Hey Mike..
I'm probably mistaken, but I think the 1960s trucks are all solid state. Maybe the '60 and '61 models still had tube radios. I'm sure somebody will come in and let us know.
By the way, I apologize for posting electronics/ radio stuff in this forum. I hope ya'll don't mind. I also posted in the electrical forum and looked right over the radio forum! Glasses didn't help me there. heh. I do know better for next time.
Back to the radio stuff. Mike, the first thing that you'll probably notice is that up to 1966, the radios are pretty slim. I can't say about after 1966. Not a lot going in there to take up space (other than the IF cans..more radio jargon there)and if you peek underneath the dash and look up at the radio and through the vents, you'll probably see a pretty big heat sink with a nickel size (approximate) transistor in the middle of it. That's best way that I can think of right now to describe it. Now, if you have the stock radio in your '65, it is a solid sate or transistor radio. The "warming" up that your radio is experiencing is probably,once again, the capacitors charging up. That tells me that you have some "leaky" caps and so on, as in leaking voltage. It's kind of like pouring a little more water in a bucket that has a hole in it than what leaks out and then things kind of settle in..so in a way, things are warming up in your radio.
I know that sounds a little crazy..but that's the way it is with old electronics.
I'm a little surprised that there aren't more people that will work on those simple AM radios. Maybe I should start fixing them up and selling them! heh. Other than the old caps going bad, they are built like a tank and for good reason, as they get punished with heat and humidity and cold extremes and all the dirt that gets in them along with all the bumping around they get.
After I started writing all this stuff about these radios in the past few days, I decided to take mine out today and take a look around. There is a mix of old and newer style components in there. Some old style cardboard caps and metal case caps. I know that my radio has likely not been serviced as some of the old stuff still has Delco printed on them. It's always a crap shoot with that old stuff and it amazes me how well they still can work after 45 years.
Mine was playing a little weak and after I made a parts list for later on, I de-oxed (cleaned) the volume and tone pots (potentiometers..what the volume and tone knobs are connect to)cleaned the circuit board up some and lightly lubricated the tuning mechanism (variable capacitor that the tuning knob is attached to),I buttoned it back up and reinstalled it in the truck. It made a world of difference just cleaning the pots and working some of the screws around to make better contact (ie..the antenna chassis ground on the radio itself. Heck, I can hear more stations and everything is quite a but louder. No doubt that when I replace the old components, that old radio should be back to where it should be. It's been so many years, that most of us here don't know or remember how well those radios probably worked when they were new.
So, I believe I now have a mission to restore my radio to it's fully functional past glory. I'm looking forward to that now.
Boy, I need a schematic and some alignment info..anyone have a service manual for '60-'66 Delco radios for chevy trucks?
Ok..My gosh..I can rattle on sometimes. I get to typing and get in a zone.
heh...
Thanks for letting me indulge.
"rr"
Last edited by radioripster; 01/15/2010 2:17 AM.
