Hey gang: I have the old 6 volt radio, not working, from my 52 Chevy truck. I could get it restored, which might cost me about $300 or so. Any of you come up with an alternative way to run a radio system -- perhaps something modern -- in these trucks on a six volt system. I am hesitant to use the converters that I see in CD. Any thoughts? Eric
Hey Eric, The voltage converters that you mentioned are only to reduce 12 volts down to 6 volts. You can't play a 12 volt radio on a 6 volt system. The reducers work fine if you have a 12 volt system and still have a working 6 volt radio. Mike
Greetings Eric, First off congrads on having a original type radio, they are scarce as hens teeth...so do not trash it. Before making any moves weigh whether you wish to stay with 6 volts. The conversion to 12 is easy and not too cosly. A 1 wire alternator will draw less work from your engine to turn (more HP saved for the wheels) and 12 volts gives you much brighter lights. (safer) A 12 volt radio that fits the dash is availiable from CD and others for a fair price depending on bells and whistles. The 12 volt conversion was my first act on my 53 even tho all worked well. It also eleminated regulator problems. This is all my opinion and is offered as such. It boils down to "What do You want"? I do not know anything about any 6-12 volt converters but will leave that to someone else. Good luck on your project, enjoy and keep us posted, Rick
Actually you can get converters to raise 6 to 12 volt. When I first got my truck in the 70's it was 6 volt and as a teenager, I had to have the stereo, power booster, etc. Went to Radio Shack (I believe) and purchased two 6 to 12 volt converters. Had to buy two and run them in series to get almost enough amperage to run the system. At an idle the deck would shut down and the high pitched whine coming from those converters was impressive even without a tape in the deck, (just kidding, it was a pain.) But I agree with Rick, unless you are doing a true restoration, I would convert to 12 volt. You can even retain the stock look by sticking with a 12 volt generator and external voltage regulator as opposed to a alternator. Although with either generator you will get dimming lights at an idle. They do sell modern stereos to fit your dash. However, they suffer a bit in sound quality in my opinion. In my truck, I am going with the stock radio delete plate and a hidden stereo. (That is after I fix some of the holes I put in the dash as a kid to mount stereo equipment, oh stupid me.) Most of these trucks did not come with a radio and even if so, they were tossed at some point. The one you have is worth good money. Steve O
If you keep it 6 volts , you'll need an _INVERTER_ to get 12 volts to run a modern radio , I dunno if Radio Shack still sells them , they did for years and years , works quite well too unless you add an amp . You can also often find old Bendix ' Saphire ' radios from VW's in the 60's these play AM and are sturdy , well built radios that run on 6 volts , they even made the ' Saphire II ' that was AM/FM but highly sought after by VW enthusiasts these days and so might cost $100.00 or so . any of them that have ivory or grey push buttons will be 6 volts . I'm sure that if you look in Hemmings Motor News you'll find a vendor that sells new 6 volt radios affordably . -Nate
I would definitely keep your radio, they are HARD to come by. At the large swap meets they have people that do conversions on them where when you turn them on they're on AM and if you turn them off and back on immediately they're on FM. I guess you just have to dial up a FM station by sound because the ones I looked at were restored to stock appearance so there was no FM dial. I think some of these people advertise in Hemmings under "services offered". If you decide not to use your old radio I'll open the bidding for it. Please don't tell me it had a factory compass or I'll hate you forever. Seriously, it would be great to restore the face and dial knobs(wheels) just to have it in the dash and have a modern radio in a hidden spot. I'll guarantee that no matter what the rest of the truck looks like if you have it at the local shows or drive in people will stop for an extra ten seconds just to eyeball the radio.
I had my radio rebuilt for AM/FM and XM ready, new speaker and coverted to 12 volts. On the outside, it doesn't look any different then it did when I took it out of the truck. If you are interested - goto antiqueautomobileradio.com They are headquartered in Florida, but have repair shops all over the country and here in Connecticut too! Ken
