The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay The Radio Bench 57 Chevy PickupRadio Model 987187

Hello, I am new to the group, so I hope I posting this right. I just bought a Chevy radio model 987187. I have 2 wires coming out of the radio. What are these wires for? Also, I need to find the bracket that mounts the radio, a speaker, antenna and original knobs for the radio. Hope someone can help!

Thanks!

Jon S

welcome to the shop Jon, you've got it right, and there's plenty of help here with TF radio stuff

here's the Accessories Manual for radio installation, and the service manual for it, as you'll be wanting to work it over sometime - feel free to save them for future reference

the speaker mounted above the rear view mirror and that box [with or w/o speaker] is available reproduction, as well as the knobs and a replacement antenna - check any of the suppliers in the links section ... the support bracket you'll have to find used, and a posting in the parts wanted forum might net you all the bits you need as good used

Bill

On that radio the two wires coming out the side are power leads. One is for the radio power which can be wired to the battery or the ignition switch, and the other is for the dial lamp which is wired to the headlight switch- this way the radio dial lamp dims with the rest of the illumination. The speaker lead is either directly on top or bottom (forget on this model) sometimes there's an RCA jack there and other times it is just a plug that a pin lead slides into.

Justin,
Thank you for your help. I am still having trouble finding the speaker wire. On the bottom of the radio there is a white wire that comes out and goes over to the left side of the radio. The wire then goes inside the case. Where that wire goes in there are 2 wires that come out. One is white the other is a green color. The person I bought it from was not very helpful. She told me one wire was power the other was power for the light. I think I might have to open it up and see what is going on in there. Let me know your thoughts! Regards, Jon

Jon,
on some Chevy radios the extra wire for the dial light may not be present anymore. That is because the replacement on/off switches sometimes came with only one switch. Thus a previous repair may have eliminated the second wire for the dialight. In this case the dial light would come on whenever the radio is turned on.

If you open it up, you will see some clues as to the function of the two wires. One of them will lead to the area of the power switch and the speaker lead will lead to a small transformer for the speaker output. Also, if you connect an ohm meter between one of the wires and ground, you should get more information. On the power lead, you will probably see a reading of infinity when the power switch is off and a low reading when it is on. This will depend on the health of the vibrator in the power supply. If the other wire is the speaker wire, you should get a steady reading of maybe a few hundred ohms regardless of the off and on switch.

Fred

Jon - the speaker connection isn't "a wire", it's a very small socket on the same face as the dial light bulb, the wire from the speaker has a metal end that plugs in there [and the same on the other end at the speaker] - see here

Bill

Bill,
You are a rock star! Yes, I see that plug! OK! Great, Now I see what is going on! A picture says a thousand words! You always come through for me!
Fred, Thank you as well for the help. I need to get the system set up for a test and see if I can pick a Giants baseball game!
I will let you know. Jon

'swhy I love pictures, instant understanding

I've got a buddy here that only uses the radio for "listening" to ball games, claims it mellows him right out, even if he's not really following the play

there's some threads way back in this forum about bench setups for testing function, prolly about page 8-10, and quite a bit about the TF ones ... 'nix has a good handle on the radio tech

Bill