Mopar Model 812 Radio

[ChrisMinelli]

Hello,

 

I was out walking the dog and was approached by a random old lady who asked if I was the fella who drives the “antique Plymouth” in the neighborhood.  I told her yes and she showed me a box of stuff her deceased husband had.  I guess he had some sort of Mopar collection back in the day but she told me I could take what I wanted.  
 

Long story short I now have a whole bunch of random flathead engine parts, brake cylinders, pieces of trim from a Desoto, a dodge emblem for a steering wheel, and some other odds and ends.  
 

But the big find is four “Mopar Model 812” radios in various states of repair.  One is in literal pieces but the others are at least all there if dirty and in need of some serious TLC.  

 

Are there any good resources out there for restoring and rebuilding these things?  The service manual isn’t overly helpful and the radio in my own car doesn’t work and never has.  Out of four bad ones maybe I can make one good one.  
 

Also, what is the black tar stuff coming out of them?  Old speaker material?  Thanks in advance. 
 

 

[sidevalvepete]

Chris, there are people out there who are radio enthusiasts just like everyone here being old car enthusiasts. Tap into that community. There is an online forum a bit like this called PhilcoForum. Perhaps a good place to start. Philco is the Chrysler Corporation owned division that made all the old radios for Chrysler Corp vehicles. It is still possible to get parts for them if you get connected to this community. I had an old radio buff local to me who helped me get my 1938 Philco, Dodge specific, completely restored. Even got some original speaker cloth from a US supplier. Probably more parts in that radio box than the whole car.....good luck!

[ChrisMinelli]

Oh yeah, the brief review of the radios I made was fascinating.  I didn’t know old traditional radios were so complex.  The radio in my car is just a circuit board. 

[JerseyHarold]

There were two styles of factory radio for the P23:  The seven-button 'better' one as pictured and a 5-button basic radio.  Back in the day, the Howard Sams company published monthly 'Sams Photo Facts' covering repair and adjustment for just about every electronic device being sold.  They made one for the 812 radio that I'm sure would be useful for you.  They come up occasionallly on eBay and some libraries have them in their reference section.

[Sniper]

Philco manual on Ebay for the 812

 

https://tinyurl.com/ybqb3teq

[Booger]

I learned you can replace tubes all day. but you have to replace buffers/capcacitors/resistors if your repair is complete. I can solder all day but that above my paygrade.

If you are up to the task my hats off to you. If you can find someone locally all the better. there are shops out there you can find on line. I wasnt interested in bluetooth or alien seeking shortwave. just AM I shipped mine off to Daves Antique Radio

[humanpotatohybrid]

Does anyone know what model years used the 812 radios? I pulled one out of an old Plymouth today but I don't know the actual year of the car.

 

Also if anyone needs tubes or something from it, LMK. It's too water-damaged to restore on its own but the tubes COULD be good (if the connectors haven't rusted).

[Sniper]

Quote

yes I know it's not a mopar

 

Interesting, Packard (well it's remains such as they are) ended up being part of the company I work for now.  lol

[humanpotatohybrid]

Nice, you work for Eaton electric? Sorry to spoil the fun but they actually sold all the brand rights to some guy in the 1990's.

 

(Yes I'm a total Packard nerd, how could you tell? ?)

 

Ok, so I figured out what model I pulled it from. But first, does anyone want to take a guess? ?

[Bryan]

My Hollander 46-56 book says #15 - 812 Plymouth 51-52.  Have to adapt dash opening.

[rallyace]

There is a fellow near Binghamton, NY that rebuilt radios, I don't have his name at my fingertips but I found him through Google and have spoken to him about rebuilding my radio He said that the biggest issue is that the capacitors will need replacing. That black tar is very likely the dielectric that has melted out of the capacitors. If I can find his name again, I will post it here.

[rallyace]

This is the fellow I spoke to a couple of years ago about repairing my radio.  https://www.everythingradio.com/services/antique-car-radios-and-repair/

[humanpotatohybrid]

Thanks, the radio is too far gone to try to repair it, I pulled it to use the faceplate as décor as well as the instrument cluster. The cluster I should be able to light up with a 6V power supply but the radio I'll have to see about the best way to manage that.

Pics:

Quote

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2022 by humanpotatohybrid

[humanpotatohybrid]

Cleaned up all the connections on the terminals but after that I actually got the cluster to light up. Pretty amazing considering it had basically been sitting outside for decades. Only thing is that I was using a 5V 1A power supply to light it, which is too low. Probably needs 7V with at least 2A. So right now it's very dim. Thinking of making a wooden rectangular frame and screwing it to that. Not sure what to do about the power supply though as 7V is a very uncommon number.

Edited May 7, 2022 by humanpotatohybrid