Original RAdios in our Rides...restore...upgrade? Pictures

Okay,

I got my original 6v radio in my shoebox. Its real nice and would love to see it wake up with life again.

My plan is to rebuild it...im sure its the vibrator now working and a few burned out tubes.

Its unfortunately AM. Out here in So. Cal...AM radio sucks. Not much music too much talk.

I have been told you could add on an FM unit to it. Like an option or upgrade.

Is this true? if so, what should I look for?

I dont mind upgrading to another years model in the 50's, but w/ FM you can run a modulator for your Ipod or Sirius setup to get modern/cool tunes. Plus, the stations in the FM Network.

I hate those "vintage" looking radios w/ the cassette player and digital readouts....

Can we get some pictures of your vintage radios posted here?

 

Gut the original radio, keep the face mounted and hook the lights back up. Next get an ipod and the base mount. You can hook in right into an amp and run you speakers with it... do this on all your vehicles and then you can take what the heck ever music you want and more than you'll find on the radio!!

 

Chad...Please elaberate! I think I know what an i-pod is, but what is the base mount all about? Do you have any specific brand names that are easy to work with, or are they all about the same? What kind of amp works with this setup? I'm not looking for a window rattler setup, just something decent to play tunes. I have an unrestored, but mildly hotroded '32 Ford that in its 74 years of service has never had a radio in it. The setup that your describing sounds perfect for it! Thanks -Mike

 

Yes please elaborate.

I have not figured out what direction I want to go. I do not want to make any modifications to the openings in the dash, thats really my only criteria, but I am surprised/shocked at the cost of after market radios built to fit into specific openings, especially when you consider that the radio itself is nothing special, in fact many (in my opinion) are horribly outdated with cassette players and the like. Why a cassette player, what's the point?

I am hooked on XM radio, and an avid I-Pod user.

 

I know there are radio repair people (sorry, don't have any names or numbers for you, but I see them at all of the big swap meets every year) that will install a transistorized FM tuner inside your stock AM radio. For FM, you then turn the radio on, off, and back on quickly. It amazes me that AM changed from rock stations when I was in high school to Rush Limbaugh today.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=145731&&showall=1
Lots of info in the thread above...

 

I had one of those FM converters in my old 54 Chevy... worked fine. If you want something else, i'd suggest putting another player in the glovebox or somewhere else where it could be hidden. Just my opinion though... good luck with whatever you decide on.

 

In my '53 chevy I kept the original radio front. Cut the back off and filled it with expandable foam to hold everything in place. I have my original under dash 45 rpm record player under the dash and it works through my hidden radio. The radio works on a remote and has a 5 cd changer in the trunk. I replaced the original speaker with a dual voice unit in the stock location in the dash. It all works great and the dash looks stock except for the tear drop knobs.

 

They make AM transmitters for the iPod, etc.

http://www.apple.com/ipod

~Jason

 

Ok, being a complete electronics buffoon, I will throw another curve into the mix. I want to run a hidden radio, XM (or sirius) plus an Ipod. Somebody please help me with the details.

 

radio??? dont got one of those,would like one though 6v fm????

 

Hidden audio has many repops of radios that looks stock but are far from stock loaded with all the features you most likly want, (cd AM/FM, digital etc) and they look like the original radio (cept new) I'm using a hidden audio unit in my truck though its a remote mount head unit as my dash is totally slicked, I use it with a remote I stick in my pocket when I park....cant see a darn thing from the outside

 

You've got a few options here. You could use an old FM converter, you can still find at swap meets dirt cheap, but the AM radio has to work, and the converters work ok, not great, but ok.

I've seen places that do the am/fm transistor conversion to the stock radio. The can do 12v or 6v. That looks like a real nice way to go, but it's about $400 last I checked.

I've heard other guys talking like chaddilac and hooking up an ipod, but I don't have one so I never got too much into that.

Personally, I left my stock radio, hooked up the light to the dash lights, and left it. I put in 3 swap meet speakers, one in the stock dash and two in the package shelf. I took the old radio out of my '86 Ford truck and mounted it under the seat. It's got 5 big push buttons and two big dials. The speakers and antenna are wired to that, and you can reach down under the seat while your driving to change the station. I think I have a total of $9.50 in it, including the antenna, extension cord for the antenna, and speakers. I have a cd tuner that plugs into that for longer trips.

 

Hey, I've got the ticket.

While we were at the Turkey Run, we ran across a guy that rebuilds the radios, look stock, has FM And sometimes can install XM in also. This was way cool. I'm at work now and I'll post his info later if you want. Think he was out of Florida somewhere.

 

I don't even have a radio - so discount my vote if you want - but I am saying restore the radio and buy the AM/FM broadcaster for your iPod or whatever .mp3 player you end up with.

I have an arguement against the whole iPod thing - there are so many good options out there, don't buy an iPod just because you've heard so much about them. Most .mp3 player manufactures have just as many cool do-dads as the iPod.

I was given an iriver. It holds more music than you can listen to in a day and it has great battery life. It can hold many filetypes (.wmv, .asf, .ogg, .q10, .wav among others.), and has lot's of memory.

