The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay The Radio Bench Another 1955 Series 1 radio

I have a 1955-1 3100 with the original radio. It doesn't work. Is there someone out there that checks and repairs these radios?

Trooper Jeff

If you care to rebuild it yourself, we can help you out with problems or questions. They are a nice unit to work on. After the front and back are removed, all the chassis parts are accessible.

Maybe Denny Graham will chime in on this I think he has rebuilt a few.

I will chime in Brad, but I won't rebuild them for anyone. I did a couple a while back and
had well over 100 hours in each one by the time I got them to the point where I was
satisfied. A lot depends on what you call a restored radio. I don't want the cabinet to
look like it's 55 plus years old so I strip them and have them re-plated in cadmium, and I
don't want the speaker cone patched up with Elmer’s glue and toilet paper so I replace it,
and I don't want the old dried out and cracked rubber or cloth wiring left in them so I
replace that, where ever possible and I don't want to leave the original carbon resistors in
them because ALL of those old carbon resistors drift, some as much as two to three times
their value, and of course it's automatic that all of the capacitors have to be replaced, and
the bezel will probably have to be re-chromed, the station lettering on the dial face is
probably flaking off so it gets replaced, and the knobs would get replaced since the
original ones are, in most cases dried out and shrunk out of shape, the vibrator will need
to be replaced and the only ones that are available now days are the SS vibrators. You
might be lucky and find that the volume/on-off control is still good, better hope so
because they are almost impossible to find. Keep your fingers crossed that the mud
daubers haven’t built nests in the tuning coils or that one of the slugs isn’t broken (quite
common) cuz they to are impossible to find.
Now the one thing that a lot of people think needs to be replaced are the tubes, yet they
are the most reliable part in the radio and often times don't need replacing. If you do find
a bad one they are available from tube dealers for a reasonable price.
So get out your solder sucker and soldering iron and start tearing it apart. If you really
stick at it you might have it back together in a couple of weeks. If your still interested
here are a few pictures of just some of the process:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/986771_radio_truck&page=all
Now,,,,on the other hand, if the object is to just simply get it working, then you may be
able to find someone that will just replace enough of the bad parts to get it cooking. How
long will it work is anyone’s guess. And after all of that you are still only going to get to
listen to talk radio.
I don’t mean to sound negative but unless your object is a trophy for an original factory
stock restoration you really are better off in the long run to replace it with one of the
modern day reproduction AM/FM players.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Well I think some of us can enjoy a radio rebuilt in a practical way. While I appreciate Denny's attention to detail, as long as it works well and looks good after installation, I think most of us would be satisfied. That being said, the AM band does not always provide the greatest listening variety. That is why some shops provide services that convert the radio to a modern AM/FM setup. In addition, an input jack (some call MP3) is often provided so that an MP3 player or satellite radio can feed in through the radio. I don't actually know how the cost of a reproduction radio compares with the conversion of an existing unit. What I will say is that an unrestored radio that is complete, is worth good money, as I understand it.

Here is one of the shops that can rebuild or convert your radio for you. Gary Tayman Just click on "Collector car Audio".