I don't think the Jeep CJ was ever designed around a sound system.  The small, rectangular punched hole in the dash with knob holes on either side of it and the single slotted 5" speaker hole seemed more like an after thought to the utilitarian style dash.  So anyone who wants to add a sound system to the Jeep CJ is most likely not going to use the radio accommodations in the dash panel.  So the question becomes what to do with the gapping dash hole?  When I was restoring my CJ-7, I contemplated a couple of uses for the holes in my dash.  I thought about covering it over completely by welding a plate flush with the dash and painting it over but that would just add empty space to the dash.  I thought about installing a stock Jeep radio just for the cool stock look.  But I also thought about using the holes in the dash for something useful, like gauges, or switches, or a CB radio.  The best idea I came up with was to use the location for much needed switches to control things like front and rear offroad lights, engaging the converted York compressor (onboard Air), master power to my sound system, and power to my overhead area that controls my CB radio and overhead dome lights and  power point.  Switches made the most sense.  There are a few areas of this installation that I'd like to cover.

The Toggle Switches - The switches I used were better than your average switch that you might find at Walmart or your local discount auto supply store.  They are what are called metal bat toggle switches, single pole, single throw (SPST)m two positions; On or Off.  The switches that I used were sources from a friend that worked as a mechanic in the airline industry but they are available from auto suppliers like Jegs or Summit Racing.  These switches are heavy duty and made from stainless steel and had a 15 amp rating.  Along with the switches I acquired 6 flip-up toggle switch covers (You can get these from Summit Racing, G3902C).  Jegs has the combo as part # 72272 and it's called the Edelbrock aircraft style covered toggle switch.  If you buy them separate, just make sure the flip cover will clear the switch when it's closed.  Some switches have a long handle or bat.

LED Lights to Indicate The Power is On

The only thing this switch combo lacks is some indication that the power is ON.  I like to know when a circuit has power so I wanted to give each circuit light.  I could have gone with a regular 12 volt bulb but I like compact design of LEDs.  Radio shack had a few nice LED mounting designs.  Along with the LED mount, I picked up various colored LEDs that fit the mount, each color meant to indicate a specific circuit like: Red - auxiliary power circuits, Yellow - Offroad lights, Blue - Onboard Air, Green - CB Radio and overhead power.  This way at a glance I can tell what circuit is on without counting which switch it is. 

Wiring LED's is not as straight forward as wiring a 12 volt bulb.  A LED light needs a specific voltage, commonly that is 2 volts.  So you need to reduce the voltage from 12 volts down to 2 volts.  This is accomplished by use of a specific ohm resistor.  Since there is a lot to say about this topic, I created a separate article detailing how to wire up LED lights to an automotive 12 volt system.  That article is here: Using LED lights in your Vehicle.

Mounting Plate

The mounting plate that covers the radio punchout on the dash does a couple of things.  I used aluminum since it is easy to work with.  I wanted 6 switches and I had a limited width to work with.  The plate also had to be held to the dash somehow and it had to cover the three existing holes in the dash.  What I decided to do was use the two end holes that were the radio knob holes to bolt the plate down to the dash.  But not using bolts or screws, rather I was going to use the switches themselves.  So I knew where the two end switches were going to go, I now only had to space out the other 4 switches equally in the space in between.  The plate was cut to completely cover the dash holes and extend past the ends of the switches and above the LED mounts.  All of the holes were layed out and drilled, then everything test fitted.  The plate was then sanded down, primered and painted separately from the dash.  So once it is mounted, if I remove the end switches, I can remove the plate.

Routing Power

A few things to say about routing power through your dash.  Number one rule: Keep your amps low.  First, high powered circuits can overload a switch that is not designed to manage watts as high as your accessories demand.  Two, the gauge of wire required to adequately handle higher watts is difficult to work with due to the thickness and less flexibility.  Third, if you do overload a circuit, you don't want that to happen right under your dash where there is plenty of other circuit to get damaged.  So if you want to power high watts through your switches, how do you do that?  The answer is use relays.  What is a relay?  A relay is essentially an electric switch.  Your dash mounted switch doesn't power the accessory, it powers the relay.  The relay then turns on the high amp circuit going to your accessory.   For more information on Using Relays see: Automotive Wiring Tips - Using Relays

Overall this was not a difficult job.  The end result, I think, looks great.  It takes advantage of what would have been wasted space dead center on my dash.  It's very functional and allows me to selectively turn on circuits easily and I have a clear indication that power to specific circuits is either on or off.  As for the slotted punchout for the stock 5" speaker, well that's my CB speaker now and my sound system pumps through the speakers under my rear seat.  More on that here.  

One last thought...

I just want to add that all of these circuits running though my switches FIRST route through a fuse.  Not the stock fuse block, but a second, entirely separate fuse block dedicated to accessories.  I did not route any additional power through my stock fuse block.