The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay The Radio Bench 1954 986771 Radio Restoration

I have a couple of these 54 Chevy truck radios here and I'd like to see if I can restore one myself with some help from some of you radio gurus. Does anyone have the Sam's or other diagnostic sheets for this model radio? I'm sure I had it at some point but can't seem to find it. Too many moves over the years, I guess.
Thanks in advance!

BlueChipper,
here is a link to the radio manual online. 1954 Radio It is an easy radio to work on. We can help you with questions or problems.

Thanks so much! That is a great page. I had no idea he had all those manuals for radios there.

I read in one of the threads that the switch/volume/tone control is the hardest part to find for these radios... I just snagged a NOS one in the box for $20 with free shipping on ebay. Don't know if I need it, but I'm sure it's a good back up part to have in the stash!

Good for you. The hard ones to find are the ones for the 47 to 53 radios.

Ah, I see. Well, it still seems like a good find at a good price!

I would say that you can never have too many spare parts! That sounds like a good find.

So I'm looking to gather a few things I know I'll need before I tear into this first radio. First off, I am going to need all new wiring and I'd like to use the proper color and type wiring. I don't think I'll need entire rolls of wire even for a few radios. I also have a 1937ish Motorola steering column operated unit for my 39 GMC, and a couple 55-59 GMC units that will need attention. That said, it may be worth it to purchase rolls if they aren't too large. Can anyone point me to the correct gauge /color wire, and a good source for them? I might have one good original black fuse holder left here, but just in case, has anyone found a good replacement fuse holder that looks the part up under the dash... And now the final question... Has anyone reproduced the 54 Chevy foam speaker gasket yet? I know that many many moons ago there was a gasket that was supposedly correct and was sold by Heavy Chevy of Arkansas... Since then, has any other good proper solution been offered up?

I haven't looked for the gasket or the old style wire. In general if you want to restore the radio functions, the place to start is to replace all the paper and electrolytic capacitors. It is also a good idea to replace old mechanical vibrators with the new solid state replacements.

Sounds good. I'll see if I can hunt up a good supplier for those parts then. I doubt Radioshack is going to have what I need. Thanks.

Truckernix:
Great page for radio resources! Thanks much.
don