The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay The Radio Bench 1954 chevy truck radio help

Hey guys I have the original radio for my 54'chevy truck and I just am wondering how to wire the thing up. I have two wires coming off the front which I think one is for the light on the radio and I believe the other is for the radio power, correct me if I am wrong please. The speaker was bad so I replaced it with a modern speaker, I wired the braided ground looking wire to the negative side of the speaker and the other to the positive side, again correct me if I am wrong. So after testing it on my 6volt battery, I'm getting no sound from the radio. I can see a orange light turning on inside but nothing out of the speaker also the radio light isn't coming on either, I'm assuming the bulb is bad. I grounded the housing of the radio to the battery and still nothing. Again this was the bench test and any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

That is good that you have an original style radio for your truck. Here are some hints for checking it out. Radio Tech Tips You are correct that one power wire is for the dial light and the other is to power the radio. When you want to actually repair the radio, I believe I have the circuit information in file form.

If you decide your able to tackle the restoration of the
original truck radio here are a few pictures of what's
in store for you:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/986771_radio_truck&page=all

Fred should be able to answer your questions as they come up,
don't ask me cuz that was several years ago, a lot of water run
under the bridge and I remember very little of how I did it.
That's why I kept the pictures.

I might just add this, the very first thing that I would do
before I tried to bring the radio up on a bench check would be
to take Fred up on the schematic and then replace the vibrator
with a SS replacement. The original vibrators only had a life
span of about one year in regular use. Nine times out of ten the
tubes will still output enough to run the radio. Your gonna
need to replace all the capacitors and possibly some resistors
if you want to actually use the radio.

DG

That looks like more of a headache than any thing else I have done to the truck and mine was a cab off restoration. I cant even find anybody who I can send it to to have it rebuilt. Everyone wants to sell me a repo and that is not what I want. So if you know anyone who can do this let me know.

I have a neighbor who works on these old radios, as a hobby, for modest fees. He is in Arizona, so you will have to ship it to him and he will ship it back. I have four of his radios and Patrick's in Casa Grande, AZ, sends work to him, so I can vouch for the quality of his work. Send me a private message and I will give you his contact info,

Kent

Here is a install and repair manual for the 1954 Chevy truck radio.
part # 986771 TRUCK MANUAL TUNING RADIO pages 37 thru 52
There is one thing I heard about these old radios that have not been turn on for a long time.
You can burn up more parts if you turn them on, if there is already a failed part in it.
Better to check all internal components before applying power.

1954 Truck Radio
Color illustration Side view