So get yourself a Consumer Reports and do some research before you buy.

The cheap broadcasters are a must - plus you can keep your radio as is!

 

no luck on the AM transmitter, can you post a link to a product?


Also, Im not converting to 12v.....staying 6v.

Any suggestions w/ that info?

 

I left the stock radio in my 49 sedan, just fir the pretty lights.

had a CD in the glovebox, which was a pain in the ass every time I wanted to change a cd or radio station.

next time, CD changer in the trunk, hidden reciever and remote control.

what's an ipod? don't they make shirts?

 

Get an Ipod and the dock or the stand... from an apple store or CompUsa. You'd have to custom mount it if you wanted it hidden, but you can mount the dock in the car, "The Sik Store" has an adapter that plugs the back which has a cig adapter for power, and an output for your music signal (1/8" mini jack like headphones) adapt that to rca jacks and plug into an amp. then the ipod will hold 40,000 songs or so depending on the size of ipod you get, you don't have to mess with cd's in the car and fumbling with them. with the ipod you'll get software for your computer and just plug it in your computer and you can upload cd's on your ipod. They also make a FM transmitter that adapts to the top of the ipod if you want FM radio. There's all kinds of adapters for them you can even upload a digital camera pics to them and view on the screen which is really good for car shows, cause you can take endless photos and upload them when you camera is full.

Here's a couple of links to the ipod and the adapters...

IPOD:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=E2DBC1A0&nclm=iPod

DOCK:

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=EF6079DE&nplm=MA045G/B

CIG ADAPTER:

http://store.sik.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SS&Product_Code=03-1004

Let me know if you need any other help!!

Chaddilac

 

I was thinking of cutting a slot in my console the same size as the ipod and mounting the dock underneath, that was it's really stealth and just get in and plug the ipod in and instant tunes!!

 

1) Will this work on a 6V system? I was told it won't.
2) I was also told that you needed to have an FM radio for this to transmit onto. Was this also incorrect?

I have also been looking into getting a working radio for my car. I checked the Ipod idea, and was told by the Apple guy that I needed to have an FM radio for this to work on. Also, the cost of the Ipod, dock, adapter, and speakers far exceeded the cost of buying an AM/FM/CD with new speakers, and having it installed under the seat or in the glove box or in the trunk with a remote, or having my original AM repaired.

Was the Apple guy blowing smoke up my ass???

 

Nope he's wrong... if you use an amp for your speakers, then you're basically using the ipod as a stereo.

Yep it's a little more expensive... but you're dont' have to carry around a duffle bag of cd's... plus you can listen to what you want to listen to, You'll never find a radio station that plays all your favorite music... sure you'll like the station but not everyone is your favorite! Plus you can use it in every vehicle and at home!

 

Apple dude, probably doesn't know how car stereo stuff works, that's why he's in a computer shop and not a stereo shop!

 

Sure!

I remember looking for one a while back for the '40 Philco I have in the living room. They're out there, and popular with the antique tube radio folks.

What I found was mostly for home use, but could be converted with an AC inverter, but you'd have to have a 12v source, man. No way around it.

Anyway, they were a UK outfit, and I looked at their product, remarked that it had a lot of potential, and went to another site, not bookmarking it. Hopefully they're still in business!

If I recall correctly, there was also a company that sold a do-it-yourself kit, which was pretty cool. The low wattage stuff isn't that common, as everyone wants to sell high wattage stuff. I don't know about you, but I'm not wanting to run my own goddamn radio station - I just want to pump some tunes to my old radio and listen to it like it was intended for.

Let me look around tonight, and I'll post a link.

~Jason

 

Oh, I can tell you horror stories of Apple Retail... and I'm a Mac consultant!

All the iPod-specific transmitters (and all they sell at the Apple store) are FM. Period. Look for generic transmitters that use the headphone jack - that's where you're wanting to be. Check with the vintage radio folks - they know more about this than the average retail jockey would in a million years, and hell, most of those guys could probably build one out of the junk pile in their basement if they wanted to - they're HARDCORE!!


~Jason

 

There are several people selling voltage drop resistors on ebay... listed resisters (mispelling).

 

thats why i like my sirius

 

Ipod sounds great but I have to find a 6v FM attachment unit for the stock radio.

Run the Ipod on batteries. No problem.

I heard, if you pump the Ipod via the transmitter through a vintage tube radio, it has the same sound effects of the old days. as if the tunes were flowing from the radio station through the tubes.

I read the article online. Some japaneese dude was doing it in japan through old tube radios (table top models.)

 

That's correct. Sound is only going to be as good as the radio. It's still gonna have to warm up the tubes, and it will still be in mono, no cd quality or anything.

Probably a cool novelty at first, then you'll wish it played half decent after spending all this time on it

 

Oh so very true!! The old saying... "it's only as good as your worst link"

I'd blow the original radio and leave the lights hooked up... you'll have a much better investment and it'll be a lot easier to work with. Ipod has it's own internal battery, so you'll need a cig adapter anyway.

 

The web site is www.antiqueautomobileradio.com

These guys update the radio and it looks 100% stock. Check this out for yourself.