery holds takes the spunk out of most radio thieves pretty easily. Thank goodness the trashcans here are big enough for the bodies.

/just kidding...or am I?

Supposedly anchored fish hooks with 30# monofiliment leaders works fine too! You may have some blood to clean up -but you have his DNA.