1962 Bel Air Bubble Top 409 Project

[CASHguzzler409]

Reproduction parts ? Has anyone had this problem. ? I Bought a new radio cable for a rear mounted antenna quite some time ago, I wanted to
run it through the car before putting in the carpet, kick panels etc. I thought I was being smart, ahead of the game so to speak. NOT.
I purchased a NOS rear antenna with all the correct parts, so when I go to plug the cable wire into the shaft in the trunk, the male part does not
go far enough into the shaft, I know most of you have this problem too. LOL.. so that the ring can tighten up to the threads. I still have the old original cable, of course it fits perfectly, I could use the old one, but was wondering if someone else has had this problem.? or is it just me that
they are sending these bastard parts to.

 

[pvs409]

Stan, I will check my rear antenna cables. I think mine are all originals but I will see if they are different. I have 3 cables.
I too have become more frustrated with more repro parts than 10 years ago repro parts.

 

[skipxt4]

Back in the day, you could Always, count on LGC, to have the best parts. Many of their parts, were GM. After Danny, Denny and Robert departed, Eckler's became a disappointment. They have, been getting better, and still have the Best Catalog, but their prices are always more, than everyone else.

 

[CASHguzzler409]

Thanks Paul, I've connected my old antenna cable wire to test the radio, I've blown a couple of the fuse's 4 amp. I've read that the tube type radios
might take a 7.5 amp fuse. Any idea's of why Im blowing fuses would help.

 

[pvs409]

I recall having to use a larger fuse on the under dash fuse box, it was one of the smaller ones -not sure of what it was for.
I think the radio ??

 

[tripower]

Thanks Paul, I've connected my old antenna cable wire to test the radio, I've blown a couple of the fuse's 4 amp. I've read that the tube type radios
might take a 7.5 amp fuse. Any idea's of why Im blowing fuses would help.

Cash your radio should be transistor. It should say it on the face of the radio.

 

[CASHguzzler409]

Im on a 2 day run of good luck. Went after the courtesy lights again today, and it all went together like a fine tuned machine. I have no idea
what I did different today to make things work. But I am a happy camper, and I do like it when the inside floor lights come on. I replaced the
4 amp. fuse with a 7.5 and it did not blow, the light comes on in the radio, but still no buzzing or noise of it being on. I did take it to a radio man he he did go through it, I heard it run and sounded nice, its almost like its not being turned on. More research needed, there is 3 things plugged into the radio, the yellow wire and the side of the radio, the speaker wire 2prong on top, and the antenna plug in. Is there suppose to be a wire going to the key?.

 

[tripower]

Does your radio say transistor on the face? It should if it is a 62 radio. If it is a 61 radio it has the tubes and takes a minute for the tubes to warm up before any sound come out.

 

[CASHguzzler409]

My radio does not say transistor on the face, so my radio must be a 61 model Dan because it has tubes. Do the original radios have a separate ground wire, and is the yellow for power, to start the radio ?. The dial does light up when you turn the key on, but you can't hear any
buzzing, and I did wait for quite a few minutes, , no sound. Maybe my car is a 61 lol.....

 

[real61ss]

Perhaps your car was ordered without a radio and the dealer installed the radio. If that is the case the dealer could very well have installed a 61 radio that he had in stock. either one would work fine and most people would not have noticed the difference. My 61SS had a 62 radio in it, the original owner told me that he took the car back to the dealer and had them replace the radio when he learned that the 62's were "instant on"

 

[Jim Sullivan]

Cash, is the speaker hooked up?

 

[DonSSDD]

Cash, is the speaker hooked up?

Has to be speaker or antenna not connecting. Or, around here there are no AM stations, do you have one where you are? Do you have another AM radio that works where you are?
Don

 

[blkblk63ss]

Do you have speaker front and back or just rear. Whatever,,,,,,, do you have speaker or speaker's grounded. O n my 63 the original speaker had a ground wire on rear speaker than ran down behind rear seat to floor pan area.

 

[CASHguzzler409]

The car originally came with the convenience package, radio, rear antenna, side mirror, front spears, back up lights, padded dash, etc. The radio was in the car when I bought it, I took it out, and I remember the speaker was a mess, as you would have expected. I did buy a new speaker and it was tested with the radio when I went to pick it up from the Radio Guy. I only have the front speaker. I do NOT have a ground wire hooked up to the radio/speaker in the dash area. The rear antenna does have a holding brace which might be thought of as a ground. I am using the original antenna cable, because the new cable I bought does not hook up to the shaft threads. It could be that the cable is bad?. Is there a way to check the
cable, to see if it is working right. I will double check the connections today, yellow wire, and the speaker connections. I appreciate all the suggestions, most will say why bother with the radio, I will probably not listen to it much, but it just seems right to have it work.

 

[Jim Sullivan]

You could use an ohm meter to check your antenna cable to see if it is ok.

 

[CASHguzzler409]

Thanks Jim, I do have a meter to test it with. There is not much info on radio's, could you give me some direction of how to go about this. ? The machine is only as good as the person using it. hahahaha stan

 

[CASHguzzler409]

I was just looking online for a how to check your antenna for ground and ohms. This is a good article to help do this if you have a ohm meter.https://www.installdr.com/TechDocs/999801.pdf

 

[CASHguzzler409]

Update on Radio. My buddy electrician came over to give me help, we did use the ohm meter and found out that the old cable was not getting
any reading at the antenna. We check the new one I had placed in months ago, and it was ok, both ends had good readings .
After he greased up the end at the antenna lead, and with much mooning and grunting, he did get the swivel to thread on. To my great surprise,
the radio worked, but not until we put the antenna all the way up. Felt great to get that done, I guess I'll have to take back all the bad words about
this repo part. We then decided, to do a little more wiring under the dash for the electric cut-outs, I had broken the rocker switch that came with the harness, but found 2 that were exactly the same, all we (he) Gary had to do was clip and solder the new one on to the old harness. We'll give it a go
tomorrow. Had quite a scare also, we were working on the trunk light when I decided to turn off the lights, and as I got to the front seat I saw
billowing smoke coming out of the dash - radio vent. Scared the living sass..... out of me. Stinky... burning wire is not a good smell. After taking most of the night thinking about it, I decided to pull the glove box out and take a better look up at the radio speaker area. I am think what happened is when I got the speaker back I looked at the connection where it was soldered and thought I should tape that up . I believe that as it got hot, the black tape started to melt, causing the stinky, scary event, this is just another lesson I learned, don't use tape on connector that makes a lot of heat. Another test we did was testing the mercury switch light in the trunk, we hooked it up to the ohm meter, and it was cool, there was no reading until you raised the housing, then it went up.

 

[blkblk63ss]

You are suppose to burn rubber, not wiring ,,,,, Cash!!!!!!!! Sometime's two head's are better than one on some of the car problem"s !!!!!

 

[CASHguzzler409]

blkblk63ss your right, thats what I like about the car hobby, not all the guys want a car, but are willing to help you with yours. Its a great way
to keep in touch with friends. Today is another day, guess I should clean up the bench first. I'll be burning the streets up soon..