Yesterday at auction, I laid in some absentee bids for the contents of a large radio/TV repair shop, including 4 drawer file cabinets FULL of SAMS photofacts for....(drum roll) .... car radios, 1940-1980

I had to go xmas shopping so I didn't get to monitor it and of course, lost damn near everything by .25-$1 And I bid a *LOT* on this particular cabinet) grrrr (including a hyper rare 1980 sylvania silver-face stereo as loaded as any pioneer of the era....I REALLY wanted that one)

The upside is, during my research I found out that yes Virginia, there IS a schematic for your car stereo/radio and this acquisition would have enabled me to solidly add car radio repair to my repertoire. (I oft decline simply because I don't like to fly blind in there)

SAMS (online) gets $22+shipping for your radio schematic, oft found on eBay for $4-$5+shipping. But to get to the right folder, you have to have the GM part number.

The collections are numbered/lettered AR-xx where AR = auto radio and xx = last 2 digits of the model year it came out. Warning, your radio in say a 1978 might have come out in a 1975 FIRST so it would be an AR-75 entry.

But knowing this now, at least there is hope for those wishing to stay original down to the dash....

 

Hey- you tried.

I've managed to get Sams or Delco schematics for all my car and most of the household radios (except the VERY old ones) and they are invaluable. If it needs service and you can't do it yourself a photocopy of the Sams can get a radio tech on the right track.

Couple weeks back an auction house I haunt was auctioning off a watchmaker's estate and you talk about big $$ changing hands... Four guys (all watchmakers, a dying breed) were scrapping over the stuff.

I did manage to get a couple of clock service books for me collection of anniversary clocks and in the two weeks I've had them have learned a lot about proper setup and adjustment. Where these clocks used to be accurate to about 5 minutes a week I've already gotten two of them to losing less than a minute a week- which I understand is exceptional for one of these clocks and about as good as I'll get.

 

That would had been a great asset......but maybe a better find awaits.

 

But alas, I do have the Rider Perpetuals, vols 8-18 inclusive. They run from appx 1932-1948. The oldests I have are 2-3 zenith 7H822's and I already have the sams for that so they go on the block. Unknown how useful they are here....but they do have continental radio pages!