DFitz

Ok, time for another dumb question. 1955 4-door 88 Holiday

I have a friend that his second hobby is restoring old radios. Stand alone Multi band raidos, like with HF receivers.

He volunteered to restore the Old radio.

1. If this doesn't work, who might do radio reapairs?
2. Speakers are long dead. I have a 6 1/2" round in the dash, and a 6 x 9 OEM in the hat shelf behind the rear seat. They only have one wire to each speaker. I presume, the second will be grounded to the frame?
3. Can I use a modern speaker where a paper cone won't disintegrate?

At this time I don't plan on updating to AM/FM or try to install one of the fancy Wonderbars.

jaunty75

Check the classified section in Journey with Olds, Hemmings, and probably lots of other car magazines. People who do this will advertise in places like that. You could try googling "old radio repair" or "car radio repair" and see what you come up with. I presume your radio has tubes, but they shouldn't be hard to find for someone who does old radio repairs regularly.

Yes

I don't see why not if the ohm rating is the same. New, modern speakers will probably sound better than the originals in your car did when new.

Lady72nRob71

The original speakers were most likely 10 ohm.
The radio would still also get along with an 8-ohm used in home audio.
Avoid 4 ohmers, as they could cause the output transistor to fail sooner.

Factory speakers can still be had used (if you can find someone with them up on a dark shelf or garage). Maybe also in a classic car bone yard (condition might be iffy).
Maybe look on ebay. Some of the old TVs and stereo units had 8 ohm 6x9's and could be 8-16 ohm. I have some but are in use. These would keep a classic look.
Originals can be reconed by certain places for a price though.

If all else fails look for some in newer cars in yards, particularly with Delco radios as many of them were 10 ohms. Take an ohmmeter to check. They will have ceramic magnets but will still make sound!

If you store your car out of the direct sun or have window tint, speakers will last a long time.
They dry rot from mostly UV exposure.
I would avoid speakers with foam surrounds, as this usually deteriorates through age alone. Look for paper or rubber instead.

DFitz

Thanks very much. I'll see what my radio guy can do. He seems very knowledgeable in what parts most likely have failed.

Olds Dad

Speakers Here:
http://www.turnswitch.com/speakers.htm

Alan Kriss 570.376.3952. An Olds Club guy - very gentlemanly - did mine - knows these radios inside and out and is extremely thorough and reasonable (~$250 range if I remember). Relatively slow turnaround but if you're not in a hurry...

Make sure your buddy knows not to put 12V to the radio unit without it being attached to the amplifier / vibrator unit....he'll destroy it...they run on AC current that is produced within the amp / vibrator from the DC current. DC will kill it.

pete324rocket

That radio will need to have all the capacitors replaced. Any capacitor -which is kinda like a battery in a way, from this era will be unsuitable and unreliable and especially the high voltage ones used for the ac component must be replaced. I was going to do this for my '56 Holiday but there is near zero on AM these days except for maybe at night so the project got shelved. I did, however, buy the correct Sams photofact that shows the schematic for the radio and lists all the parts including the capacitors. Then I found this company that sold the capacitors. This should cost about 30 bucks or so in parts. Here is the link to the radio parts.Make sure your guy knows what he's doing.The radio may work fine with a cap. kit. only. Tubes don't wear out that often.Also consider a solid state vibrator from a reputable designer but new caps should eliminate the hum it makes. I took mine apart and filed the points before realizing the caps were bad.High voltage - 450 volts ac -don't get burned.

http://www.justradios.com/capkits.html

Lady72nRob71

Mainly the paper caps (often covered with wax) and electrolytics are the problem childs. They break down with a combination of either high voltage, heat, or humidity.
The mica caps (ceramic rectangles with dots) and other ceramics will usually not need attention.
There are a lot of good sites out there on cap replacement for old radios.
Any shop specializing in their repair will know about this.

DFitz

Thanks for all the advise. My guy is pretty good, and had the radio working about 2 hours after he got home. First time it's worked in at least 40 years that I know.

