Wire What?

[Tony Cipponeri]

Hi guys, When you guys went to 12 volt, did you make everything 12 volt, or did you keep smethings at 6 volt with a reducer type thing. I am thinking of leaveing the dash lights 6 volt along with the radio. what say you guys? Tony C

[Plymouthy Adams]

The radio will be a major deal..due to grounding..I for that reason and consideration of AC install did not install it. Besides, the old radio tough neat in looks is not really a useable item. (quality stations are not comon IMHO) Mount it, hook up the light for looks, mount an aftermarket good stereo out of sight. Actually if you go with 12 volt, go with negative ground, change all your bulbs, use a Runtz resistor on the blower motor and if electric wipers, use one there, you can build a variable regulator that is about the size of a small match box that is positive ground as it is so isolation is an issue..this unit will handle 12 amps of continious curent, surge to 15 amp. I have one in my car and is negative ground, thus I have it isolated. Be sure your iso box is well vented. This device will fold if shorted and not burn out...

As you can see, the device is self contained, the control circuit and filtering is external and small enough to solder on the socket. The red rectangle is the variable resistor for adjusting the voltage...the heat sink is a must. If you iso-mount, be sure the box is drilled for good ventialtion.

[Tony Cipponeri]

Thank You again Tim, I think I am going to have to cut you in as a percentage holder in my car, before long. Thanks Tony C

[Plymouthy Adams]

The part number of the regualtor I used eludes me at the moment, mine is already mounted under the dash of my car. Somewhere in the shop in a small folder is all the info. This is avialable on the internet when I find the part number..circuits and all, parts list etc. for making the device. Really simple..mounting the components on another board and inter-connecting is a pain, going minature as I did with the socket mounted items makes it better in my book. If I run across this today I will post the info.

[Norm's Coupe]

Tony,

One of the guys in the POC by you repairs the old radios. Maybe he can convert your original radio to a nice 12 volt AM/FM radio for you. Think it's Tod who does that, but not sure. If not, there are other places who do it.

[Plymouthy Adams]

link to Radio Trash site..price is right...

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-2n3055-npn-transistor--pi-2062614.html

I cannot find my schematic I downloaded..may be on my computer at work

[martybose]

Unfortunately I can confirm that you won't get an original radio working using a convertor; I have an 802 that worked fine on 6V, but has resisted every effort to get it working on the convertor after I changed over to 12V. I can hear the vibrator start up for a few seconds, then it quits again.

I'm now waffling over whether to get it converted to be a 12V tube radio, or commit the sacrilege of having it gutted and put a modern AM/FM radio inside. At this point I'm more inclined to leave it a tube AM radio, as there are enough AM stations still in the Bay Area.

Marty

[blueskies]

Hi guys, When you guys went to 12 volt, did you make everything 12 volt, or did you keep smethings at 6 volt with a reducer type thing. I am thinking of leaveing the dash lights 6 volt along with the radio. what say you guys? Tony C

Tony-

The dash lights are just a few bulbs, I don't see why you would want to buy voltage reducers to keep the 6v bulbs. The same bulbs are readily available in 12v versions and are cheap.

The only other things on the car that you need to worry about are the fuel guage, and the blower motors (aside from the radio).

I bought a "Runtz" from Speedway Motors for the fuel guage, $19. It's an electronic voltage reducer, which prevents voltage spikes that can fry the guage.

For the blower motors I used couple of ceramic 12v-6v reducers. I changed out all the bulbs on the car to 12.

I had my radio converted to 12v negative ground, am/fm/aux four channel stereo by Bob's Radio and TV. It was expensive, and doesn't sound as good as a a comperably priced modern deck, but it looks completely stock except for the small LED on the face. And the original controls still work as they always did including the station presets which I love. The old three way tone button toggles from am to fm to aux. I use the aux input for my ipod, but would work with a CD changer, sattlelite radio, etc.

I believe Howard Tarnoff is not going to use his converted radio, he might want to sell it... He had the top of the case cut down to work with an aftermarket AC duct, but otherwise it's just like mine.

Pete

[Tony Cipponeri]

Thanks Guys, I think I will change the bulbs and have the radio redone. Tony C