Thanks guys, those are some pretty interesting examples bigB thanks for the link. I'm on mac too so no worries :-) I think I'll take the car round a couple of ICE specialists and see what they have to say before I make my move.
Pls see attachments. The sides of the stock cover can easily be cut at the top and bottom of the radio cut out; the side segments spaced approx. 3/16' further apart, both sides; then re-attach. I used the metal frame guide of the new stereo as a template