The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay The Radio Bench faking an original AD radio

Hey friends,

My first post here on Stovebolt!

I would like to have an original AD radio in my truck but I'm not sure I can swallow spending the money on one. It seems I could get a completely restored one for nearly $700 or one that needs restoration for $200+. I have the know-how to restore one myself and plenty of period electronics spares too but that's still a lot to pay.

I've seen numerous similar Delco radios from the era from Buicks and Pontiacs that look very similar except maybe the cosmetic parts (buttons, dial, knobs, etc. Since these parts are readily available for about $80 and would be needed for restoring an original Chevy truck radio anyway, I wonder if they could be used to "convert" a Buick or Pontiac radio. Does anyone have enough knowledge about the various radios of the era to know if there is one from a car that is the same or nearly the same or close enoughy to the Chevy truck radio? It looks like some of the car radios can be had for a very low price comparted to an original truck radio.

I've already read the posts about the GM Autoradio 510 model so I guess I'm asking about radios that could be converted to look like the ones that we see most often that seem to be made only for AD trucks.

Also, I've sticking with 6 volts and I don't care for anything more than an AM tube radio.

thanks,
Caleb

Caleb,
welcome to the Stovebolt. This is an interesting question that you have asked. The Autoradio 510 was made in such a way that the width between the controls and the angle that they were set on was adjustable. For some of the auto installations they were installed upside down compared to the AD truck and a different dial glass was used.

The two parameters mentioned above are usually the main problems with fitting the auto radios in the truck. Buick had a radio that had the correct control separation but the angle was wrong. If you do a search on here you will find a post where a member has a 47 Pontiac "super Deluxe" model fitted in his AD truck. It doesn't look lke an AD radio but it is a very good fit, so I understand.

kc mongo here on the bolt has some on his website that look orginal but are done up with modern inner components . i believe they're am/fm also. do a search (upper right of page)
welcome to the bolt
tom

Well what about his one:
Pontiac radio on eBay

The case seems to have an angle at the top like the truck radio. I guess you can't really tell about the knob distance...

Caleb,
that is the radio that I was referring to. I can't do a search right now but there is a thread here in this forum where a user has one of these installed in his AD truck and it apparently "fits like a glove".

Fred

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=42;t=000019#000000

Caleb,
here is the thread on the 47 pontiac radio and it appearsto be identical to the one that you pointed to on Ebay.

http://www.stovebolt.com/bboard/cgi-bin//ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=42;t=000002#000023

Fred

iam also interested in faking an original radio in my 53 gm cept i am hoping to find a newer am/fm radio i dont need a cd player in the old gal
and im not interested in spending mucho denero on one of the auto sound systems...