Anyway, it will have a solid state vibrator, all new capacitors, and a couple of other things he said that escape me now. This is his hobby and he's good at it. There are a couple of good AM radio stations in the SF bay area so worth it. Plus, you gotta admit, a 60-year old tube radio that works! That's cool.

bajaway

On my 55 I replaced the vibrator, which is a common cause of radio not working, with a transistorized non moving vibrator and the radio immediately worked. The "vibrator" is available from Antique Radio Supply in Arizona for about $30.00. I have not replaced the capacitors, I've been lucky I guess, but have been told by others that the capacitors should be replaced.

Lady72nRob71

That is more than cool - glad it is working now!
I feel the same as I resurrect old tube audio equipment...

pete324rocket

Vibrators would sometimes get noisy because of the faulty (voltage leaks easily) capacitors -the really high voltage ones in the vibrator circuit. You might be able to get by just replacing those, they are the most expensive and because of the very high voltage and capacity ratings can be tough to source sometimes. I do recall a schematic for building a solid state vibrator somewhere on the net.Probably cheaper to buy.

redoldsman

I have a working Wonderbar in my 54 but there is only one station with a strong enough signal for it to lock on to. Most AM stations are news, sports and Mexican music.

Rocketowner

There Are Several AM Radios O EBay Today. Most Are Listed In The $50 To $75 range.one WasEven Shown With Speaker! Larry

Lady72nRob71

They make FM transmitters for music players now - do they make AM transmitters also?? Would be handy for AM only radios!

Rocketowner

Might Want To Check Out Gary Tayman.com. He Can Add Fm Inside Original AM Radio
Very Interesting Article For Any Old Car Enthusiest Larry

Charlie Jones

FM converters can be had off E-Bay for $40-$50. Most are small enough to hide in the glovebox. You antenna plugs into them. And the wire from them plugs into your radio.
You have to turn to a certain AM frequency and you can tune FM stations with the converter.

jaunty75

I remember these, and they were awful! It would be an utter waste of money to buy one now unless your goal was a "period look."

First of all, you're listening to FM which has been converted to AM, so all of the fidelity, not to mention the stereo, of the FM is lost. Second, my experience was that they had terrible reception. Only the strongest stations would be picked up, and then they would fade in and out as you moved around.

At best, these converters were a poor-man's way into FM radio. Nowadays, for the $50 you'd spend on ebay to acquire this '60s technology, you can go to Best Buy, and for a few dollars more, buy a modern, in-dash, AM-FM-CD-mp3-you name it receiver that will run circles around that converter.


If you're going to be hiding something in the glovebox, anyway, hide something modern that will sound good and work well. Get the AM tube radio fixed, leave it in the dash, and when you want to listen to Dr. Laura or Glen Beck, turn it on and enjoy the fact that you're listening to an old tube radio. When you want to listen to music, turn it off and turn on the modern unit in the glovebox.

jaunty75

No car nowadays comes with AM-only radios, and they haven't for many years. It would surprise me greatly to learn that any company would think it was worth making a device that would send your I-pod's or whatever signal to an AM radio. The market for such a thing would be microscopic.

Back in the '60s, the issue was getting FM at all, and companies offering converters made sense. Nowadays, and for several decades now, the issue been sound quality as well. AM has none.

Lady72nRob71

The device I am thinking of would have been targeted to experimenters and kids who want to play "junior DJ". These things were made back in the 70's and had a 9V battery in them. I wanted one soooo bad when I was young! One of these could be easily modified for use in a car with an AM radio and I think it would be rather cool to do. I would like to find one for use with my antique radios at home.

I know for sure AM transmitters would not be made just for in car use. Even most FM transmitters peddled for MP3 players and istuff have nasty sound quality and reception so i hope one of their manufacturers would get on the 'better quality' bandwagon soon! I have tried 5 kinds and the only decent one I have is a large hunk made by a defunct company back in 2004.

DFitz

Update.


I got the radio back from my buddy, fully rebuilt, last year. It worked for 2 weeks, then the new power supply shorted itself out. Back to my buddy, who then found a few more issues. Basic AM radio, but it's happy now.