I sent my radio in to Vintage Blau in NY. The radio (stereo, actually) is a Blaupunkt Frankfurt. It’s now repaired but I have a few options to consider for the install.

Did any of the installed radios come with a faceplate that covered the knob area and dial area (think 70’s domestic radio faceplates). I’ve seen them on 914’s, just not sure they came that way. Most of what I’ve seen on 914’s has the radio knobs and station indicator showing through three holes in the basketweave faceplate...and that’s it, no faceplate covering that area.

Like this...?

very cool, that is a first for me.

Yes! I thought I’d seen a full faceplate on a 914 before. I also thought I saw it on a ‘75/‘76 model (and based on the style of basketweave and climate controls, this appears to be a ‘75/‘76).

I wonder if full faceplates were available on early cars, ‘70 to ‘74?

Blaupunkt radios came with a metal or plastic face in the box, like the one shown in the picture. You have to have a 914 dash plate for the installation for DIN mount or knob radio mount.

My car is a 76.

This isn't the radio that came with my car. But when I got the car, the original dash was cut for this type of radio installation.

I'm a 914 rookie, but I actually thought this method of mounting a radio would be the most common. I thought most (all?) 914s were delivered with no radio and that the dealer installed them. This method would be the easiest way to put in a radio, I would think.

If a 914 dash plate was used, wouldn't the original dash need to be cut vertically and exactly in the right spot in order to have it look decent? And you'd still have a vertical line where the dash plate met the original dash.

I do have one of the large faceplates with the basketweave and the notch for the glove box lock. I’m just curious if some of the radios were mounted to the large faceplate and the small faceplate like the one in the pic above were installed in ‘74.

I guess at a minimum something had to get installed around the dial indicator area. If the radio was mounted on the large faceplate and just the knobs and dial indicator stuck through holes in the large faceplate, there would’ve needed to be a small black plastic or chrome bezel that snapped around the dial indicator.

No arguments from me, I’m just trying to determine what was available or what exactly an installed radio looked like in ‘74. Not a bunch of great images on Google...

That’s exactly the way it was done. A separate faceplate that lined up exactly on the left with a vertical line next to the climate controls and the other end was a vertical line that ended at the glove box. Under your basketweave I think you’d find separate pieces (or a homemade one piece) of metal that your basketweave is stretched over. The 914 had the metal dash, then a thin piece of metal with the basketweave glued onto it. The thin metal with basketweave piece was attached to the main metal dash with some thin strips of pressure sensitive tape.

From my first 914- a 1970:

Click to view attachment

Are they available to buy somewhere?

Is what available?

I have a faceplate for my early 70’s Fanfurt. I would think Vintage Blau has them.

Well, mine has a faceplate, just not sure they were installed with this type Frankfurt and on our cars in ‘74.

I snapped a photo of my radio and faceplate. It’s below...

we sell the restored ones from matthias in germany, the leading blupunkt restorer, two year guarantee

I like the look without a large faceplate. You can see a faint outline of a previous faceplate on the basketweave however. Since most were dealer installed, you can probably find a lot of installations out there.Click to view attachment

Could someone post a picture of how the radio installation would look using one of the 914 specific radio plates? What is done to make the seam between the faceplate and the existing dash look good?

Thanks.

the radios with the black rectangular faces are for the 74 and up 914s the ones with the chrome surrounds with rounded corners (on the bottom) are for 70-73 914sClick to view attachment

Thank dr 914, will go to the AA website and check it out