The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay The Radio Bench 54 AM Radio

I pulled the radio out of my truck today and not sure what to do. This seems to be a very old orginal with no buttons, only a tuning knob and volume control.

Should I try to have this restored or get one of the newer radios that have FM and IPod connections? Music is not the highest priotity but I can't figure out of this radio is unique or not.

Any thoughts?

54 Radio

I'll give you $25 for that piece of junk, and even pay the shipping?

Seriously, those radios are somewhat rare (it is the original accessory radio - the only style sold by GM); or, at least they are somewhat valuable. They sometimes sell in that condition (and, not working) for as much as $200 - $100 would move it fast (PM me).

It would cost you more than a few hundred dollars to get it properly restored.

Will you be staying with 6v in your truck, or changing to 12v? Very nice and $$$ 12v "reproduction" modern-internals radios are available: without a speaker and with a speaker in the original location.

Tim

You are always on the spot and quick to reply. I found some sites that could add a chip or equivalent that makes these FM compatible. Do you think they could do that with this one? I would prefer to have the original radio especially if it got FM. It seems like this is rare and makes the truck even better.

I'm staying with 6V for the meantime because I have no issues with starting power, lights or anything electrical.

Any recommendations for a good radio restoration company?

Scooter,

I have a 1954 truck 6v radio that was repaired and FM added - about $300, 12 years ago (I'll check to see if the company is still around). Getting iPod capability is a little unlikely, but, who knows???

Maybe someone will post first-hand experience with a company that did the FM add-on for them.

I encourage you to keep the radio.

You have an especially cool truck - a family heirloom.

I am going to keep adding to this list.

http://www.classicautoradioservice.com/index.html

http://www.radiosforoldcars.com/newradio0F.htm

http://www.wardsclassiccarradiorepair.com/id2.html

http://www.normansclassicautoradio.com/
I think this is the company that refurbished my radio and added FM (and stayed 6v). I'd still call around for quotes and maybe ask for references from a few satisfied customers.

Get a phone estimate. Understand that it is not easy to estimate over the phone, without inspecting/testing the radio. That radio, without the speaker/plate, can be shipped Priority Mail for about $12. If the final after-inspection estimate is too high, pay to get it back (agree in advance on the return-shipping cost).

Private Message me if you want more advice on this.

Tim,
is your radio now AM/FM or just FM. I know that some places remove the chassis and replace it with a modern FM solid state unit. They then use one of the tuning coils to control the FM dial.

A common practise now is to offer original restoration with an MP3 input.

truckernix,

Mine is an old job - the way I understand it, a small FM receiver was added and it plays through the original AM tuner? You turn the system on and off to switch between AM/FM. Does that sound right?

I checked the date - it was more than 13 years ago - pre-iPod and pre portable/inexpensive MP3 players.

I may have it wrong and maybe the conversions are AM/FM. I think I have seen some ads for converting to FM only so that is what I was thinking about.

Scooter54,
one of the big factors in your decision will probably be the fact that the newly produced radios run on 12 volts. There are ways of providing it but it does add to the cost.

This 6v-to-12v converter is available for $60-$100.

This is a little more powerful/versatile 6v-to-12v converter is available for $150

This one is most likely "over kill" for $300

The first one seems tobe a positive ground unit and the current is really not up to the job. The second choice seems to be quite a good unit. Some of these radios require a continuous supply of 12 volts even when the radio is off. This is to maintain a memory.The second unit has that function. I don't think the third unit is a good choice at all.

Scroll down on the first one I posted above - a negative ground version is shown. That style/brand/size of converter seems to be one recommended by many radio sellers.

I use the second one I posted above - one positive ground unit (54/55 GMC) and one negative ground unit (54 Chev truck).

I got my radio back today from Gary Tayman in Florida. He took a couple of months and could not have been nicer and more informative about what he did. He put an FM module in the radio and a port for IPod / IPhone connections to play your own music. The radio still has the AM dial glass but converts to these other functions by turning the on /off switch repeatedly.

Now the hard part (for me at least). I need advise on how to hook the power up and what fuse to use. Photo below of the two wires that are left out of the unit for connections. Appreciate any guidance

Wires for re-built radio

The original radio had two wires to hook up for power. One had no fuse and was connected to the dash light feed on the headlight switch. The fused lead should be connected to the ignition switch. I don't know off hand whether it should be connected to the switched or un-switched connection on the ignition switch. The fuse should be a 14 amp fuse.

Thanks - I found another thread that said the fused wire should go to the load side of the amp meter, but connecting to the ignition switch makes more sense to me. Not sure yet the purpose of the un-fused wire. Maybe that goes to a light in the dial since it goes to the headlight switch.

The radio dial-light lead (the non-fused lead) connects to the instrument light lead on the light switch (Instrument & Ignition Lock Light lead).

light switch connectors

The installation instructions for the 47-55 radios suggest connecting the fused leads to the ammeter: 1954/55 radio power ; and, 1951 (1947-53) radio power

The advantage/disadvantage of connecting to the ignition switch would to allow you to choose a lead that is always hot or a lead that the hot only when the switch is on.

I would connect the radio as shown in the instructions above. the purpose of the other lead is to allow the dimming of the dial light along with the dash lights.

I read through this as well. I think I am going to connect to the ignition switch so I can turn on with the switch.

So what is an Autronic Eye? I saw that in the manual but not sure what that is.

An Autronic Eye is a GM device mounted to the dash and directed towards the lights of on-coming vehicles. It automatically switches the lights to low-beams when it detects the lights of an oncoming vehicle (and switches back to high beams when it detects no on-coming vehicles). It first became available in Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs in 1952?

It was an accessory available for other GM cars in 1953 (but, presumably, it could also be installed in a truck).

I plan on installing my refurbished radio this weekend. I went to radio shack to get a fuse and was paused when he asked me what voltage. I have a 6V system - do they make 6V fuses or can I use a 12V fuse?

14 amp fuse is recommended above in this thread. Is that a 6V - 14 amp fuse or do I get a 12V fuse with lesser amperage?

you got it, the difference isn't the voltage itself [no V rating on the glass fuses] but the greater [6V] or lesser [12V] amp draw on the 2 voltages, 12V systems use ~ 1/2 the amps - the 12V radios call for a 7.5a fuse, so I'd expect that the 14a is what you want

Bill

The 14 A fuse would have been standard for your radio.

I installed the radio today and it works great. Gary Tayman converted the original radio to AM / FM and an Ipod connector. You just turn the radio off and on and it changes function. It came with a spare yellow wire out that Gary said was for the lamp and could be connected to the dash lights. Anyone know what he is talking about? The radio has a working light in the dial but I don't understand what would connect in the dash.

If you scroll back in this post, Tim (tclederman) explains how to connect the dial light lead. He also links to the diagram in the manual. Basically it allows you to dim the dial light along with the dash lights.

Gary does pretty nice work, doesn't he. Somewhere I saw where he told the story of how he got started in business. It is really interesting.

Thanks - I should have read through my own post before I reached out....