1941 Plymouth Radio

[bacelaw]

Anyone have a radio for a '41 Plymouth they are willing to let go?  I'm told the 800 model is what I need.  My wagon has a strange two-piece radio, that actually may be aftermarket. It doesn't work and I'm hoping to swap in a working one-piece model.  Thanks!

[Cannuck]

I know they sell them at Andy Bernbaums don't know the model # but they have new old stock and used no guarantee if they work 

[Ivan_B]

eBay is also a good place to check.

By the way, are you sure you need one? Th OEM one is not going to tune into any stations either, unless to install an AM transmitter with it

[jgreg53]

I paid quite a bit of money to get my original radio repaired. It worked fine, but I couldn't find any music on am radio. It was talk radio and religion.  There was a time you could bring in was a station in Chicago.  Another in fort Wayne in Indiana. Wls in Nashville. Can't  pull them in now.

[bacelaw]

Well, mine is missing the input plug on the antenna, and doesn't power on.  

 

I was hoping to put a bluetooth unit or one of those transmitters with an input jack under the dash - and send the music through an original radio.

[Ivan_B]

Yes, that's exactly my plan as well. My radio is working, although the buttons have completely deteriorated. I'll need to get those replaced (just need to find some suitable color plastic, or maybe even use light-colored oiled wood to make it fancy) and give it a general cleaning and check-up. The radio is already sitting on the garage table, waiting for its turn, after I get a couple more important issues off the to-do list

[Bryan G]

Not sure if any of these will work; I suspect he could make a set if not.

http://renovatedradios.com/productlist.php?category=101&secondary=114

I've bought a couple sets for home radios I've restored and been happy with them.

 

AM always works best at night. There's still some good music, depending on where you live. 740 out of Toronto covers a wide swath of the US, for example.

[Ivan_B]

1 hour ago, Bryan G said:

Not sure if any of these will work; I suspect he could make a set if not.

Thanks, I've looked for these but they are wrong color. Mine were supposed to be ivory (I don't get it, by the way, all of the knobs/buttons in the car were ivory but the steering wheel and shifter knob are brown, for some reason ?). There is also a 3D model available for sale, which you can print and polish, but these are a very simple square profile with a metal casing. So I think it will be much easier (and cheaper) to fabricate these myself. I'll show the results once I get around to it.

 

AM is fine, you can just get a small transmitter and have what ever broadcasting right into your radio (even another radio signal, if you wish). These transmitters were selling since the 60s, I believe, once the stations started switching to FM and some older radios were becoming incompatible.

[bacelaw]

For anyone else interested, have a look at this 

 

 

Take a simple bluetooth unit, hook it up to switched power, and you've got a working radio connected to your phone.  I was able to use the orginal dashboard knob/switch with this unit too.  A couple cheap speakers in place of the original, inside the original case, and it really works flawlessly...

[Ivan_B]

Did the guy gutted the entire radio and placed a BT player with 2 speakers inside the box? This is barbaric... For me, the point of having an old radio is to actually listen to the old radio. This is why I am specifically suggesting to use an AM transmitter, to transmit what ever you want into your old radio. If you do not actually intend to use the old radio, you can just install whatever into the box, or under the dash/seat at you wish. Do not even need to mess around with the existing radio at all

 

Also, I couldn't help but noticing that the author did not heat-shrink any of his crimp connectors, somehow ?

Edited August 31, 2023 by Ivan_B

[bacelaw]

16 minutes ago, Ivan_B said:

Did the guy gutted the entire radio and placed a BT player with 2 speakers inside the box? This is barbaric... For me, the point of having an old radio is to actually listen to the old radio. This is why I am specifically suggesting to use an AM transmitter, to transmit what ever you want into your old radio. If you do not actually intend to use the old radio, you can just install whatever into the box, or under the dash/seat at you wish. Do not even need to mess around with the existing radio at all

 

Also, I couldn't help but noticing that the author did not heat-shrink any of his crimp connectors, somehow ?

 

No need to gut the original radio, other than replace the speaker.  If you can get an 80 year old tube radio reliably working, you could try to find an AM transmitter for bluetooth, that's definitely another option.

 

But for folks like me, with an original radio that doesn't function - this solution keeps it all looking original, and functional with modern bluetooth.  The best of both worlds.  

[Ivan_B]

1 hour ago, bacelaw said:

But for folks like me, with an original radio that doesn't function - this solution keeps it all looking original, and functional with modern bluetooth.  The best of both worlds.  

That's true, if you are just interested in the original look, you can just buy a broken radio and install a modern player inside.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Ivan_B

[Eneto-55]

When we lived in a remote part of Brazil, the only stations we could get were short-wave.  Any of that still being broadcast?  (Unfortunately I left our small short-wave receiver down there, so cannot test to see what's still there.)  Anyway, I was thinking that I'd add short-wave to the original AM radio, if possible.

[Booger]

good topic! luckily we have a small oldies station that has a license to broadcast during daylight hours. (ask the FCC). but as a boy we made crystal radios out of toilet paper tubes??? and would get an atmospheric "bump" if you will from stations all over country. Thankfully AM is not going away as per new laws (see your govt is doing something!)

As for me Im for keeping old cars old cars. Given no choice bluetooth is the answer

[Ivan_B]

3 hours ago, Eneto-55 said:

Anyway, I was thinking that I'd add short-wave to the original AM radio, if possible.

These are probably still around, not as popular as the medium frequency, but likely not completely extinct like the low frequency either.

[Bryan G]

Yes, shortwave is still around, just not as many stations as there once were. Most stations were run by the various national governments and were given the axe in budge cuts. Still some interesting things out there, though. A really good radio tech could add shortwave, I'm sure. Modifying the dial could be as tough as anything. I think a basic conversion could be done by switching in a separate coil.

[bacelaw]

Here's the link to the bluetooth deviceI purchased MakerHawk Mini Amplifier Board Bluetooth Amplifier 2.0 2X50W 5V-24V Audio Power Amplifier Module for Store Home Theater Speakers https://a.co/d/dewspZw

 

For anyone interested, it was an extremely easy fix.  The device gets power from the original radio switch...so, my original radio turns on the bluetooth device.

 

Then, I hid the device inside the original radio, hooked the speaker up to it,  and voila!  Phone connects to the bluetooth, and now we're playing 1940s music through the original radio.

 

From start to finish, it took a hour or so...couldn't be happier with it.

 

 

[Ivan_B]

1 hour ago, bacelaw said:

. . .and now we're playing 1940s music through the original radio.

That is not technically the case, but it works and the majority probably cannot tell the difference anyway