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By geo56 - 6 Years Ago
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I wonder if anyone out there can recommend a service that repairs or rebuilds original AM radios. I have a 56 Victoria and want to keep it original. Being an old timer, I usually listen to AM talk radio only or country and can remember how the old radios used to pick up really far away stations. A rebuilt original will suit me just fine.
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By 62bigwindow - 6 Years Ago
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Google Bill the radio guy. He does conversions and restoration work.
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By 62bigwindow - 6 Years Ago
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http://www.billtheradioguy.com/
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By Sandbird - 6 Years Ago
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Did you do any basic trouble shooting on your own? Like are all the tubes glowing, do you hear the vibrator buzzing when switched on, any sound at all?
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By CobraJoe - 6 Years Ago
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I've seen these guys mentioned a few times on an other forum: S&M Electro-Tech, Blaine, MN http://www.turnswitch.com/
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By geo56 - 6 Years Ago
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I hooked it up to a battery charger 6 AMPS and plugged in the speaker and antenna . Most tubes glowed and 2 or so were somewhat dark. I could feel vibration when I touched the vibrator but it was otherwise pretty quiet. I was not able to select a station or search as neither the pushbuttons or knob would move the selector. I could probably take it apart and clean and lube the tuner and have discovered that Tee Bird Products sells a tube kit. I am hesistant to throw money at it and still end up with a dead radio. I talked to a guy at Fred's Classic auto radios in Kansas and he said it is his policy to do rebuilds, not repairs and charges usually ranged fron 150.00 $200.00. I asked him if he would examine the radio and call me back with an estimate before repairing it and he replied that he only gave a heads up call if the cost would be over $200.00. Considering that AM FM aftermarket replacements seem to be $400.00 and up , maybe the $200 is a good price. I am in Tulsa.
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By paul2748 - 6 Years Ago
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I certainly wouldn't use Fred's if he was so unwilling to work with me. All he had to say I will call you.
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By miker - 6 Years Ago
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I don’t see your location, but here’s another route. These guys don’t restore or rebuild radios any more, and their new ones are really pricey. But they’ve got a dealer locator, and they say to try there for rebuild or restore. If there’s one listed near you, they might do it, or know who can.
http://www.antiqueautomobileradio.com/
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By geo56 - 6 Years Ago
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Thank you Paul for reinforcing what my gut feeling was. If a shop won't appraise the damages and at least give me a ball park estimate before doing repairs, run from it. I have a feeling my bill would have been $199.99 no matter how minor the damage was.
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By slumlord444 - 6 Years Ago
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There is some logic to rebuild vs repair. If he is going to guarantee it he would have to rebuild it rather than patch it back together.
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By Shaggy - 6 Years Ago
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If you are in western WA, there is a guy near me that does them. I think my dad's '49 ford one was $100 or $125 a few years back. It just needed a test and cleanup. I have one for my '59 ford i'm going to bring him when i get around to it.
Also there are ways to make an am radio play what you want. In a quick search i found this
https://redirad.com/collections/all-products/products/redirad-am-n
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By Sandbird - 6 Years Ago
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geo56,
Hang loose for a few days to give me a chance to look in my parts stash. I seem to remember having a '56 radio if I do and it plays I'll make you a deal you can't resist.
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By 1960fordf350 - 6 Years Ago
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I have 2 round faced AM radio's. Neither work. One is actually out of the dash of my truck. My brother messed with it but couldn't fix it. Nothing major, he tested the tubes and found they were good. I'd love to get it fixed and put it back in the truck. I have an FM converter that was in my 76 scrubelle back in the day. I'd love to put it in the truck with the radio for THAT look.
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By Tedster - 6 Years Ago
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Replacing tubes is almost always a total waste of money, don't bother.
The real issue is always waxed paper and foil coupling & bypass capacitors, and electrolytic power supply and buffer capacitors in the power supply. They are well past their "best by" date. Don't let the fancy names fool you. You can do this yourself if you can run a soldering iron.
The folks who tell you they don't want to mess with a simple "repair" are exactly right. They are only interested in a complete electronic restoration. There's no advantage to a half-fast repair. Shipping costs money, time is money, and they have a reputation to consider.
For the money they charge this should also include what's called an alignment - of the IF (intermediate frequency) transformers and various tuned circuits. This is important and what makes a good radio sensitive, selective, and loud with good tone. After 50 years different operating points will have emerged, and parts replacement will have shifted things further. An alignment re-establishes the proper windows to line up properly. The very final "tweak" is an RF alignment, done today by the end user after re-installation - connect the antenna and precisely trims the antenna circuit by peaking the signal from a weak station above 1400 Hz. You will be amazed at how well those old radios can work. Modern AM sets are simple but crude.
Here's some info to decide if you want to tackle it yourself or not:
https://www.antiqueradio.org/howfix.htm
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By 1960fordf350 - 6 Years Ago
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Actually, my brother repairs X Ray machines for a living. He did replace 1 capacitor with no luck. A lot of it is time. Our mother passed in February, but dealing with her illness for a couple years took lots of time. Even with her in skilled nursing. Plus he drives about 50-60,000 miles a year for his job. So his time is really limited. So if an honest guy could go through it, replaced all the minor stuff and get it tuned for under $200, I'm there. Although Tedster, since your my friend on here, you'll do it for 2 chili dogs and a beer, right?
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By D Woodruff - 6 Years Ago
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Old radios have a lot of components that do not age well, capacitors, tubes, wiring. A rebuild may be money well spent.
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By Sandbird - 6 Years Ago
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No luck finding a '56 radio what I have is out of a '57 and it won't fit.
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By charliemccraney - 6 Years Ago
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On one hand, I understand not wanting to spend $200. On the other, I know it is typically cheaper in the long run to just have it done right from the beginning. There's also the option to take it to the next level to have it modified for modern functionality while maintaining a 100% stock appearance from the outside although that typically costs quite a bit more.
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By Tedster - 6 Years Ago
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Car radios are kind of a PITA to work on, because they really stuffed things in as small a space as possible. Now, the really expensive complex radios with motorized Wunderbar auto-tuning and the dial string from hell, maybe leave those to the pros unless you're a masochist but, if you just want to get a standard old AM radio back up and running well it isn't rocket science. Get the power supply sussed out. That is the key to any electronic device. Early sets used a "vibrator" and a high voltage buffer capacitor, and a few power supply electrolytics. $20 or so worth of parts and you're back in business.
Vacuum tubes themselves are the easy part. Believe it or not radio tubes are plentiful and cheap if you were to ever actually need one, but they don't go bad sitting on the shelf or in the radio and are extremely rugged and long lived. I have vacuum tubes that are 100 years old and they work just fine. Interestingly the same cannot be said about certain transistors and they are just as obsolete as vacuum tubes at this point. At one time vacuum tubes were even used for proximity fuses in artillery rounds.
Color Televisions, people remember those as trouble because they ran hot, and ran certain types like horizontal output tubes hard, but in these vintage radios tubes last just about forever. The labor charges, then as now, is what costs so if you are handy with a soldering iron it should be no major trouble and results in considerable savings. Plus you have a cool radio that works.
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By Sandbird - 6 Years Ago
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geo56,
$200 does seem to be quite a bit to bring an am radio back to life if it died from natural causes, For instance the radio played well for you until one day it just quit. If the radio has physical damage from being tossed around for years or being exposed to weather that can makes things very difficult if not impossible. Which brings up the question has this radio ever played since you owned it? A lot of times even simple problems require taking voltage measurements of live circuitry. A vibrator powered radio develops several hundreds of volts so I don't recommend you putting your hands in there. The push button tuners were pretty tough, strange that yours doesn't work unless some one has messed with it or all of the buttons have been set to the same channel. You need to be able to tune across the band to make sure its not setting on an unused frequency. The tuning knob is coupled through a clutch that can develop slip but push buttons should still work. You need to make sure the speaker you are using is a good one. When trying to trouble shoot I wouldn't use a battery charger as I am firm believer of Murphy's Law. Last tip I can give you is that USA tubes that were made in the 50's were tough but they can fail and still be lit. Tube testers are not fool proof, basically if a tube tests bad on a tester it is bad but a tester can show a tube is good and it is bad.
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By blockhead2 - 6 Years Ago
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Typical pricing for a rebuild on a radio varies from $175 to $255, depending on model. If there are major issues, that price could increase but normally I can repair those abnormalities (95% of the time). Can do the invisible AM/FM conversion if interested.
Check here: https://classiccarradiodoctor.com/
Regards,
Bill
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By Shaggy - 6 Years Ago
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Anouther thing to consider is at a lot of swap meets these radio's go for $15-25 and could be a good source of parts incase one needs something. I have 3 for my '59 i'm going to drop off at my rebuilder, one the memory buttons dont work, and one has discolored buttons. I figure between 3 there should be plenty of parts incase he hits a snag
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By Kahuna - 6 Years Ago
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I had Classic Car Radio do my 56 last year. It was expensive &
I don't know if it works yet, but I like all the features provided:
4 Channel Stereo
AM/FM
IPOD input
Power antenna output
Completely stock appearing
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By DryLakesRacer - 6 Years Ago
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I sent my 56 to a guy in Oceano Ca. Listed in Hemmings. He gutted it and installed an AM/FM in it using the stock front so it appears stock. I too listen to talk radio and some music. When you turn it on its on FM, turn off and back on quickly and it's AM. The stations don't quite line up with the #'s on the face but that's ok as I have them on the push buttons. Front speaker only. Works OK but picksup engine noise occasionally. Costs 200 6 yrs ago. Best thing is it looks stock.
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